The laws governing Arizona tenants are mostly contained in the Arizona Revised Statutes. Here is a link to the relevant section of those statutes. There are other laws that govern the rights of tenants, but this will be a good start.
The relevant Arizona statute is A.R.S. §33-1321. This statute generally states that a landlord in Arizona is not entitled to charge you more than 1.5 times the amount of your monthly rent; that an Arizona tenant is entitled to the return of the security deposit, minus appropriate deductions for damage and unpaid rent, within 14 business days after the tenant relinquishes possession of the property and makes a demand for the return of the security deposit.
You should read the above statute to learn about the nuances of the security deposit law in Arizona. Pay particular attention to this part of the security deposit statute:
“If the tenant does not dispute the deductions or the amount due and payable to the tenant within sixty days after the itemized list and amount due are mailed as prescribed by this subsection, the amount due to the tenant as set forth in the itemized list with any amount due is deemed valid and final and any further claims of the tenant are waived.”
So, if you dispute your landlord’s claim to your security deposit, you should notify the landlord in writing via multiple methods before the 60-day deadline. Send notice by first-class mail AND certified mail, and if possible, also fax and/or email the landlord regarding your dispute. Your dispute does not need to be detailed. Sometimes it helps to not provide too much detail but simply to specify which deductions you are disputing.
There are various times when a lease can be legally terminated, and a few will be addressed here. One is at the natural expiration of the lease. For example, if you have a one-year lease, at the end of the lease, you can leave if you’d like. But read your lease carefully for any required advance notice that may be required. Another time you can end your lease is if the landlord agrees to end it.
But be careful to get something in writing that properly protects you. You should not do this without having an attorney review the document before it is signed by you, as there could be loopholes that could be used against you later. Other common times when you can break your lease are those times when the landlord fails to repair broken items after you have given the landlord a proper five- or ten-day notice (whichever one applies).
There is also a statute that enables victims of domestic violence to break a lease if they qualify and if they follow the proper steps. Contact our office for assistance with using a five- or ten-day notice, as these are generally construed strictly against the tenant if the tenant improperly words the notice.
There are other situations that permit a lease to be terminated in Arizona, but you should seek legal advice prior to invoking these in order to ensure that you properly follow the law. If you make even one mistake, the landlord could use it against you and sue you for the balance of the lease payments plus any other financial damages the landlord alleges.
There are two sets of laws that govern leases in Arizona. One set governs residential tenants. The other governs commercial tenants. Residential tenants in Arizona receive far more protection than do commercial tenants in Arizona.
The Arizona Revised Landlord Tenant Act provides some basic protections to residential tenants because tenants, unlike businessmen, are often not skilled at negotiations or protecting their interests. But commercial tenants are given some protection by the laws starting at A.R.S. §33-301, as well as a few other statutes and some common law court decisions.
If you are a commercial tenant, you should contact our office because commercial lease disputes tend to be far more complicated than residential lease disputes. Arizona commercial tenants should also seek the advice of our office when negotiating their lease agreements. Most leases that commercial landlords use tend to be very biased in their favor.
These oppressive leases give Arizona commercial tenants very little protection. Moreover, commercial tenants often incorrectly believe that their realtor, if they have one, will help them to negotiate favorable clauses in the lease. The broker or relator’s job is to help you negotiate a favorable rental amount (and related terms) if you even have your own broker or realtor.
After you’ve signed the lease, it is often too late to get the landlord to cooperate. Bargain hard while you still have leverage – when the landlord wants you to commit to becoming a tenant. Right now (2019-2020), landlords are cocky because there is not a lot of available space for commercial tenants. However, you still can negotiate decent lease terms if you have a good attorney and broker on your side.
Maybe. The Arizona Residential Landlord Tenant Act does permit the landlord and tenant to contract for the tenant to do some of the maintenance and repairs. The relevant statute is A.R.S. Section 33-1324. With regard to single-family residence tenants, it states:
“The landlord and tenant of a single family residence may agree in writing, supported by adequate consideration, that the tenant perform the landlord's duties specified in subsection A, paragraphs 5 and 6 of this section, and also specified repairs, maintenance tasks, alterations and remodeling, but only if the transaction is entered into in good faith, not for the purpose of evading the obligations of the landlord and the work is not necessary to cure noncompliance with subsection A, paragraphs 1 and 2 of this section.”
With regard to tenants other than a single-family residence, the law states:
“The landlord and tenant of any dwelling unit other than a single family residence may agree that the tenant is to perform specified repairs, maintenance tasks, alterations or remodeling only if:
- The agreement of the parties is entered into in good faith and not for the purpose of evading the obligations of the landlord and is set forth in a separate writing signed by the parties and supported by adequate consideration.
- The work is not necessary to cure noncompliance with subsection A, paragraphs 1 and 2 of this section.
- The agreement does not diminish or affect the obligation of the landlord to other tenants in the premises.”
These are the so-called lower courts that hear matters involving matters under $10,000 in dispute or leases that are less than a particular dollar amount per month. The courts are presided over by justices of the peace, who are elected officials who are not required to have passed a bar exam, graduated from law school, or even have had any kind of legal background.
Someone could be a store clerk one day and get elected as a justice of the peace the next day. So, it is important that you have an attorney accompany you to court, an experienced attorney who can ensure that proper legal procedures are followed (or at least properly noted on the record for appeal purposes).
No. Oral leases are valid in Arizona if they are for a period of less than one year (such as a six-month lease, a month-to-month lease, etc.). A common misconception that Arizona tenants have is that when their one-year written lease expires, they no longer have a lease. This is usually not true.
Most written leases contain provisions stating that they continue after the one-year fixed term but on a month-to-month basis. Therefore, the lease continues to have full force and effect, with the exception that the lease can be terminated using the laws that govern month-to-month tenancies (unless a written provision in the lease provides for or requires a different alternative).
Tenants in Arizona need to be very careful. Arizona does not have a very tenant-friendly climate, and this is putting it mildly. All Arizona tenants should read the Arizona Revised Landlord Tenant Act. It contains many of the laws that govern the landlord-tenant relationship in the state of Arizona.
But be careful about going to document preparation services or using web sites that are not Arizona-specific. Tenants in Arizona have specific laws that apply to them, and they should be careful not to follow the guidance of nonlawyers or inexperienced lawyers who overlook those nuances or who are really not permitted to dispense legal advice in the first place.
No. Just read the laws that govern Arizona tenants. Then sit and watch some court proceedings in Arizona and form your own opinion. Do some research and see how the laws of some other states are much more favorable to tenants. So, what should you do?
First, follow the law to the T. Do not get sloppy, because any sloppiness will be used against you in this Arizona system. This is very much like the wild west, so you must be vigilant and protect yourself.
Get legal advice, document everything, keep a running file, photograph things, have witnesses observe the condition of your residence, and do everything possible to be organized and methodical about the way you handle your interactions with your landlord (and most of all, get copies of everything!).
Yes, in certain limited situations. We have won emotional distress damages in the past, which is a rare thing for attorneys who represent tenants to be able to say. We take pride in zealous advocacy for all our clients and will use every legal avenue to your advantage.
Yes, under certain circumstances. This is a very tricky area of the law, and even a summary cannot be provided here. It is important that you seek legal advice if you have specific questions. Otherwise, a very general rule to keep in mind is to be as careful as possible if you are a landlord or tenant.
Carelessness and recklessness are the most frequent reasons people get sued. If something is broken, fix it before someone gets hurt. Conversely, if you know that something is broken and could lead to injury, don’t use it.
Common sense can be of tremendous help in avoiding lawsuits. If you or someone you love was injured and wants to find out whether a claim could be made against the landlord, the first place to start is at the office of a personal injury attorney.
Depending on your lease terms and whether you have a commercial or residential lease in Arizona, your landlord may refuse a partial rent payment out of fear that he will waive his right to evict you if you don’t pay the remaining balance of the overdue rent. There are usually ways around this problem. Contact our office to set up a consultation so that we can creatively help you to possibly fix this problem.
In addition to the other options that may exist for breaking your lease, in Arizona a tenant may terminate a rental agreement if the tenant provides to the landlord written notice that the tenant is the victim of domestic violence as defined in section 13-3601 or was the victim, in the tenant's dwelling, of sexual assault pursuant to section 13-1406.
The tenant's rights and obligations under the rental agreement are then terminated and the tenant must vacate the dwelling and will escape liability for future rent and will not incur early termination penalties or fees if the tenant provides to the landlord a written notice requesting release from the rental agreement with a mutually agreed on release date within the next thirty days, accompanied by any one of the following:
- A copy of any protective order issued pursuant to section 13-3602 to a tenant who is a victim of domestic violence or sexual assault. A landlord may also request a receipt or signed statement that the order of protection has been submitted to an authorized officer of a court for service.
- A copy of a written departmental report from a law enforcement agency that states that the tenant notified the law enforcement agency that the tenant was a victim of domestic violence or sexual assault.
A landlord may request from the victim the name and address of the person named in an order of protection or a departmental report, in writing, if known by the victim.
The tenant in Arizona may terminate the rental agreement only if the actions, events or circumstances that resulted in the tenant being a victim of domestic violence as defined in section 13-3601 or sexual assault pursuant to section 13-1406 occurred within the thirty-day period immediately preceding the written notice of termination to the landlord, unless waived by the landlord.
If the Arizona tenant terminates the rental agreement under on the basis of domestic violence or sexual assault and if the tenant is solely or jointly liable on the rental agreement, the tenant is liable only for rent owed or paid through the date of the lease termination plus any previous obligations outstanding on that date.
The amount due from the tenant must be paid to the landlord on or before the date the tenant vacates the residence. If the tenant has prepaid rent that would apply for the month in which the lease is terminated, the landlord may retain the prepaid rent, and no refund is due to the tenant.
If the tenant has paid a security deposit pursuant to section 33-1321, the landlord is not permitted to withhold the security deposit for the early termination of the lease if the tenant meets the requirements of the domestic violence or sexual assault exceptions, but may withhold the security deposit for payment of damages that the landlord suffered by reason of the tenant's noncompliance with section 33-1341.
A tenant in Arizona who is a victim of domestic violence or sexual assault can require the landlord to install a new lock to the tenant's dwelling if the tenant pays for the cost of installing the new lock. A landlord may comply with this requirement by doing either of the following:
- Rekeying the lock if the lock is in good working condition.
- Replacing the entire locking mechanism with a locking mechanism of equal or better quality than the lock being replaced.
An Arizona landlord who installs a new lock at the tenant's request may retain a copy of the key that opens the new lock. Notwithstanding any provision in the rental agreement, the landlord may refuse to provide a key that opens the new lock to the person named in an order of protection or a departmental report pursuant to subsection A of this section.
An Arizona landlord must refuse to provide access to the residence to reclaim property to any tenant if the tenant is the person named in an order of protection or a departmental report who has been served with an order of protection naming that tenant as the defendant and the landlord has received a copy of the order of protection, unless a law enforcement officer escorts the tenant into and out of the dwelling.
An Arizona tenant who terminates a lease pursuant to this section and who is convicted of falsely filing a departmental report or order of protection for domestic violence or sexual assault is liable to the landlord for triple damages for premature termination of the lease.
A person named in an order of protection or a departmental report who provokes an early lease termination under this section is deemed to have interfered with the residential rental agreement between the landlord and tenant regardless of whether the person named in an order of protection or a departmental report is a party to the rental agreement, and the person named in an order of protection or a departmental report may be civilly liable for all economic losses incurred by a landlord for the domestic violence or sexual assault early lease termination.
This civil liability includes unpaid rent, early lease termination fees, costs to repair damage to the residence, and any reductions or waivers of rent previously granted to the tenant who was the victim of domestic violence or sexual assault. If there are multiple Arizona tenants who are parties to a rental agreement that has been terminated under this section, the tenancy for those tenants also terminates.
The tenants who are not the victims of domestic violence or sexual assault, excluding the person named in an order of protection or a departmental report that caused the termination of the lease, may be released from any financial obligations due under the previously existing rental agreement and the remaining Arizona tenants may be allowed to enter into a new lease with the landlord if the tenants meet all current application requirements.
An emergency order of protection or protective order that is issued to an Arizona tenant automatically applies to the entire residential rental property in which the tenant has a rental agreement.
In Arizona, most eviction hearings take place within a week after the case is filed. The process is very rapid, and it is important that you have knowledgeable legal counsel by your side to protect you during this swift process. If you need to file a security deposit return case, that process is much slower and will take months rather than mere days, giving you much more time to acquire and organize your evidence.
You should bring the following things with you to the consultation:
- Your Lease
- Any Relevant Correspondence Between You and Your Landlord
- Your Court Summons/Paperwork, If Any
- Any Ten- or Five-Day Notice Issued by Either Party to the Lease
- A List of Witnesses, If Any
- All Documents and Photographs That Support Your Position
These and any other items you think might be relevant should be brought with you to the consultation. When in doubt, bring it to the consultation. The more information you bring, the better. That way, if we need to review something, you will have it right there with you during the consultation.
You will need to file your case in the Justice Court that has jurisdiction over the residential address in question or over the landlord's address. If you need to file your case in Maricopa County Superior Court, you can file it at any location, and the clerk will assign the case to the correct division (downtown, northeast, southeast, or northwest). Contact your local justice court to find out if a particular address is within their jurisdiction. If it isn’t, ask which Justice Court has jurisdiction over that address.
You may very well be able to sue the landlord in small claims court, depending on the underlying situation. But a mistake that Arizona tenants often make is to assume that the landlord will agree to have the case heard in small claims court.
Often, the landlord will hire an attorney and get the case transferred to the civil division of the Justice Court, which is a forum in which attorneys are permitted and in which tenants are often outgunned.
If you want to file a small claims case, you should first seek advice from our office about what to expect if the case gets transferred to the civil division of the Arizona Justice Court so that you will be better prepared to handle the procedural nuances of cases in that tougher arena.
If you sue your landlord or your landlord sues you, even if you obtain court permission to appear by telephone, it often is better for Arizona tenants if to appear in-person when their hearing or trial takes place. Psychologically, it is much easier for a judge to rule against a voice on a phone than a live person who is looking right at that judge.
Of course, there are situations that may prevent you from attending the hearing, and we can help you request permission to appear in person or obtain a continuance of the hearing or trial.
If you are seeking to break your lease because of your landlord's noncompliance, you will need to follow the requirements of the Arizona Revised Residential Landlord and Tenant Act in order to properly protect yourself if the landlord later reneges on his statement that a simple 30-day notice is all that will be needed to break your lease.
There are usually some options available to you under Arizona and federal law. You should contact our office for a consultation. Keep in mind, however, that in Arizona, a landlord cannot double-dip.
That is, an Arizona landlord cannot re-rent the property and then try to also collect rent from you for those same months remaining on your lease if the property was occupied by a new tenant during those same months, except to the extent the new rental amount is less than the old rental amount (plus any other damages, such as advertising the property, paying any broker commissions, making any reasonable rent concessions to the new tenant, etc.).
First, check whether the person is a licensed document preparer and whether he/she is in good standing with the Better Business Bureau and the licensing agencies. Check for reviews on review sites like Yelp, Google, etc.
Keep in mind that these doc prep people are not permitted to dispense legal advice. To the extent they claim they can tell you how to break your lease or how to engage in other strategizing, they are probably engaging in the practice of law.
When you hire an attorney, you have the benefit of someone who has a bachelor's degree and a Doctor of Laws degree advising you. Lawyers must pass a rigorous test to get into law school in the first place and then must succeed under a very rigorous Socratic method of education.
An attorney also must take and pass a grueling two-day bar exam to test their knowledge of Arizona laws. With a doc prep person, you might get someone who has absolutely no legal education at all.
There are some document preparation people who give legal advice anyway, and there are many Arizona tenants who eagerly follow that advice because they think it is much cheaper than dealing with an attorney. Well, be careful. The advice you get could be disastrous to your case, and more importantly, in many cases the cost of an attorney can be less than the cost of using one of these doc prep shops.
We often can show you how to legally break your lease with one single $250 half-hour consultation! Even if the cost of an attorney is a little more than a doc prep shop, why not spend a few hundred extra dollars when it could mean saving you thousands of dollars in potential mistakes by well-meaning but unqualified doc prep advisors.
If this makes good sense to you financially, then it may very well be a good idea. But make sure you get it in writing and that you have us review it for $350 before you sign it. There can be tricky clauses and other traps for the unwary. Think of the $350 as an insurance policy. It will be well worth it to make sure you are not being trapped into something unintended. Call us now.
In Arizona, a landlord can enter a residence with proper advance notice. The relevant Arizona statute indicates that two days' advance notice is required (with some limited exceptions), and the time of entry must be reasonable.
If your lease says the landlord may enter in less time than that, or without advance notice, or under some other less-restrictive qualification, have us review the language to see if the landlord is violating the law. These provisions that are less restrictive than the Arizona laws are probably unenforceable.
Also, your landlord must have a reasonable purpose for entering the residence in Arizona, such as for inspections, repairs, improvements, showings (for sale/re-rental), etc. If the reason is not reasonable and/or the number of entries is excessive, contact our office for further assistance.
You should document it carefully. Most landlords now require you to permit them to debit your bank account or charge your credit card automatically each month. But there are some tenants who still pay by check or in cash. If you shove cash or a check through a mail slot or mail it by first class mail, you will have no proof the landlord received it.
You should try to get a signed receipt or at least send the rent by certified mail. Most apartment complexes will give you a receipt if one is requested. You should also pay with a personal check rather than cash or by money order because you will have a more easily provable record of payment.
Money order receipts don't prove that the landlord received the money order. All a money order receipt proves is merely that you obtained a money order in that particular amount. And it is very time consuming and difficult to prove that a money order was cashed/deposited.
You could be evicted before you can prove you were right (although there are sometimes ways to reopen the case on grounds of fraud later on if you receive such evidence). Obviously, the best way to pay rent is by credit card or bank account debit.
We cannot guarantee that you will be able to break your Arizona lease. However, we often can find ways for you to legally break your lease, if you follow our precise instructions and you are prepared to defend your actions in court if your landlord sues you, and you must accept the risk of losing a court case, which is always something that can happen although not likely to happen if you follow the rules to the T.
The fee for our lease termination advisory service varies but can be as little as $250 (the cost of the advisory consultation). Others, even nonlawyers disguised doc-prep-shop operators, may charge you thousands of dollars to accomplish what will cost you usually a few hundred dollars or less through our office.
Do not be so quick to assume that you cannot afford our services. We often can represent you at a rate that is manageable for you. But even if that is not the case, we can at least give you some advice and guidance so that you will be better equipped to battle your landlord in court.
Obviously, this is nowhere near as good as having a legal advocate by your side in the courtroom. After all, the landlord will most likely be represented by savvy counsel, and you should do everything possible to find the funds to obtain savvy counsel of your own.
But if you simply do not have the financial resources to hire a full-time advocate, having someone assisting you behind the scenes is by far preferable to trying to handle your legal case alone. You can come in for a consultation for $250 and/or pay for our document-preparation-only services that will often cost you only a few hundred dollars.
The system is very much tilted in favor of landlords in Arizona. This is because landlords are well-funded and therefore can hire expensive lobbyists who have easy access to Arizona legislators. They vigorously fight most attempts to make the laws even the least bit friendlier to tenants.
Even a local judge lamented to Mr. Thomas – in open court -- about how unfriendly the Arizona statutes are toward tenants and how he felt his hands were tied by those statutes. You should write your legislators and the governor, and seek to become involved in the passage of any legislation that appears to be tenant-friendly. Oppose any legislation that makes things harder on tenants.
Also, try to engage the media by writing to them about any injustice you or someone you know experienced under the current system.
No. There is only a handful of attorneys in Arizona who represent tenants. This is probably due to a reluctance to practice in an area of law that is so heavily tilted toward the adversary and the fact that many tenants do not have the funds that most attorneys will require for representation. Interestingly, there are not very many attorneys who represent landlords in Arizona residential disputes, either.
There are a few attorneys in Arizona who have cornered most of the apartment-complex representation market. We know most of these attorneys and most of them know us. We have battled with them and we know each other’s styles. Most will play fair with us, even if their clients prefer not to.
Most are willing to negotiate a fair settlement if we have strong evidence against their clients. That is why it is critical that you document your interactions with your landlord, preserve your evidence, and ensure that you follow the landlord/tenant laws to the T.
In Arizona, a landlord can discriminate against you for very many reasons, and the discrimination is still legal. However, there are important exceptions, most notably race, religion, national origin, gender, family status, etc.
If you believe you have been discriminated against for one of the nonpermissible reasons in Arizona, you should first talk to an attorney who handles discrimination cases. We would be happy to supply a referral. Also, you should call the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), 1-800-669-9777. Alternatively, you can click this link: hud.gov
Arizona's landlord retaliation statute is A.R.S. §33-1381. If you complain to a governmental agency that enforces housing or building code violations that materially affect health and safety, complain to a landlord about a health and safety violation, or organize or become a member of a tenants' union or substantially similar organization, and the landlord subsequently increases your rent, decreases services, brings a lawsuit for eviction, and/or threatens to bring a lawsuit for eviction, you may have a claim for retaliatory conduct.
There are certain presumptions and other issues that must be carefully analyzed. An Arizona tenant who has faced such retaliatory conduct has various remedies available, but you should let us help you carefully document and prove your case.
These remedies in Arizona include terminating the rental agreement, recovering possession of the property, or suing the Arizona landlord for the greater of twice the rent or actual damages. We may also be able to use the retaliatory conduct as a basis for a counterclaim if your landlord sues you first.
This is usually a bad idea, even in those few situations when it is legally permissible to do so. It is hard enough to win cases in the landlord-friendly system here in Arizona, and using the self-help procedures contained in the Arizona Residential Landlord Tenant Act will usually be heavily scrutinized to make sure you followed all the requirements to the T.
Read A.R.S. §33-1363. It lays out the limited circumstances when tenants in Arizona can legally engage in self-help. Then schedule an appointment to speak to Mr. Thomas to make sure that not you not only can engage in self-help for your situation, but that if you do use the self-help remedy, you go about in the way most likely to be upheld in court should the landlord choose to challenge your exercise of the self-help option.
In Arizona, a landlord has the following obligations with respect to a bedbug infestation:
- 1. The landlord must provide bedbug educational materials to existing and new tenants. Educational materials may include:
- A description of measures that may be taken to prevent and control bedbugs.
- Information about bedbugs, including a description of their appearance.
- A description of behaviors that are risk factors for attracting bedbugs such as purchasing renovated mattresses, using discarded mattresses and furniture, using used or leased furniture, purchasing pre-owned clothing, and traveling without proper precautions.
- Information provided by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other federal, state, or local health agencies.
- Information provided by federal, state, or local housing agencies.
- Information provided by nonprofit housing organizations.
- Information developed by the landlord.
In addition to providing the bedbug educational materials to existing and new tenants in Arizona, the landlord is not permitted to enter into any lease agreement with a tenant for a dwelling unit that the landlord knows to have a current bedbug infestation.
A tenant also has some obligations with respect to a bedbug infestation:
- The tenant must not knowingly move materials into a dwelling unit that is infested with bedbugs.
- A tenant who knows of the presence of bedbugs must provide the landlord written or electronic notification of the presence of bedbugs.
These obligations of the landlord and tenant doe does not limit any other rights, remedies, and obligations under the Arizona Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. Therefore, we often advise tenants to treat a bedbug infestation (that they did not cause) the same as any needed repairs to the leased residence.
That is, the tenant will typically follow the five-day notice procedures outlined in the Arizona Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. But it is important to note that the landlord and tenant of a single-family residence are excluded from the provisions regarding furnishing bedbug educational materials.
Bedbugs are a serious problem in many states, due in part to the high rates of legal and illegal immigration into the United States from all over the world and the inability to use the banned but very effective pesticide DDT that had been used to eliminate virtually all bedbugs from our country.
If you own the home and rent the space -- yes. If you rent the mobile home -- no. In Arizona, people who rent space but own the mobile home are subject to the Arizona Mobile Home Parks Residential Landlord and Tenant Act.
The Act can be found using this Link. The part that pertains to mobile home park tenants starts at A.R.S. §33-1401. In addition to the Arizona Mobile Home Parks Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, there are other contractual standards that probably apply to you as well.
The first places to start at the Arizona Mobile Home Parks Residential Landlord and Tenant Act and your lease and other documentation you signed or that pertain to your mobile park. Then obtain a consultation from an attorney who is knowledgeable about cases under the Arizona Mobile Home Parks Residential Landlord and Tenant Act.
You can call the Maricopa Bar Association’s Lawyer Referral Service at (602) 257-4434 and ask for a referral to an attorney who represents tenants who have disputes involving the Arizona Mobile Home Parks Residential Landlord and Tenant Act.
Yes. You can find the laws that govern Arizona commercial tenants at A.R.S. 33-301, et. seq. Use this link Here. In addition to these laws, contractual standards and lease provisions apply, and so do certain eviction statutes if your lease does not permit the landlord to lock you out without using court procedures.
Contact our office for a consultation because commercial lease disputes are often far more complicated the residential lease disputes.
Yes. This is often a good idea, especially if you are renting a single-family residence. Many single-family residences are rented by landlords who lack experience and/or are unwilling to obtain proper legal advice when setting up their standard leases and other rental documents.
Because of their lack of experience being a landlord, such landlords may knowingly or unknowingly place illegal or inappropriate terms in the lease. Single-family residence landlords are more likely to run afoul of the law because they may take certain actions that are illegal in Arizona.
We have seen a number of single-family residence landlords use lease forms they found for free on the web, forms that violate Arizona laws in a variety of ways. But if the Arizona tenant only looks to the lease agreement for guidance, that tenant may be missing out on important rights that could be exercised to void the lease or hold the landlord accountable in other ways.
Our lease review fee is typically only $350 for residential leases. We may be able to save you thousands of dollars. Even if we find nothing wrong with your lease, at least you will know that the lease is legal and fair.