Arizona Tenant Rights

Quick Guide to Arizona Tenant Rights”

AZ Tenant Rights

Arizona Tenant Rights are extremely detailed and reflect the state’s intentions to see a renter’s rights fulfilled all the time and to the fullest extent. In order to find a detailed list of all tenant and landlord rights and responsibilities, you should visit the government website of the state of Arizona. Here you will find the Arizona Tenants’ Rights and Responsibilities handbook. The statutes address everything from before signing the lease to after moving out.

The section on AZ tenant rights extends to cover habitability, retaliation, quiet enjoyment, privacy, and proper notice. These details will be expanded below.

Habitability

The AZ tenant rights under habitability require the landlord to fulfill the following:

1) Meet all the requirements of local building and health codes.

2) Make all necessary repairs to keep the home in livable condition.

3) Keep shared areas clean and safe.

4) Keep all electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilating, air conditioning, and other equipment safe and in working order.

5) Provide and maintain all trash removal.

6) Supply water and enough hot water, heating, and air conditioning.

Retaliation

Your Arizona tenant rights allow you to complain to your landlord or government agency without facing consequences from your landlord. Illegal retaliation from your landlord includes:

1) Increased rent

2) Eviction

3) A reduction in services to you within six months

A landlord in AZ can revoke your actions to renew a lease at the end of any lease agreement. They do not need to provide you with a reason either.

Quiet Enjoyment

According to your AZ tenant rights, your landlord can’t do the following to restrict your quiet enjoyment:

1) Lock you out with the proper court approval or take any of your belongings.

2) Turn off services like electricity, water, or heat—even if your rent is late.

If a landlord violates your Arizona tenant rights for quiet enjoyment, you should notify them that they are in violation of your rights for unlawful lock-out, unlawful seizure of property, or unlawful utility shutoff. You may also sue the landlord for two months rent of damages—whichever is greater.

Privacy

Arizona tenant rights cover certain measures a landlord must take in order to enter the premises as well. These measures include:

1) Giving you at least two days in advances before entering your home

2) Obtaining a court order

3) Establishing that there is an emergency

4) Establishing that it’s not practical to you a two day notice.

Proper Notice

If your landlord wants to raise your rent or decrease your service, there are time periods for a notice with different kinds of rental agreements:

1) A landlord must give a 30-day notice if you are in a month-to-month rental agreement. They must also give the notice a month before the rent is due.

2) They must give a 10 day notice in a week-to-week agreement.

3) In a yearly lease, a landlord cannot raise the rent until the lease is under renewal.

There are other types of notices and AZ tenant rights. If you want to reference these notices and rights, you should research the Arizona handbook under “Evictions.”

What properties do not have conventional Arizona tenant rights?

The following properties are not considered conventional landlord-tenant relationships or are otherwise subject to different terms and conditions related to:

- Rented mobile homes

- Public housing

- Property bought under sales contract

- Custodial or managerial property

- Lodging

This is not an exhaustive list, but general guidelines where the tenants do not have conventional Arizona tenant’s rights and as such, will need to find other methods to express their issues with the property, generally through civil litigation and complaints.

Discrimination

A number of federal and state laws prevent housing discrimination based on race, national origin, disability gender and family status. You will need to contact either the City Attorney’s Office or the Civil Rights Division of the Arizona Attorney General to file complaints and take action against those that violate your Arizona tenant rights. Tenants generally have Arizona tenant rights if they have children, although facilities for the elderly are allowed to set conditions barring children cohabitating the rental unit.

Obligations related to the rental property

In order to protect your Arizona tenant rights and avoid eviction, you must abide by some standard rules for renting a property. This includes the timely payment of rent, in full, regardless of your circumstances, as the failure to do this will lead to eviction. Only through an agreement with the landlord can you expect to work through impediments to making that period’s rent.

Among the obligations necessary to keeping your Arizona tenant rights, you must keep the property clean and safe, use utilities reasonably and avoid damaging the property or disturbing neighbors.

Do I have to allow the landlord access to the property?

According to Arizona tenant rights, the landlord can enter a property immediately only during an emergency or with a court order. For all other times, the landlord must give the tenant 48 hours’ notice when entering the property to make repairs, render services, inspect the property or show the property to other prospective tenants if you are vacating the property. If there is improper entry, then you may file an injuction in court against the landlord.

What are the obligations of the landlord to me under Arizona tenant rights?

The landlord is responsible for the health and safety conditions on the property, removal of trash and supply of hot water, heating and in some cases, cooling. Collectively, these obligations are noted as the “obligation to maintain home” and the tenant can pursue civil action if the landlord fails to meet this obligation. The landlord may never lock you out of the property or dispose of your possessions without first getting a court order.

Can I refuse to pay rent?

Arizona tenant rights do not protect you if you decide against paying your rent. In fact, the landlord might take retaliatory action against you for failing to pay rent, as per the terms of the rental agreement or lease. As long as the lease holds as a legally binding agreement, the renter is obligated to pay rent in a timely manner.

How do I know if the property I live in is covered by AZ tenant rights?

Though most AZ tenant rights ensure coverage for a number of rental properties, there are a few exceptions that are subject to other rules and the tenants will not have certain Arizona tenant right that would be afforded to others in a similar situation. Public housing will be subject to special, conditions terms, as their tenancy deviates from the typically expectation under AZ tenant rights. Other properties not covered include property bough under sales contract, lodging and housing provided to a custodian or manager of a property. For the AZ tenant rights pertaining to these properties, you will have to look in certain sections of commercial law and other agreements. Those that do not have the conventional Arizona tenant right or option to take action against a landlord generally have other options to hold the landlord responsible for conditions that are lacking.

Arizona tenant right against discrimination

Both state and federal law protect prospective tenants from possible discrimination and other bias in seeking housing. Tenants are also protected from being charged extra based on race, national origin, gender or national origin. This Arizona tenant right against discrimination will enforced by the Civil Rights Division of the state Attorney General, as well as any number of local prosecution offices. The tenant has the Arizona tenant right against discrimination and this entitles them to collect damages if there is discrimination by the landlord against them either before or after they have moved into the rental property.

Keeping AZ tenant rights

There are a few things that the tenant must do in order to ensure that their AZ tenant rights are protected. The most obvious of these is to ensure the timely payment of rent. This ensures that the most obvious grounds for eviction that a landlord would have against you is eliminated. If you have issues making rent, then you have the limited Arizona tenant right to try to work something out with the landlord as well as be served appropriate notice that you are to be evicted. Other limited conditions to keeping the Arizona tent right afforded to you by state law include avoiding damage to the property and leaving it clean. The tenant must not disturb other inhabitants or those near the property.

Do I have the Arizona tenant right to keep the landlord away from the property?

The tenant is obligated under Arizona tenant law to allow the landlord reasonable access. The landlord generally has to provide notice first and the tenant must be able to accommodate that request. Arizona tenant law does not apply in an emergency though, where the landlord can generally enter without any prior notice. A landlord is allowed to enter the property under AZ tenant rights to make repairs, inspect for damage and otherwise render services promised by the lease or agreement.