Speaker 1: Knowing your rights and responsibilities as a renter is vital if you want to keep a healthy relationship with your tenant throughout the duration of your rental agreement. Arizona landlord-tenant laws may vary depending on the county, but there are some general guidelines that landlords should always follow and make sure to include within their lease agreements. So in this video, we're just going to go over some general Arizona landlord-tenant laws, explaining both the landlord's and tenant's rights and responsibilities at the time of renting a unit. Keep in mind that I'm not an attorney, so if you need any specific information regarding your local law, make sure you seek legal advice from an actual attorney. A rental agreement is a document that provides all of the guidelines that a landlord and a tenant must both follow to keep a healthy and safe renting environment for everyone. Now, these documents in Arizona are required for tenancies that go 12 months or longer, however, most landlords in this state draft lease agreements regardless of the duration of the tenancy. Lease agreements in Arizona follow the Arizona Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, which explains most of the clauses and laws that all parties have to follow. Yes, Arizona is in fact considered a landlord-friendly state because of its low property taxes, which is one of the lowest in the country at 0.72%. Another reason why Arizona laws benefit landlords is that there's a lot of flexibility when it comes to written notices and eviction laws. So for example, a landlord may choose to evict a tenant for late payments. In these cases, the landlord must provide at least a five-day written notice to the tenant. As stated before, a lease agreement provides information on the rights and responsibilities that all parties have to follow to comply with Arizona laws. If the tenant or landlord fail to comply with these requirements, one of the parties may be eligible to seek legal help. According to the Arizona Department of Housing, landlords must provide a rental unit that complies with the standard health and safety requirements. Otherwise, the rental unit may not be fit for the tenant, and they may seek legal help if the landlord doesn't provide the required help. Landlords' obligations require them to provide essential services, such as reasonable amounts of hot water, gas, heat, air conditioning, and other appliances. If the unit needs any big repairs, the tenant must give at least ten days' notice for the landlord to fix the problem. However, if the landlord doesn't offer this fix and the repair cost is lower than $300, tenants are legally allowed to deduct the repairs from their monthly rent. Alternatively, landlords are allowed to collect rent, charge late fees, or evict their tenants for serious violations of the rental agreement. Tenants in Arizona have the right to ask for habitable housing, appliances in running condition, such as running water, and a safe environment. If the property is deemed unsafe for the tenant, they may seek the Repair and Deduction Law, which states that a tenant may make repairs and deduct the costs from their rent if the landlord doesn't provide essential repairs within ten days of the notice. On the other hand, a tenant must keep their rented property in good condition for the amount of time they're planning to be there. This includes regular cleaning, routine maintenance, and not disturbing neighbors or other tenants. According to Arizona law, a landlord may charge any rent amount that they consider appropriate. This is because Arizona doesn't have any rent control measures. In most cases, a landlord may ask their tenants to pay up front before moving in with a security deposit. This is usually a security deposit of one half of the first month of rent. Keep in mind that a tenant might withhold the rent if the landlord cannot provide the essential services. However, if the tenant chooses to withhold the rent without reason, the landlord might file a lawsuit. Now, while Arizona doesn't legally require a landlord to charge these rental fees, most of them charge them to get the tenants to pay on time. However, this is different for a mobile home, in which a landlord may not charge a late fee higher than $5 for each late day. There aren't any grace periods required for residential properties, so a landlord may or may not choose to include them in their rental agreement. Now, according to Arizona landlord-tenant law, security deposits are not required for a rental agreement. However, if a landlord wants to charge security deposits, they have to follow certain guidelines. The security deposit should not be higher than one and one half month's worth of rent, and a landlord can mix a security deposit with other personal assets, but it's not the general case. Now, if the tenant decides to terminate the lease, the landlord has 14 days to return the security deposit. Landlords who fail to return the security deposit might be exposed to a lawsuit from the tenant. In these cases, tenant rights allow them to charge the landlord for damages equal to two times the value of the security deposit. Now, that being said, the landlord can withhold part or all of the security deposit in cases of extreme wear and tear of the property, unpaid rent, or a violation of the lease agreement. According to the Arizona Landlord and Tenant Act, Statute 33-1318, a tenant can terminate the lease early in the following cases. Domestic violence, uninhabitable housing conditions, access refusal, or retaliation. And regardless of the case, the tenant has to give a written notice to the landlord before leaving the property. Now, on the other hand, a landlord in Arizona has the right to evict a tenant from their property for many reasons. These can be one of the following. Violation of the agreement, criminal activity, or the tenant has failed to pay the rent. Now, in cases of eviction with cause, the landlord must give at least a five days notice to the tenant. However, if the landlord gives the tenant an unconditional quit notice, the former might seek legal advice for the tenant to leave. On the other hand, a landlord who wants to terminate the lease without cause has to give a 30 days or one month's notice to the tenant, and if the tenant fails to leave the property after these 30 days, then the landlord can file a lawsuit. It's important to note that a landlord can't evict a tenant without a court order, meaning that a landlord can't change the locks or force the tenant to move out in any way. In Arizona, this is known as a self-help eviction. Mobile homes have a slightly different approach when it comes to rent payments in a lease. According to Arizona Landlord-Tenant laws, a late rent fee must not exceed $5 per day. On the other hand, there is a grace period for late rent payments in a mobile home lease. In these cases, the landlord has to wait five days until they can give the tenant a pay or quit warning. If the tenant is a domestic violence victim, they could terminate the lease early with a written notice. However, the tenant must provide proof of the violent acts. Alternatively, the tenant may ask the landlord to change the property locks for their own safety. If the landlord agrees with this request, then they can get a copy of the new keys. Regardless of the renting conditions, the landlord must always disclose the following information to their tenants. Anything about lead-based paint, bed bugs, disclosure of the Landlord-Tenant Act in Arizona, contact information of the parties involved, or copy of the lease documents. In the case of lead-based paint, the landlord must get the tenant an EPA-approved pamphlet in which the hazards of lead paint are thoroughly explained. There are currently no known pet laws according to Arizona Landlord-Tenant Law, meaning that the landlord can choose their own requirements for a pet on the property. However, a tenant with disabilities is legally allowed to take their service pets to public accommodations. You can read more about it in the Federal Americans with Disabilities Act. Federal Landlord-Tenant Laws in Arizona protect tenants from any type of discrimination from their landlord. This includes discrimination for the tenant's race, religion, sexual orientation, gender, color, etc. If the landlord wants to enter the rental property, they need to give the tenant at least a two-days notice. This is for non-emergency cases. A landlord can legally enter the property without any written notice during an emergency. Whether you're a landlord or a tenant, it is incredibly important that you know the rules and regulations that you have to follow. Overall, the landlord has to make sure that their property is habitable for their tenant, and the tenant has to take the necessary measures to keep the property in good shape and they have to pay their rent on time. For more information on eviction laws in Arizona, be sure to check out this video where I will walk you through the entire process from beginning to end. Thank you so much for watching. Subscribe if you haven't already, and I will see you in the next one.