questions & answers

Question: My lease states that 2 adults are allowed to leave in the premises. I had a friend stay with me and my landlord forced me to kicked them out. He said that having somebody else stay with me without his approval meant I broke the lease and he could evict me. I have always paid rent on time and he is enforcing rules with me that he is not enforcing with the other tenants. I can't afford a lawyer and I fell harassed. What are my options?

Answer:

Many lease agreements contain provisions that talk about how many people may stay in an apartment or house.  They often also contain a seperate section which discusses visitors and extended visitors.  Many lease agreements state that if a person stays longer than x amount of days (usually a week) than the landlord must be notified.  If the visitor is actually more like a roommate the landlord may have a provision in the lease agreement that requires another lease agreement to be signed.  If a section of the lease isn't followed then the lease is considered broken.  Once a tenant has broken a lease it is in the landords choice whether or not to evict a tenent.

Read over your particular agreement, if you still feel you are being harassed then you may want to contact an attorney to discuss your specific situation.  To find an attorney you may want to review the following links: the Maricopa County Bar Association, the Pima County Bar Association, the State Bar of Arizona or the find legal help link on this site.