Landlord and Tenant Rights and Responsibilities

questions & answers

Question: After a landlord has accepted and approved your application and payment can they continue to investigate your past residency and then evict you shortly after tenant moces in for a bad landlord refrence

Answer: Your rights can be found in the Arizona Residential Landlord-Tenant Act (found here: http://www.maricopacountyattorney.org/pdfs/community/Residential-Landlord-Tenant-Act.pdf). Under A.R.S. 33-1368, it would be a material breach by you if you falsified information on the rental application (regarding number of occupants, pets, income, social security number, current employment, criminal records, prior eviction record, and criminal activity). If, however, you answered all of the questions accurately and truthfully, and there is no other basis to evict you, the bad referenced from your old landlord after you and the landlord have already signed the lease is not a legal basis to evict you and you should be able to successfully defend any efforts to evict you. If your landlord files an eviction action, I recommend you seek the assistance of a competent attorney as you may be entitled to recover your attorneys' fees and costs if you prevail.