questions & answers

Question: We rent a house that has a well water system. Sunday the well quit working. After trying to contact landlord all day via his phone and speaking with his son he agreed to have someone come out. The company came out Monday morning, found the problem and relayed this and the cost to the landlord. His response was that he did not want to pay this price. He asked if we can pay 1/3 of the cost after he finds a cheaper contractor to fix the problem. The motor is out on the pump. Now it is Tuesday we still have no water. 6 cats, 3 dogs, chickens, and 3 people with no water except what we bought in jug

Answer: I'm sorry to hear about your predicament. Your lease is likely governed by the Arizona Residential Landlord Tenant Act. A link to the act can be found here: http://www.maricopacountyattorney.org/pdfs/community/Residential-Landlord-Tenant-Act.pdf

Under A.R.S. 33-1324(A)(4) and (A)(6), a landlord is required to "maintain in good and safe working order and condition all electrical, plumbing . . . supplied or required to be supplied by him" as well as to "[s]upply running water and reasonable amounts of hot water at all times . . . ." A.R.S. 33-1362 governs a landlord's wrongful failure to provide water. Your remedies under that statute include to get your own water and deduct it from the rent, recover damages, or get substitute housing during which period you are not required to pay rent. Unless your lease has some agreement about you paying for a portion of well repairs, this appears to all fall on your landlord. Please note that I am providing general information based on the limited information that I have. I am unable to provide specific legal advice, and we have not entered into an attorney-client relationship. I wish you and your family the best.