questions & answers

Question: We had no electric in one room of our rental for 9 months. It would sometimes flicker when we jumped on the floor or slammed the door. We contacted the landlord several times to repair it. We have several text messages stating such. The cost to repair was more than 50% of our rent. We gave our 30 day notice on July 2 for August 1st after months of trying to get this repaired. Our landlord checked us out on Aug 1 stating everything was perfect and we would receive all of our deposit back in 14 business days. Our total deposit was $1850- we received $300. They stated we did not give them notice.

Answer: The responsibilities of tenants and landlords are controlled by the Arizona Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (“Landlord/Tenant Act”). This means that all of the rules of the Landlord/Tenant Act are automatically a part of any lease agreement. In every case, landlords are required to maintain electrical equipment and make necessary repairs to make the home habitable (safe and livable). Arizona law says that when a landlord does not comply with the lease in a “material” way, a tenant does have the option to give notice a 10 day written notice to terminate the lease. What this means is, if a reasonable person wouldn’t choose to live under these conditions, then the tenant can write the landlord a notice and, if the problem is not fixed within the 10 days, the tenant can move and still get any security deposit owed to them. There are four requirements for this notice; 1) it must be in writing (this would include letter, email, text or any other written source), 2) it must explain the problem, 3) the tenant must not have caused the problem, and 4) it must give the landlord at least 10 days to fix the problem. A.R.S. § 33-1361 A landlord must return all of the security deposit or provide the tenant with a detailed list of charges for property damage with any remaining money due to the tenant within 14 days (not counting weekends and holidays) of the move out inspection. If a landlord does not return the deposit and/or provide the detailed list within 14 days, the tenant has the right to file a suit in a justice court and request the landlord pay double the amount of money that was wrongfully denied. A.R.S. § 33-1321