questions & answers

Question: Landlord took 45 days to fix mold and pipe repair. Landlord has taken 50+ days to fix a broken microwave. I have not been able to bill clients when I am at the house waiting for contractors. I have calculated almost 40 hours of time acting as her "Property Manager". What can I do?

Answer: It seems unlikely that you would have a cause of action for suing the landlord for compensation for lost income, but to know for sure you would need to reach out to a private attorney to discuss your possible options. Within the realm of landlord/tenant law, the next time a serious problem arises, you may wish to consider providing the landlord with formal written notice – in the form of a signed and dated letter describing the problem in detail and requesting that it be repaired as soon as possible – and, then, if the problem goes unrepaired for an unreasonable length of time, a second written notice stating your intention to exercise your legal options under the Arizona Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (A.R.S. Title 33 Chapter 10). Under the Act, a landlord is required (among other things) to “make all repairs and do whatever is necessary to put and keep the premises in a fit and habitable condition” and to “maintain in good and safe working order and condition all electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilating, air-conditioning and other facilities and appliances […] supplied or required to be supplied by him” (A.R.S. 33-1324), and a tenant whose landlord, even after the landlord has received written notice from the tenant, remains in “material noncompliance” with these obligations “may deliver a written notice to the landlord specifying the acts and omissions constituting the breach and that the rental agreement will terminate upon a date not less than ten days after receipt of the notice if the breach is not remedied in ten days” (A.R.S. 33-1361).