Landlord and Tenant Rights and Responsibilities

questions & answers

Question: Does my landlord have to have the correct size AC unit to support the sq. footage of the home I'm renting from him?

Answer: As a general rule, unless the terms or conditions in a rental agreement between a landlord and a tenant are inconsistent with the requirements of Arizona law, whatever the rental agreement says (or does not say) is what determines what the landlord is or is not required to provide to the tenant. The Arizona Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (A.R.S. Title 33 Chapter 10) states only that the landlord must (among other things) “comply with the requirements of applicable building codes materially affecting health and safety,” which includes the provision of “adequate heating and cooling” (A.R.S. 9-1303); “make all repairs and do whatever is necessary to put and keep the premises in a fit and habitable condition”; “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”; and “supply […] reasonable heat and reasonable air-conditioning or cooling where such units are installed and offered, when required by seasonal weather conditions, except where the building that includes the dwelling unit is not required by law to be equipped for that purpose or the dwelling unit is so constructed that heat, air-conditioning, cooling or hot water is generated by an installation within the exclusive control of the tenant and supplied by a direct public utility connection” (A.R.S. 33-1324). If you believe that your landlord is failing to provide adequate A/C to cool your rented home in violation of either (1) his specific obligations as described in your rental agreement or (2) his general obligations under A.R.S. 33-1324, then you may wish to send him a signed and dated letter describing the problem in detail and requesting that he fix it as soon as possible.