Landlord and Tenant Rights and Responsibilities

questions & answers

Question: My apartment complex has altered the equipment in the shower so that it lowers the water usage and the tenant had no say in this matter. Can they do this when the tenant signed a lease with the expectation of the existing shower?

Answer: Assuming your rental agreement does not address this issue, then the landlord would need to argue that the alterations were necessary in order for the landlord to fulfill the landlord’s obligation under the Arizona Residential Landlord and Tenant Act to “maintain fit premises,” which requires that the landlord “comply with the requirements of applicable building codes materially affecting health and safety”; “make all repairs and do whatever is necessary to put and keep the premises in a fit and habitable condition”; “keep all common areas of the premises in a clean and safe condition”; and “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). If the alterations were not necessary under A.R.S. 33-1324, then the tenant – in theory – might have an argument that the landlord has unilaterally altered the bargain between the landlord and the tenant.