questions & answers

Question: We terminated our lease early. We gave them notice in writing. They have continued to stall getting the house rented to someone else. It was ready to be moved into at the first of the month and they won't even let a new tenant look at it until the 10th. I read that according to Ariz rev stat 33-1370 that a "landlord has a duty to find a new tenant". I'm having a problem finding that actual wording in the law. We are on the hook for rent until a new renter is found, but it seems they are preventing that.

Answer: Under Arizona law, if a tenant moves out before a rental agreement has ended, the landlord has a duty to “mitigate” – that is, a duty to do their best to reduce – any monetary damages the tenant will suffer, and the landlord must do this by making a good faith effort to re-rent the vacated unit as soon as possible. The section of the Arizona Residential Landlord and Tenant Act that addresses this requirement is A.R.S. 33-1305(A): “The remedies provided by this chapter shall be so administered that the aggrieved party may recover appropriate damages. The aggrieved party has a duty to mitigate damages.”