questions & answers

Question: Hi last weekend our toilet in our rental wouldn't flush and water backed up into tub took toilet up to see what was maybe stuck in toilet. landlord was not happy I did that. now this evening our second bathroom stopped flushing and water backed up into bathtub. is this my responsibilty to fix as a tenant or is it my landlords rrsponsibilty ?

Answer: Under the Arizona Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, it is the responsibility of the landlord to (among other things) “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”; 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), so long as the condition in need of repair was not deliberately or negligently caused or made worse by the tenant (A.R.S. 33-1341(6)).