questions & answers

Question: My apartment building is newly owned by a new company. They're saying that everything that was okayed by the old apartment manager does not mean anything so my boyfriend and I live together we are not currently under a lease and she's saying that he can't be here even though neither of us have a lease and we have both been residing here for a few months now

Answer: A valid rental agreement between a landlord and a tenant can be written or verbal (A.R.S. 33-1310(13)). It does not need to take the form of a written lease. But in order for the tenant to have the right to use and occupy the dwelling, the tenant and the landlord must have some sort of agreement. If rent has been paid by a tenant and accepted by a landlord, then, ordinarily, a rental agreement is said to exist. And any agreement between the tenant and the previous landlord is enforceable against a new landlord. Under the Arizona Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, where a month-to-month rental agreement exists, a landlord who wants to terminate the agreement must give the tenant 30 days’ advance notice (A.R.S. 33-1375(B)).