Landlord and Tenant Rights and Responsibilities

questions & answers

Question: Can't pay rent because of being laid off landlord shut hot water off I have a baby

Answer: I'm sorry to hear about your situation. Unless and until you are evicted (for which you may have protection during the pandemic), the landlord may not withhold water, hot water, heat, or A/C. Arizona Revised Statutes (A.R.S.) 33-1324 provides that: "The landlord shall . . . Supply running water and reasonable amounts of hot water at all times, reasonable heat and reasonable air-conditioning or cooling . . . ." Under A.R.S. 33-1364, there are several remedies available to tenants. I will paste it in its entirety below. 1. Get your own hot water and deduct it from the rent you owe. If caused by the landlord's failure to pay his bills, you may pay the utility directly. 2. Recover money damages based on the decreased value of the unit without hot water 3. Move while the landlord has it turned off in which case you are not required to pay rent during the time the landlord fails to provide services. In order to take advantage of any of these, you must give notice of your intent to do so pursuant to A.R.S. 33-1364(H). Alternatively, you may give notice of a default and your intent to terminate the lease within 5 days if not remedied and pursuant to A.R.S. 33-1361. Here is a link to the Arizona Landlord Tenant Act containing these statutes and the other landlord-tenant statutes: https://housing.az.gov/sites/default/files/documents/files/Landlord-Tenant-Act-ADOH-Publication-July-2018_0.pdf I wish you the best.