General Housing Information

questions & answers

Question: What are the laws to have normal wear n tear fixed. How often?

Answer: Under the Arizona Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, a tenant may “not deliberately or negligently destroy, deface, damage, impair or remove any part of the premises or knowingly permit any person to do so” (A.R.S. 33-1341). Arizona law requires that the tenant “exercise diligence to maintain the premises in as good condition as when he took possession, ordinary wear and tear excepted” (A.R.S. 33-321). So tenants are never responsible for repairing “ordinary wear and tear.” Under the Act, a landlord must “make all repairs and do whatever is necessary to put and keep the premises in a fit and habitable condition” (A.R.S. 33-1324). The Act does not identify any specific timelines according to which landlords must repair “ordinary wear and tear” – unless that wear and tear has somehow made the premises not “fit and habitable.”