What Landlords Need to Know Before Going to Court
- Landlords and tenants each have different rights and responsibilities.
- If a tenant is not following the rules or the law, the landlord has various remedies.
- But the landlord must follow a process to exercise those rights, which are found in the Arizona Residential Landlord Tenant Act.
- The first thing a landlord must do is to prepare a written notice of the alleged breach.
- A breach happens when one of the parties to a contract, here a rental agreement, has failed to do something they promised to do, or did something that should not be done.
- For example, if a tenant allows a pet to live on the premises when the rental agreement indicates that pets are not allowed… that’s a breach of the rental agreement.
- The notice must tell the tenant specifically what the alleged breach is and what needs to be done to correct it.
- Let’s talk about the second requirement…
- The landlord must deliver the notice to the tenant by handing it to someone there.
- Alternately, the landlord may deliver the notice by mailing it certified or registered mail.
- The third requirement concerns how much time is given to the tenant to fix the breach.
- If the notice is sent by mail, the time to fix the issue is extended by up to 5 days,
- …even if the tenant doesn’t pick up the certified letter.
- There are different time frames to fix different types of breaches.
- And…the tenant has the right to fix most breaches.
- If the tenant does not fix the issue within the required time frame, the landlord can then file an eviction action.
- If the tenant fixes the issue but then commits the same or similar breach in the future, the landlord can terminate the lease with a 10-day notice.
- If the issue involves a crime or other serious issue, the tenant can’t fix that issue and must move to avoid the eviction hearing if they are responsible for the serious breach.
- If the issue involves a serious health or safety issue, the tenant must fix that within 5 days
- If the breach is for the non-payment of rent, the tenant can fix the issue by paying the rent plus any late fees listed in the lease.
- For more detailed information regarding the non-payment of rent, view the video entitled “Your Landlord is Taking You to Court”
- If the breach is for something else, the tenant can fix the issue by stopping the alleged behavior or fix whatever they were not doing but are required to do.
- If the breach is not fixed, the landlord can file an eviction action with the court.
- However, the landlord can’t lock out the tenant at this stage.
- Instead, the landlord must go to court and get a judgment.
- For more information about what to expect once you get to court, watch the video entitled “What Will Happen in Court.”
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