What Landlords Need to Know Before Going to Court

1. Landlords and tenants each have different rights and responsibilities.
2. If a tenant is not following the rules or the law, the landlord has various remedies.
3. But the landlord must follow a process to exercise those rights, which are found in the Arizona Residential Landlord Tenant Act.
4. The first thing a landlord must do is to prepare a written notice of the alleged breach.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. The notice must tell the tenant specifically what the alleged breach is and what needs to be done to correct it.
8. Let’s talk about the second requirement…
9. The landlord must deliver the notice to the tenant by handing it to someone there.
10. Alternately, the landlord may deliver the notice by mailing it certified or registered mail.
11. The third requirement concerns how much time is given to the tenant to fix the breach.
12. If the notice is sent by mail, the time to fix the issue is extended by up to 5 days,
13. …even if the tenant doesn’t pick up the certified letter.
14. There are different time frames to fix different types of breaches.
15. And…the tenant has the right to fix most breaches.
16. If the tenant does not fix the issue within the required time frame, the landlord can then file an eviction action.
17. 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.
18. 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.
19. If the issue involves a serious health or safety issue, the tenant must fix that within 5 days
20. 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.
21. For more detailed information regarding the non-payment of rent, view the video entitled “Your Landlord is Taking You to Court”
22. 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.
23. If the breach is not fixed, the landlord can file an eviction action with the court.
24. However, the landlord can’t lock out the tenant at this stage.
25. Instead, the landlord must go to court and get a judgment.
26. For more information about what to expect once you get to court, watch the video entitled “What Will Happen in Court.”

Resources:

Eviction Legal Info Sheets

Eviction Videos