questions & answers

Question: I have received a notice to move in 30 days...actually it is only 28 days as they did not figure Feb being a short month...is this legal? They want me to move in the middle of the month...my lease is up in 9/15 - they have given me no reason. Is this legal? Can they evict me? What can I do to stop this? I plan to move before my lease is up anyway.

Answer: The Arizona Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (ARLTA) regulates the eviction process in Arizona; landlords must carefully follow all the procedures contained within the act when evicting a tenant.  For example, the Landlord’s initial written Notice to the tenant must comply with specific requirements, must state the reason for the eviction and, those reasons are limited to certain forms of breach by the Tenant, primarily nonpayment of rent.(If the Landlord is selling the property, he/she can evict for this reason, but only if Tenant’s lease specifically allows this in advance.)

To require a Tenant to leave, the Landlord must, after the Notice period expires, the Landlord must file a lawsuit (“Special Detainer”) in the local Justice Court. The Tenant can defend against this lawsuit based on, for example non-breach or improper eviction notice.  The final outcome of this lawsuit determines if and when actual eviction occurs.  In other words, the full eviction process will take longer than the time specified on the landlord’s original eviction notice.

For more information on the eviction process, contact the Justice Court (within the AZ Superior Court) for your county.

For legal representation, see http://www.azlawhelp.org/legalaidlisting.cfm