questions & answers

Question: My landlord sent me a 5 day pay or quit notice to my place of employment, along with a copy to my work email,I work at a large company of about 2k, mail is not given to us directly. It is opened by a mail room clerk and then distributed (if they feel it is work related) to the appropriate dept managers. My work email automatically sends acknowledgements when you open an email. So I know my landlord received this acknowledgement. My question, is can my landlord send me this 5 day notice to my place of work? Is the signature from the mail clerk acceptable in court?

Answer: A.R.S. § 33-1368(B) allows a landlord to terminate the rental agreement for a tenant’s failure to pay rent. The landlord may initiate a forcible detainer action if rent still has not been paid five days after written notice of non-payment of rent by the landlord to the tenant. The 5 day Pay or Quit notice is generally a precursor to a landlord pursuing a forcible detainer action pursuant to A.R.S. § 33-1377. A.R.S. § 33-1368(B) requires that written notice be sent to the tenant, but does not require that it be served on the tenant. If you provided the landlord with your employer’s information, work address and email, it is reasonable that the landlord would use this information to send Notice. Further, while not necessary, the email receipt would likely be considered as evidence that you received the landlord’s Notice. However, in the context of a forcible detainer action, A.R.S. § 33-1377(B) requires that the summons related to a forcible detainer action be served on a tenant. While there are specific statutory provisions for service related to a forcible detainer action, you should be aware that the requirements of service are more lax as applied to the 5 Day Pay or Quit Notice per A.R.S. § 33-1368(B). Simply sending via USPS mail is sufficient. This information is intended to be used as information only, and is not intended to be construed or interpreted as legal advice.