questions & answers

Question: Our downstairs neighbor has been complaining that our 5 year old is to noisy and she has complained to the landlord even though we have accommodated her every time she's complained she sends us text messages on a daily bases and has just sent one saying that the landlord is kicking us out and we have a surprise coming to us .can the landlord legally kick us out due to a 5 year old being a 5 year old

Answer: Under the Arizona Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (A.R.S. 33 Chapter 10), every tenant has a legal responsibility “conduct himself and require other persons on the premises with his consent to conduct themselves in a manner that will not disturb his neighbors’ peaceful enjoyment of the premises” (A.R.S. 33-1431(7)). The answer to the question of whether or not a particular situation – for example, a child running along the floor in an upstairs unit – rises to the level of a nuisance for which a 5-day notice preceding a potential eviction may be issued always depends on the specific facts (how loud, how frequent, what time of day, etc.). Although downstairs neighbors have a responsibility to tolerate the occasional noise caused by a 5-year-old upstairs, upstairs neighbors with 5-year-olds also have a responsibility to ensure that their downstairs neighbors’ peaceful enjoyment of their own homes is not disturbed.