questions & answers

Question: We've signed a lease for 1 yr from July 15th, 2017 to July 15, 2018. Our owner is attempting to modify our lease agreement which states that our management office will collect any mail packages while we are absent. Now, they are threatening to charge us $7 a month to rent an on premise locker or we'll have to drive to our local post office to retrieve our mail packages. Is it legal to change the lease terms 4 months after we signed our Lease?

Answer: As a general rule, a landlord is permitted to include in a rental agreement any fee or other term or condition he chooses, so long as that fee or other term or condition (or its application) does not violate the law (A.R.S. 33-1314). However, a tenant cannot be compelled to pay a new fee until the current rental agreement expires, unless the tenant agreed in writing to a potential new fee in the original rental agreement. The landlord only has the right to modify a rental agreement upon its expiration, at which time the tenant has an opportunity to decide whether to accept that modification and renew the agreement or leave.