questions & answers

Question: A girl was staying with me for 2 months and I never drafted a lease, she threatened the domain of my home as far as personal property is concerned and was completely insubordinate whether it be cleanliness, punctuality so on and so forth. In the end I kicked her out. What legal right if any is in her favor? To my understanding she was never a legal tenant so I would think almost next to none.

Answer: A potentially important distinction in such a situation is whether the person is a tenant or merely a guest. Under Arizona law, if a person is (or could be considered to be) entitled by a rental agreement – even just an oral agreement – to occupy the dwelling, then in theory that person is a tenant (A.R.S. 33-1310(16)) who thus has a right to be provided with 30 days written notice (A.R.S. 33-1375), only after which time the “landlord” may file an eviction complaint with the court. (If the person is a tenant, then only a judge can order that person’s eviction, and locking that person out before a judge permits it is unlawful.) However, if the person is merely a (now unwanted) guest, then the Arizona Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (A.R.S. Title 33 Chapter 10) says the following: “A person who is a guest of a tenant who is not named on a written lease and who remains on the premises without the permission of the tenant or the landlord is not a lawful tenant and that person’s presence in or on the premises does not constitute residency or tenancy. A person who knowingly remains on the premises without the permission of the tenant or the landlord may be removed by a law enforcement officer at the request of the tenant or the landlord who is entitled to possession of the premises” (A.R.S. 33-1378).