questions & answers

Question: Have a single wide at a park, power has been continuously cutting for the past two weeks due to a faulty breaker in park hook up (not in home), have notified park management 9 days ago and they have still not fixed it. Extreme temperatures outside are causing high temperatures inside, endangering my pets. What can I do to speed things along?

Answer: Under the Arizona Mobile Home Parks Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, landlords are required to (among other things) “comply with the requirements of all applicable city, county and state codes materially affecting health and safety” (which include requirements regarding adequate indoor cooling); “make all repairs and do whatever is necessary to put and keep the premises in a fit and habitable condition”; and “furnish outlets for electric, water and sewer services” (A.R.S. 33-1434). The Act gives a tenant whose landlord is violating A.R.S. 33-1434 several options: 1. The Act states that “[i]f there is a noncompliance by the landlord with section 33-1434 materially affecting health and safety, the tenant may deliver a written notice to the landlord specifying the acts and omissions constituting the breach and that the rental agreement will terminate upon a date not less than twenty days after receipt of the notice if the breach is not remedied in ten days” (A.R.S. 33-1471(A)). 2. The Act also states that “the tenant may recover damages, and obtain injunctive relief for any noncompliance by the landlord with the rental agreement or section 33-1434” (A.R.S. 33-1471(B). (This option requires the tenant to take the landlord to court.) 3. The Act also states that “If the landlord fails to comply with section 33-1434, the tenant ... may notify the landlord of his intention to correct the condition at the landlord’s expense. After being notified by the tenant in writing, if the landlord fails to comply within twenty days or as promptly thereafter as conditions require in case of emergency, the tenant may cause the work to be done by a licensed contractor and, after submitting to the landlord an itemized statement and a waiver of lien, deduct from his rent the actual and reasonable cost of the work” (A.R.S. 1473(A)). If you would like to discuss your specific situation, and in particular your rights under A.R.S. 33-1471(B), with a legal advocate, there are links to free and low-cost legal services on this website (at http://www.azlawhelp.org/accessToJustice).