questions & answers

Question: I'm a property manager and I have a tenant who pays rent however her adult son is on drugs and liters and trespasses on the property and sleeps on her front porch. Many tenants have been complaining and do not feel safe. Can I legally evict her for to her son not being on the lease. My tenant won't let him in the house but leaves food and water out for him each night.

Answer: Under the Arizona Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (A.R.S. Title 33 Chapter 10), a tenant is required to “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. 33-1341) and to comply with all property-specific rules or regulations that are intended (among other things) to “promote the convenience, safety or welfare of the tenants in the premises” (A.R.S. 33-1342) (so long as those rules or regulations are enforced evenly and fairly and were known to the tenant before the tenant entered into the rental agreement). It is always recommended before the landlord does anything else that the landlord document and keep careful records of any violations by a tenant and inform the tenant in writing (keeping a copy to place in the tenant’s file) that the tenant is in violation of the rental agreement. If, after receiving this letter, the tenant continues to violate the rental agreement, then the landlord has options. If there is a “material noncompliance” with the rental agreement by the tenant – in other words, a serious violation – then the landlord may deliver a written notice to the tenant specifying the conduct that is in violation of the rental agreement and stating that the rental agreement will terminate on a date not less than ten days after receipt of the notice if the violation is not fixed in ten days (A.R.S. 33-1368(A)). (If the tenant is able to comply with the rental agreement within those ten days, then the rental agreement will not terminate.) If there is a noncompliance by the tenant “materially affecting health and safety,” then the landlord may deliver a written notice to the tenant specifying the conduct that is in violation of the rental agreement and stating the rental agreement will terminate on a date not less than five days after receipt of the notice if the breach is not remedied in five days. (If the tenant is able to comply with the rental agreement within those five days, then the rental agreement will not terminate.) The landlord must deliver such a letter to the tenant before the landlord may seek a formal eviction through the court.