questions & answers

Question: My tenant moved in her adult daughter with two minor children without my knowledge. When told I said she could stay as a guest for two months while she finds a place to live. This was 5 months ago. She will now not leave. I have now been told I cannot evict her because of the fair housing act although she was never on the lease and I have in no way discrimated against anyone on the lease. This makes 5 adults and 3 minors living in my 4 bedroom home. Can I evict them for breach of contract.

Answer: Under the Arizona Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, a landlord whose tenant is in violation of their rental agreement – including with regard to the number of occupants in the unit – “may deliver a written notice to the tenant specifying the acts and omissions constituting the breach and that the rental agreement will terminate on a date not less than ten days after receipt of the notice if the breach is not remedied in ten days” (A.R.S. 33-1368(A)). The landlord should keep a copy of this notice for their own records (and ideally have some proof of its delivery). If, even after receiving this written notice, the tenant does not remedy the breach – by removing the unauthorized occupants or by successfully negotiating with the landlord for permission for the additional occupants to reside in the dwelling under a new rental agreement – then the landlord may go to court to ask that the tenant be evicted (A.R.S. 33-1377).