Landlord and Tenant Rights and Responsibilities

questions & answers

Question: If we are moving into a house and the Tenant did not clean after they left and we are cleaning it. do we have to pay a deposit.

Answer: A security deposit is a sum of money that a landlord is permitted to charge a tenant at the beginning of a tenancy in order to ensure that if the tenant causes any damage to the rental unit beyond ordinary wear and tear or moves out without first paying all of the rent that the tenant owes, the landlord will have already money to cover those losses. The rental agreement must state what portions of the security deposit are or are not refundable (A.R.S. 33-1321). The landlord is permitted to require a security deposit of a new tenant regardless of what the previous tenant did or did not do, so a new tenant who feels that a previous tenant should have done something (cleaned the rental unit, for example) before moving out should insist that the landlord take care of it.