Landlord and Tenant Rights and Responsibilities

questions & answers

Question: I have a roof that needs to be replaced. It has holes into the attic and the roofing material is beyond repair. How can I force the Landloard to fix it.

Answer: Under Arizona law a tenant may not compel a landlord to make repairs that the landlord is required to make – whether by the rental agreement and/or by the general landlord obligations described in the Arizona Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (A.R.S. Title 33 Chapter 10) – by (for example) withholding rent until the repairs are completed. All the tenant may do is make a formal demand – in a signed and dated writing – describing in detail the nature of the problem and requesting that the problem be fixed as soon as reasonably possible. (The tenant should keep a copy of this letter for her records and either deliver the letter by hand or send it to the landlord by certified mail, return receipt requested.) The kind of demand that the tenant should make is dependent on whether the tenant wants (a) to continue to reside in the dwelling or (b) to terminate the rental agreement and leave. If the tenant wants to continue to reside in the dwelling, then the tenant may sue the landlord for monetary damages or an injunction in court (A.R.S. 33-1361(B)) or, if the reasonable cost of making the required repairs would be an amount equal to or less than one-half of the monthly rent, the tenant “may notify the landlord of the tenant’s 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 ten 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, not exceeding the amount specified in this subsection.” (The cost may not exceed 50% of one month’s rent.) If the tenant wants to terminate the rental agreement and leave if the problem is not fixed, then 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 ten days after receipt of the notice if the breach is not remedied in ten days” (A.R.S. 33-1361(A)).