Landlord and Tenant Rights and Responsibilities

questions & answers

Question: I rented an apartment that is totaly infested with roaches landlord sprays for roaches which brings out even more. They r on all living room furniture, ceilings, bed. I have asthma and this is really affecting my health

Answer: The Arizona Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (ARLTA) states the tenant must “keep that part of the premises that he occupies and uses as clean and safe as the condition of the premises permit” (A.R.S. 33-1341) while the landlord must “comply with the requirements of applicable building codes materially affecting health and safety”; “make all repairs and do whatever is necessary to put and keep the premises in a fit and habitable condition”; and “keep all common areas of the premises in a clean and safe condition” (A.R.S. 33-1324). Given that an “infestation of insects, vermin or rodents” is considered to be condition materially affecting health and safety (A.R.S. 9-1303), as a general rule pest control is the landlord’s responsibility so long as the problem is not the result of some act or omission on the part of the tenant. A tenant whose landlord is in violation of A.R.S. 33-1324 may wish to provide formal notice of the problem to the landlord in a signed and dated letter, identifying the problem in detail and requesting that the problem be fixed as soon as possible. (The tenant should keep a copy of this letter for their own records, in case the landlord fails to respond or to fix the problem.) If, after a reasonable period of time has passed, the landlord still does not fix the problem, then the tenant may deliver to the landlord a letter once again identifying the problem and stating that if the problem is not fixed within 10 days after the landlord receives this notice then the rental agreement will terminate (A.R.S. 33-1361). What a tenant may not do is withhold any of their rent in order to try to compel the landlord to fix the problem.