Landlord and Tenant Rights and Responsibilities

questions & answers

Question: Is a short term vacation rental that has a signed lease agreement with a start and end date exempt from the covid eviction laws? Rental agreement can be a short as 2 days, and as long as 90 days for a winter snowbird.

Answer: As a general rule, residential eviction laws and regulations don’t apply to vacation rentals. For example, the Arizona Residential Landlord and Tenant Act doesn’t apply to “transient occupancy in a hotel, motel, or recreational lodging.” A.R.S. § 33-1308(4); https://www.azleg.gov/ars/33/01308.htm. Similarly, the current federal moratorium (temporary ban) on residential evictions applies to properties “leased for residential purposes, including any house, building, mobile home or land in a mobile home park, or similar dwelling . . .” but doesn’t apply to “any hotel, motel, or other guest house rented to a temporary guest or seasonal tenant . . .” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Temporary Halt in Residential Evictions To Prevent the Further Spread of COVID–19, 85 Fed. Reg. 55293 (Sept. 4, 2020); https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2020-09-04/pdf/2020-19654.pdf. Unfortunately, Arizona law doesn’t define what a “temporary guest or seasonal tenant” is. The federal moratorium and other COVID-19 eviction protections definitely don’t apply to short-term vacation rentals (including those arranged through Airbnb, VRBO, or similar online services) where the renter is clearly a “temporary guest or seasonal tenant.” However, that doesn’t mean that no short-term rentals are covered. If a person has a short-term rental agreement, and the property they’re renting is their primary home, then they should be covered (assuming they meet all the other requirements). For legal advice about a specific situation, please consult with an attorney. There are links to free and low-cost legal services for tenants on this website, at https://azlawhelp.org/accessToJustice.cfm.