Breaking a lease in Arizona

A tenant who is a victim of domestic violence, or of sexual assault in the home, may end the lease by written notice asking for release on a mutually agreed date within the next 30 days, with a copy of a protective order or a law enforcement report. The events must have occurred within the 30 days before the notice unless you waive that (A.R.S. § 33-1318(A); A.R.S. § 33-1318(C)).

• For a qualifying termination under 33-1318, the tenant owes rent through the termination date plus earlier outstanding obligations, payable by the day they vacate, and owes no early termination fee. However, the landlord may retain prepaid rent for the month in which the lease ends without a refund. The deposit may not be withheld for the early termination itself, but may cover damages from the tenant's failure to comply with 33-1341 (A.R.S. § 33-1318(A); A.R.S. § 33-1318(D)).
• A law enforcement officer protected by an injunction against harassment issued within the 30 days before notice may end a lease the same way, after repaying any lease concession received (A.R.S. § 33-1318.01).
• When a tenant abandons the home, you must make reasonable efforts to rent it at a fair rental; the old lease ends when a new tenancy begins, and if you do not try to re-rent or you accept the abandonment as a surrender, the lease is treated as ended by you on the date you learned of the abandonment (A.R.S. § 33-1370(C)).
• If the owner has not registered the rental with the county assessor, the tenant may give a 10-day notice to comply and then end the lease, with prepaid rent returned (A.R.S. § 33-1902(C)).See Rental registration with the county assessor on the Arizona page
• Every party has a duty to mitigate damages (A.R.S. § 33-1305(A)).
• When multiple tenants signed a lease terminated under 33-1318, the tenancy also ends for the other signers. Nonvictim tenants other than the person named in the protective order or report that caused termination may be released from the old agreement's financial obligations. Remaining tenants may enter a new lease if they meet the landlord's current application requirements; a replacement lease or financial release is not automatic (A.R.S. section 33-1318(J)).

If you materially fail to comply with the lease, the tenant may give written notice that the lease ends at least 10 days after you receive it unless you fix the breach in 10 days; for a failure to keep the home fit that materially affects health and safety, the period is 5 days. The tenant may also recover damages and get an injunction (A.R.S. § 33-1361(A); A.R.S. § 33-1361(B)).

• Repair and deduct: if a repair costs less than $300 or half the monthly rent, whichever is greater, the tenant may give written notice and, if you do not act within 10 days (or as promptly as an emergency requires), have a licensed contractor do the work and deduct its actual reasonable cost from rent after giving you an itemized statement and a waiver of lien (A.R.S. § 33-1363(A)).
• If you deliberately or negligently fail to supply water, gas or electricity, hot water, heat, air-conditioning or cooling where installed and offered, or essential services, the tenant may, after reasonable notice, buy reasonable amounts of water, hot water, heat and essential services and deduct the cost from rent, recover damages for the lost rental value, or move to substitute housing and pay no rent meanwhile (A.R.S. § 33-1364(A)).
• In a nonpayment eviction or a suit for rent, the tenant may counterclaim for your noncompliance, and the court may order rent paid into court (A.R.S. § 33-1365).
• None of these remedies applies to a condition the tenant, the tenant's family or a guest caused (A.R.S. § 33-1361(A); A.R.S. § 33-1363(B); A.R.S. § 33-1364(H)).

Arizona has no statute that sets a general rule on subletting a home. The lease controls, so state in it whether the tenant needs your written consent (A.R.S. Title 33, Chapter 10 (Arizona Residential Landlord and Tenant Act)).

• The Act's definition of landlord includes a sublessor, so a tenant who sublets is the subtenant's landlord under the Act (A.R.S. § 33-1310(7)).

Either side may end a month-to-month tenancy by written notice given at least 30 days before the periodic rental date named in the notice. A week-to-week tenancy needs written notice at least 10 days before the termination date (A.R.S. § 33-1375(A); A.R.S. § 33-1375(B)).

• Without a definite term, a tenancy is week-to-week for a roomer paying weekly rent and month-to-month in every other case (A.R.S. § 33-1314(D)).
• A tenant who stays after the lease ends without your consent may be sued for possession; if the holdover is willful and not in good faith, you may also recover up to two months' rent or twice your actual damages, whichever is greater. If you consent in writing to the tenant staying, the tenancy becomes month-to-month (A.R.S. § 33-1375(C)).

Within 14 days, not counting Saturdays, Sundays or legal holidays, after the tenancy ends, the tenant delivers possession and the tenant asks for it, give the tenant an itemized list of all deductions with any amount due. Mail the list and any refund by first class mail to the tenant's last known residence unless the tenant has arranged otherwise in writing (A.R.S. § 33-1321(D)).

• Delivery of possession means returning the keys and vacating the home (A.R.S. § 33-1310(3)).
• You may apply the deposit and prepaid rent to unpaid rent, to charges listed in the signed lease or allowed by the Act (subject to your duty to mitigate), and to damage caused by the tenant's failure to meet the tenant's upkeep duties (A.R.S. § 33-1321(D); A.R.S. § 33-1341).
• If the tenant does not dispute the list or the amount within 60 days after it is mailed, it becomes final and further tenant claims are waived (A.R.S. § 33-1321(D)).
• If you do not comply, the tenant may recover the money due plus damages of twice the amount wrongfully withheld (A.R.S. § 33-1321(E)).
• Whoever holds the landlord's interest when the tenancy ends is bound by these rules, and a seller stays liable to the tenant for the deposit (A.R.S. § 33-1321(H); A.R.S. § 33-1325(A)).
• When a tenant abandons the home and you retake it under the abandonment procedure, the deposit is forfeited and applied to accrued rent and your reasonable costs (A.R.S. § 33-1370(B)).See Abandonment and property left behind on the Arizona page