Arizona-2011-HB2558-Introduced

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Section 33-1314, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE33-1314. Terms and conditions of rental agreement

A. The landlord and tenant may include in a rental agreement terms and conditions not prohibited by this chapter or any other rule of law including rent, term of the agreement and other provisions governing the rights and obligations of the parties.

B. In the absence of a rental agreement, the tenant shall pay as rent the fair rental value for the use and occupancy of the dwelling unit.

C. Rent shall be payable without demand or notice at the time and place agreed upon on by the parties. Unless otherwise agreed, rent is payable at the dwelling unit and periodic rent is payable at the beginning of any term of one month or less and otherwise in equal monthly installments at the beginning of each month. Unless otherwise agreed, rent shall be uniformly apportionable from day‑to‑day.

D. Unless the rental agreement fixes a definite term, the tenancy shall be week‑to‑week in case of a roomer who pays weekly rent, and in all other cases month‑to‑month.

E. If a municipality that levies a transaction privilege tax on residential rent changes the percentage of that tax, the landlord on thirty fifteen days' written notice to the tenant may adjust the amount of rent due to equal the difference caused by the new percentage amount of the tax. The adjustment to rent shall not occur before the date upon on which the new tax is effective. In order for a landlord to adjust rent pursuant to this subsection, the landlord's right to adjust rent pursuant to this subsection shall be disclosed in the rental agreement.

F. Notwithstanding section 14‑3911, the landlord may request and the tenant may provide and routinely update the name and contact information of a person who is authorized by the tenant to enter the tenant's dwelling unit to retrieve and store the tenant's property if the tenant dies.� If the landlord is unable to contact the authorized person at the address and telephone number provided to the landlord by the tenant or the authorized person fails to respond to the landlord's request within ten days of initial written contact, the landlord may dispose of the property as prescribed in section 33‑1370. Before removing any of the tenant's personal property, the authorized person shall present to the landlord a valid government issued identification that confirms the identity of the authorized person.� The authorized person shall have twenty days from the date of initial written contact by the landlord or the last date for which rent is paid, whichever is longer, to remove items from the rental property and return keys to the landlord during regular business hours.� If the landlord allows an authorized person to enter the property to remove the tenant's personal possessions as prescribed by this subsection, the landlord has no further liability to the tenant, the tenant's estate or the tenant's heirs for lost, damaged or stolen items.� If the tenant's personal property is not entirely removed from the rental unit by an authorized person, the landlord may dispose of the property as prescribed in section 33‑1370.� This subsection shall only apply applies if the periodic rent is unpaid and outstanding for at least five days. END_STATUTE

Sec. 2. Section 33-1321, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE33-1321. Security deposits

A. A landlord shall not demand or receive security, however denominated, including, but not limited to, prepaid rent in an amount or value in excess of one and one‑half month's rent, except that in a jurisdiction that requires the property owner to pay a deposit to that jurisdiction's utility provider, the landlord may require security in the amount of one and one-half month's rent plus the full amount of the tenant's share of the utility deposit required by the utility provider, or two months' rent, whichever amount is greater.� This subsection does not prohibit a tenant from voluntarily paying more than one and one‑half month's rent in advance.

B. The purpose of all nonrefundable fees or deposits shall be stated in writing by the landlord. Any fee or deposit not designated as nonrefundable shall be refundable.

C. With respect to tenants who first occupy the premises or enter into a new written rental agreement after January 1, 1996, upon on move in a landlord shall furnish the tenant with a signed copy of the lease, a move‑in form for specifying any existing damages to the dwelling unit and written notification to the tenant that the tenant may be present at the move‑out inspection.� Upon On request by the tenant, the landlord shall notify the tenant when the landlord's move‑out inspection will occur. If the tenant is being evicted for a material and irreparable breach and the landlord has reasonable cause to fear violence or intimidation on the part of the tenant, the landlord has no obligation to conduct a joint move‑out inspection with the tenant.

D. Upon On termination of the tenancy, property or money held by the landlord as prepaid rent and security may be applied to the payment of all rent, and subject to a landlord's duty to mitigate, all charges as specified in the signed lease agreement, including any unpaid utilities, or as provided in this chapter, including the amount of damages which that the landlord has suffered by reason of the tenant's noncompliance with section 33‑1341.� Within fourteen days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays or other legal holidays, after termination of the tenancy and delivery of possession and demand by the tenant the landlord shall provide the tenant an itemized list of all deductions together with the amount due and payable to the tenant, if any, unless utility bills owed by the tenant remain unpaid, in which case, the landlord shall state the amount as unpaid or undetermined, or both.� within thirty days after delivery of the itemized list, the landlord shall provide the tenant with a revised list to reflect any final deductions for utilities and shall pay any amount due and payable to the tenant. Unless other arrangements are made in writing by the tenant, the landlord shall mail the itemized list and any amount due, by first class mail, to the tenant's last known place of residence.

E. If the landlord fails to comply with subsection D of this section the tenant may recover the property and money due the tenant together with damages in an amount equal to twice the amount wrongfully withheld.

F. This section does not preclude the landlord or tenant from recovering other damages to which the landlord or tenant may be entitled under this chapter.

G. During the term of tenancy the landlord may use refundable security deposits or other refundable deposits in accordance with any applicable provisions of the property management agreement.� At the end of tenancy, all refundable deposits shall be refunded to the tenant pursuant to this section.

H. The holder of the landlord's interest in the premises at the time of the termination of the tenancy is bound by this section. END_STATUTE

Sec. 3. Section 33-1368, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE33-1368. Noncompliance with rental agreement by tenant; failure to pay rent; utility discontinuation; liability for guests; definition

A. Except as provided in this chapter, if there is a material noncompliance by the tenant with the rental agreement, including material falsification of the information provided on the rental application, the landlord may deliver a written notice to the tenant specifying the acts and omissions constituting the breach and that the rental agreement will terminate upon on a date not less than ten days after receipt of the notice if the breach is not remedied in ten days. For the purposes of this section, material falsification shall include the following untrue or misleading information about the:

1. Number of occupants in the dwelling unit, pets, income of the prospective tenant, social security number and current employment listed on the application or lease agreement.

2. Tenant's criminal records, prior eviction record and current criminal activity. Material falsification of information in this paragraph is not curable under this section.

If there is a noncompliance by the tenant with section 33‑1341 materially affecting health and safety, the landlord may deliver a written notice to the tenant specifying the acts and omissions constituting the breach and that the rental agreement will terminate upon on a date not less than five days after receipt of the notice if the breach is not remedied in five days. However, if the breach is remediable by repair or the payment of damages or otherwise, and the tenant adequately remedies the breach before the date specified in the notice, the rental agreement will not terminate. If there is an additional act of these types of noncompliance of the same or a similar nature during the term of the lease after the previous remedy of noncompliance, the landlord may institute a special detainer action pursuant to section 33‑1377 ten days after delivery of a written notice advising the tenant that a second noncompliance of the same or a similar nature has occurred.� If there is a breach that is both material and irreparable and that occurs on the premises, including but not limited to an illegal discharge of a weapon, homicide as defined prescribed in sections 13‑1102 through 13‑1105, prostitution as defined prescribed in section 13‑3211, criminal street gang activity as prescribed in section 13‑105, activity as prohibited in section 13‑2308, the unlawful manufacturing, selling, transferring, possessing, using or storing of a controlled substance as defined prescribed in section 13‑3451, threatening or intimidating as prohibited in section 13‑1202, assault as prohibited in section 13‑1203, acts that have been found to constitute a nuisance pursuant to section 12‑991 or a breach of the lease agreement that otherwise jeopardizes the health, safety and welfare of the landlord, the landlord's agent or another tenant or involving imminent or actual serious property damage, the landlord may deliver a written notice for immediate termination of the rental agreement and shall proceed under section 33‑1377.

B. A tenant may not withhold rent, including utilities as agreed to in any written rental agreement, for any reason not authorized by this chapter. If rent, including utilities as agreed to in any written rental agreement, is unpaid when due and the tenant fails to pay rent within five days after written notice by the landlord of nonpayment and the landlord's intention to terminate the rental agreement if the rent, including utilities as agreed to in any written rental agreement, is not paid within that period of time, the landlord may terminate the rental agreement by filing a special detainer action pursuant to section 33‑1377. Before the filing of a special detainer action, the rental agreement shall be reinstated if the tenant tenders all past due and unpaid periodic rent, INCLUDING any utilities as provided in the rental agreement, and a reasonable late fee set forth in a written rental agreement.� After a special detainer action is filed, the rental agreement is reinstated only if the tenant pays all past due rent, including utilities as agreed to in any written rental agreement, reasonable late fees set forth in a written rental agreement, attorney fees and court costs. After a judgment has been entered in a special detainer action in favor of the landlord, any reinstatement of the rental agreement is solely in the discretion of the landlord.

C. The landlord may recover all reasonable damages, resulting from noncompliance by the tenant with the rental agreement or section 33‑1341 or occupancy of the dwelling unit, court costs, reasonable attorney fees and all quantifiable damage caused by the tenant to the premises.

D. The landlord may discontinue utility services provided by the landlord on the day following the day that a writ of restitution or execution is executed pursuant to section 12‑1181. Disconnections shall be performed only by a person authorized by the utility whose service is being discontinued.� Nothing in this section shall supersede standard tariff and operational procedures that apply to any public service corporation, municipal corporation or special districts providing utility services in this state.

E. The landlord shall hold the tenant's personal property for a period of twenty‑one days beginning on the first day after a writ of restitution or writ of execution is executed as prescribed in section 12‑1181. The landlord shall use reasonable care in moving and holding the tenant's property and may store the tenant's property in an unoccupied dwelling unit owned by the landlord, the unoccupied dwelling unit formerly occupied by the tenant or off the premises if an unoccupied dwelling unit is not available. If the tenant's former dwelling unit is used to store the property, the landlord may change the locks on that unit at the landlord's discretion. The landlord shall prepare an inventory and promptly notify the tenant of the location and cost of storage of the personal property by sending a notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, addressed to the tenant's last known address and to any of the tenant's alternative addresses known to the landlord. To reclaim the personal property, the tenant shall pay the landlord only for the cost of removal and storage for the time the property is held by the landlord.� Within five days after a written offer by the tenant to pay these charges, the landlord must surrender possession of the personal property in the landlord's possession to the tenant upon on the tenant's tender of payment. If the landlord fails to surrender possession of the personal property to the tenant, the tenant may recover the possessions or an amount equal to the damages determined by the court if the landlord has destroyed or disposed of the possessions before the twenty‑one days specified in this section or after the tenant's offer to pay. The tenant shall pay all removal and storage costs accrued through the fifth day after the tenant's offer to pay is received by the landlord or the date of delivery or surrender of the property, whichever is sooner. Payment by the tenant relieves the landlord of any further responsibility for the tenant's possessions.

F. A tenant does not have any right of access to that property until all payments specified in subsection E of this section have been made in full, except that the tenant may obtain clothing and the tools, apparatus and books of a trade or profession and identification or financial documents including all those related to the tenant's immigration status, employment status, public assistance or medical care. If the landlord holds the property for the twenty‑one day period and the tenant does not make a reasonable effort to recover it, the landlord, upon on the expiration of twenty‑one days as provided in this subsection, may administer the personal property as provided in section 33‑1370, subsection E. The landlord shall hold personal property after a writ of restitution or writ of execution is executed for not more than twenty‑one days after such an execution. Nothing in this subsection shall preclude the landlord and tenant from making an agreement providing that the landlord will hold the personal property for a period longer than twenty‑one days.

G. For the purposes of this chapter, the tenant shall be held responsible for the actions of the tenant's guests that violate the lease agreement or rules or regulations of the landlord if the tenant could reasonably be expected to be aware that such actions might occur and did not attempt to prevent those actions to the best of the tenant's ability.

H. For the purposes of this section, "days" means calendar days. END_STATUTE