An Arizona residential lease agreement (“rental agreement”) is a legal contract between a landlord overseeing a residential property and a tenant who wishes to rent it. A residential lease may, on or before move-in, additionally require a security deposit from the tenant as assurance against future property damage.
These disclosures are required for some or all residential lease agreements in Arizona:
| Disclosure | Applicability |
|---|---|
| Landlord’s Name/Address | All Units |
| Move-In Checklist | All Units |
| Residential Landlord/Tenant Act | All Units |
| Shared Utilities Arrangements | All Units With Shared Utility Meters |
| Bed Bugs | Non-Single Family Residence |
| Rent Adjustment | All Units That Will Adjust Rent |
| Non-Refundable Fees | All Units that Charge Non-Refundable Fees |
| Pool Enclosure | All Units With a Pool |
| Lead-Based Paint | All Units Built Prior To 1978 |
Applicable to all rental units in Arizona.
Arizona leases must contain the name and address of the landlord or authorized agent. This enables smooth communication of any important legal notice. This contact information is most often written in the lease agreement, for maximum convenience. The landlord has an obligation to notify the tenant in the event of a change in contact information. [1]
Applicable to all rental units in Arizona.
Arizona landlords must provide a move-in checklist (alongside a signed copy of the lease) to inventory existing property damage, when the tenant takes possession of the rental property. The checklist should be completed within five days of move-in. This enables accurate deductions from the security deposit upon move-out. [2] [3]
Applicable to all rental units in Arizona.
Arizona landlords must, at or before move-in, inform the tenant (in the lease or separately) that the Arizona Residential Landlord and Tenant Act may be reviewed on the Arizona Department of Health website. [4]
Applicable to any rental units with a shared utility meter in Arizona.
In Arizona, when multiple rental units share a utility meter for the whole building or property, the landlord may charge separately for utilities through the installation of a submetering system or ratio billing system. [5] The landlord must disclose how the charges are billed to individual tenants. [6]
For ratio billing, the cost breakdown should include the specific method used to allocate and calculate costs to the tenant.
Ratio billing uses strategies like charging by:
For submetered systems, a cost breakdown should include:
This an example of a shared utility agreement section:
UTILITIES: This rental unit shares the following utilities with another unit or common area:
[ ] Electricity
[ ] Water
[ ] Gas
[ ] Sewage
[ ] Other: ______________________________This lease uses the following method for calculating utility charges between Tenant(s):
[ ] Home Square Footage
[ ] Number of Tenants
[ ] Even Split Between Tenants
[ ] Other:___________________________Tenant agrees to pay the monthly utility charge to Landlord, plus a $__ service charge as part of each month’s rental payment.
Applies to all Arizona rentals other than single-family residences.
Arizona landlords must disclose any known infestation status on rental property. In addition, they must provide educational materials (usually an addendum) and include a bed bug section in their lease agreements. [7] A bed bug addendum addresses the following:
This is an example of a bed bug disclosure section and addendum:
BED BUGS. At the time of presenting this agreement, Landlord certifies:
[ ] There is no known current infestation or history of bed bugs in this property.
[ ] No known current infestation, but there is a history of infestation in this property.
[ ] There is no known current infestation, but there is a nearby infestation or history of infestations which may place the property at risk.
Applicable to any unit in Arizona where the landlord wishes to adjust rent based on property tax increases.
Arizona landlords may increase rent by the amount of a property tax increase by the local municipality, passing the cost of the increase to the tenant. To do so, the lease must contain a rent adjustment disclosure. Any increase in rent may not begin until the new tax comes into effect, and cannot be enforced until the tenant has received at least 30 days of advance notice about the increase. [8]
This is a sample disclosure requirement for a rent adjustment in Arizona:
RENT INCREASES. The Rent due is subject to an increase directly proportionate to the increase in any municipal taxes levied upon Landlord for the collection of residential rent charges. Written notice will be provided thirty (30) days before enforcement of rent increases.
Applicable to any Arizona unit where the landlord imposes nonrefundable fees.
Charges not agreed by the tenant in the lease may be refundable upon lease termination. For Arizona landlords to charge a non-refundable fee, it must be disclosed and agreed as such in the lease. [9]
Applicable to any Arizona rental units with pool access.
Arizona properties with an aboveground or belowground pool or any other body of water intended for swimming that is 18 inches or more in depth and at least eight feet wide must provide tenants with an educational safety notice approved by the Department of the Health Services about the use and maintenance of the pool. This includes notice about pool enclosure requirements. [10]
Applicable to any Arizona rental units built prior to 1978.
For any property built before 1978, federal law requires that a STATE residential lease must contain a lead-based paint disclosure. This requires landlords to do the following:
The following lease agreement disclosures and addenda are not required by Arizona law in residential lease agreements, but assist with tenant management and help limit landlord liability.
| Optional Disclosure | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Asbestos | Informs tenants about any asbestos hazards related to the property. Tenants can take precautions to reduce asbestos hazards by avoiding any disturbance of asbestos fibers. |
| Late/Returned Check Fees | This disclosure specifies late fees or returned check fees related to the lease. In Arizona late fees must be “reasonable,” and returned check fees are capped at $25. |
| Medical Marijuana Use | Informs tenants about policy related to medical marijuana use on the rental property. Some state laws allow landlords to restrict marijuana usage to non-smoking methods only, or allow use only in designated smoking areas. |
| Mold Disclosure | Informs tenants about actual or suspected mold contamination on the property, along with any remediation efforts, to help limit landlord liability. |
| Smoking | Informs tenants of designated smoking areas that do not interfere with the quiet enjoyment of other tenants. |
Some Arizona cities, like Phoenix, Mesa, and Tucson, have more comprehensive rules than the statewide standard. Always check local laws.
Mandatory disclosures outline important health, safety, and property information for both landlord and tenant safety. A landlord who fails to provide federally or state-mandated disclosures could face legal repercussions or monetary penalties, either from a tenant lawsuit or from state officials.
If a landlord fails to provide the pool enclosure disclosure or violates the disclosure, they could be found guilty of a petty offense. [10]
Failure to comply with the federal lead-based paint hazard disclosure risks fines of tens of thousands of dollars per violation.
…A. The landlord or any person authorized to enter into a rental agreement on his behalf shall disclose to the tenant in writing at or before the commencement of the tenancy the name and address of each of the following:
1. The person authorized to manage the premises.
2. An owner of the premises or a person authorized to act for and on behalf of the owner for the purpose of service of process and for the purpose of receiving and receipting for notices and demands…
…C. 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. On request by the tenant, the landlord shall notify the tenant when the landlord’s move-out inspection will occur…
…D. 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… Within fourteen [business] days… 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…
…B. At or before the commencement of the tenancy, the landlord shall inform the tenant in writing that the Arizona residential landlord and tenant act is available on the Arizona department of housing’s website…
…A. A landlord may charge separately for gas, water, wastewater, solid waste removal or electricity by installing a submetering system or by allocating the charges separately through a ratio utility billing system…
…E. If a landlord uses an allocation or submetering system, the bill format for each billing period shall:
1. Separately state the cost of the charges for the period together with the opening and the closing meter readings and the dates of the meter readings.
2. Show the amount of any administrative fee charged.
F. If a landlord does not use a submetering system and allocates charges separately for gas, water, wastewater, solid waste removal or electricity, the landlord may allocate the costs to each tenant by using one or more of the following ratio utility billing system methods…
…A. A landlord has the following obligations with respect to a bedbug infestation:
1. The landlord shall provide bedbug educational materials to existing and new tenants. Educational materials may include:
(a) A description of measures that may be taken to prevent and control bedbugs.
(b) Information about bedbugs, including a description of their appearance.
(c) A description of behaviors that are risk factors for attracting bedbugs such as purchasing renovated mattresses, using discarded mattresses and furniture, using used or leased furniture, purchasing pre-owned clothing and traveling without proper precautions.
(d) Information provided by the United States centers for disease control and prevention and other federal, state or local health agencies.
(e) Information provided by federal, state or local housing agencies.
(f) Information provided by nonprofit housing organizations.
(g) Information developed by the landlord…
…E. If a municipality that levies a transaction privilege tax on residential rent changes the percentage of that tax, the landlord on thirty 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 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…
…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 is refundable…
…E. A person on entering into an agreement to build a swimming pool or contained body of water or sell, rent or lease a dwelling with a swimming pool or contained body of water shall give the buyer, lessee or renter a notice explaining safety education and responsibilities of pool ownership as approved by the department of health services…
How Long Can a Residential Lease Be in Arizona? Depending on circumstances, in Arizona it’s usually possible to have a lease of any length of time, as long as the length of the lease term is specific and agreed in writing by the landlord and tenant. Oral leases can almost never be for a term of more than one year. Read more » Is a Contract to Lease Binding in Arizona? Yes, a contract to lease is legally binding in Arizona. To be valid, a contract to lease may have to be written. Oral leases may be valid in some cases (especially when both parties later behave as though there’s an enforceable oral lease), but often have strict limitations on enforceability for things like length of the lease term. Arizona requires all blank spaces filled out in a lease for the writing to be completely valid. Read more » Do Lease Agreements Need to Be Notarized in Arizona? No, lease agreements do not need to be notarized in Arizona. A notary helps establish the identity of the people signing the lease, if there’s a claim of fraud, but a notary isn’t necessary for a lease to be valid. Read more » Can a Lease Automatically Renew in Arizona? Yes, a lease can automatically renew in Arizona. Most rental agreements will automatically renew when the initial tenancy period is over. Past this point, the lease becomes a month-to-month rental agreement, with the same basic terms and conditions otherwise as the original lease. In some cases, such as if rent is being paid weekly, the lease may become a week-to-week lease. Read more »
