Arizona Residential Lease Agreement Template

Security deposit: the cap, the clock and the itemized list

Arizona caps security. Under A.R.S. 33-1321 a landlord may not demand or receive security, however denominated and including prepaid rent, of more than one and one-half months' rent. The template calculates against the rent you enter and states the cap on the face of the lease, so a deposit is not set past it by accident.

The return clock is the rule most templates miss. Within fourteen days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and other legal holidays, after termination of the tenancy, delivery of possession and demand by the tenant, the landlord must provide an itemized list of all deductions together with the amount due to the tenant. Fourteen business days is materially shorter than the thirty calendar days the source template promises, and the itemized list is a separate obligation that a bare refund does not satisfy.

Non-refundable fees are handled the same way: the purpose of every non-refundable fee or deposit must be stated in writing, and any fee or deposit not designated as non-refundable is refundable. The template gives non-refundable fees their own itemised block for that reason. A lease that lists a 'cleaning deposit' without designating it non-refundable has created a refundable one.

Entry, habitability and repairs

A.R.S. 33-1343 sets the entry rule: the landlord must give at least two days' notice of intent to enter and may enter only at reasonable times, for purposes including inspection, necessary or agreed repairs and alterations, supplying agreed services, and showing the unit to prospective purchasers, mortgagees, tenants, workers or contractors. In an emergency the landlord may enter without the tenant's consent.

That last point is why the source template's addition — that entry can 'in no case' be made without the tenant present — is not a tenant-friendly extra but a drafting error. As written it would purport to block emergency entry, which the statute expressly permits and which exists to protect the property and the people in it.

Habitability runs the other way from the source template too. A.R.S. 33-1324 puts the landlord under duties to comply with building codes materially affecting health and safety, make repairs and keep the premises fit and habitable, keep common areas clean and safe, maintain electrical, plumbing, heating, ventilating and air-conditioning facilities in good working order, provide waste receptacles, and supply running water, hot water and heat or cooling as seasonally required. Those duties can be shifted to the tenant only in narrow written circumstances, in good faith and not to evade the landlord's obligations — and, outside single-family homes, not where the work involves code compliance or habitability.

The tenant's repair-and-deduct remedy under A.R.S. 33-1363 is likewise narrower than 'the tenant may pay and be reimbursed'. It applies after written notice and a ten-day failure by the landlord, or as promptly as conditions require in an emergency, allows the work to be done by a licensed contractor, and is capped at three hundred dollars or one-half of the monthly rent, whichever is greater. It does not apply where the tenant, their family or their guests caused the problem.

The disclosures Arizona actually requires

A.R.S. 33-1322 requires the landlord to disclose in writing the name and address of the person authorised to manage the premises and of an owner or an owner's agent for service of process and for receiving notices and demands, and to inform the tenant in writing that the Arizona Residential Landlord and Tenant Act is available on the Arizona Department of Housing's website. The template carries both as fields rather than as boilerplate.

Bed bugs get their own statute. A.R.S. 33-1319 requires the landlord to provide bed-bug educational materials to existing and new tenants, prohibits knowingly entering into a lease for a unit with a current bed-bug infestation, requires the tenant not to move infested materials in, and requires a tenant who knows of bed bugs to notify the landlord in writing or electronically. Note the shape: it is an obligation to hand over materials, not merely to state that both parties understand something.

On move-in, A.R.S. 33-1321 also requires the landlord to furnish a signed copy of the lease, a move-in form for specifying existing damage, and written notification that the tenant may be present at the move-out inspection. Where the property has a pool or contained body of water, a separate statute requires the landlord to give the renter an approved pool-safety notice. And for housing built before 1978, the federal lead-based paint disclosure and pamphlet apply on top of all of it.

What a lease may not say, and how a tenancy ends

A.R.S. 33-1315 voids a set of provisions. A rental agreement may not have the tenant waive or forgo rights or remedies under the Act, pay the landlord's attorney fees except as the statute allows, agree to exculpation or limitation of the landlord's liability arising under law, or waive or limit the right to summon a peace officer or other emergency assistance — and it may not impose a fee or penalty for doing so. A prohibited provision is unenforceable, and where a landlord knowingly uses one, the tenant may recover actual damages and up to two months' periodic rent.

This is why an Arizona lease should not carry imported clauses limiting landlord liability or making the tenant responsible for everything. The template omits them deliberately.

Ending the tenancy is governed by A.R.S. 33-1375 for periodic tenancies: either party may terminate a month-to-month tenancy on at least thirty days' written notice before the periodic rental date specified in the notice, and a week-to-week tenancy on at least ten days' written notice. Separately, A.R.S. 33-1318 gives a tenant who is a victim of domestic violence or sexual assault an early-termination route, on written notice requesting release together with a protective order or a written law-enforcement departmental report, with the incident and the request falling within the statutory thirty-day windows. The template includes that right, along with the tenant's ability to change the locks at their own expense and the landlord's obligation not to give the named abuser access.

Clause-by-clause guide

Parties, manager and statutory disclosure

Names the landlord, the tenants and the person authorised to manage the premises, with the addresses for service and notices that A.R.S. 33-1322 requires in writing.

Premises, occupants and use

Identifies the unit, who may live there, and that it is for residential use — including how to add an occupant without breaching the lease.

Term and renewal

Fixed term or month to month, with the statutory notice periods for ending a periodic tenancy written in rather than left blank.

Rent, due date and late fees

Amount, when it is due, how it is paid, the grace period and the late fee, which should be a reasonable amount agreed in the lease rather than interest on the whole rent.

Security deposit

Deposit within the one-and-a-half-month cap, held against damage beyond normal wear, returned with an itemized list of deductions within fourteen days excluding weekends and holidays.

Non-refundable fees

Each non-refundable fee listed with its purpose stated in writing, because anything not designated non-refundable is refundable.

Utilities and services

Which utilities the tenant pays and which the landlord provides, and how any shared or allocated charge is calculated.

Landlord maintenance duties

The habitability duties under A.R.S. 33-1324, stated as the landlord's rather than shifted wholesale to the tenant.

Tenant obligations and repair-and-deduct

Cleanliness, waste, no deliberate damage, prompt notification of defects, and the statutory repair-and-deduct remedy with its ten-day notice, licensed-contractor requirement and monetary limit.

Landlord entry

Two days' notice, entry at reasonable times for the statutory purposes, and entry without consent in an emergency.

Bed bugs

Landlord provides educational materials, does not knowingly let an infested unit, and the tenant notifies in writing or electronically if bed bugs appear.

Move-in and move-out inspection

Signed copy of the lease, a move-in damage form, and written notice that the tenant may be present at the move-out inspection.

Pool safety and lead-based paint

The approved pool-safety notice where there is a pool or contained body of water, and the federal lead disclosure and pamphlet for housing built before 1978.

Early termination for domestic violence

The statutory route out for a victim of domestic violence or sexual assault, the documentation required, and the lock-change and access rules that go with it.

Arizona compliance checklist

Each item below is a rule in the Arizona Residential Landlord and Tenant Act or a federal disclosure. Check every one before the tenancy starts.

• Keep security within one and a half months' rent

  A landlord may not demand or receive security, however denominated and including prepaid rent, in an amount or value of more than one and one-half month's rent.

  A.R.S. 33-1321 - security deposits

• Return the deposit within fourteen days with an itemized list

  Within fourteen days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and other legal holidays, after termination of the tenancy, delivery of possession and demand by the tenant, the landlord must provide an itemized list of all deductions together with the amount due to the tenant.

• State the purpose of every non-refundable fee in writing

  The purpose of all non-refundable fees or deposits must be stated in writing by the landlord, and any fee or deposit not designated as non-refundable is refundable.

• Give the move-in documents

  On move in, furnish the tenant with a signed copy of the lease, a move-in form for specifying existing damage to the unit, and written notification that the tenant may be present at the move-out inspection.

• Make the manager and owner disclosure

  Disclose in writing the name and address of the person authorised to manage the premises and of an owner or an owner's agent for service of process and for receiving notices, and inform the tenant in writing that the Act is available on the Arizona Department of Housing's website.

  A.R.S. 33-1322 - disclosure of names and addresses

• Provide bed-bug educational materials

  The landlord must provide bed-bug educational materials to existing and new tenants and may not knowingly enter into a lease for a unit with a current bed-bug infestation. The tenant must not move infested materials in and must notify the landlord in writing or electronically if bed bugs are present.

  A.R.S. 33-1319 - bedbug control

• Give two days' notice before entering

  The landlord must give at least two days' notice of intent to enter and enter only at reasonable times, except in an emergency, when entry without the tenant's consent is permitted.

  A.R.S. 33-1343 - access

• Keep the landlord's habitability duties with the landlord

  Building-code compliance materially affecting health and safety, repairs and fitness for habitation, clean and safe common areas, working electrical, plumbing, heating, ventilating and cooling facilities, waste receptacles, and running and hot water are the landlord's duties, shiftable only in the narrow written circumstances the statute allows.

  A.R.S. 33-1324 - landlord to maintain fit premises

• State the repair-and-deduct remedy accurately

  After written notice and a ten-day failure by the landlord, or as promptly as conditions require in an emergency, the tenant may have the work done by a licensed contractor and deduct an amount not exceeding three hundred dollars or one-half of the monthly rent, whichever is greater.

  A.R.S. 33-1363 - tenant's repair and deduct remedy

• Leave out the provisions the Act prohibits

  A rental agreement may not have the tenant waive rights or remedies under the Act, pay the landlord's attorney fees except as allowed, exculpate or limit the landlord's liability arising under law, or waive the right to summon a peace officer or emergency assistance. A prohibited provision is unenforceable, and knowing use of one exposes the landlord to actual damages plus up to two months' rent.

  A.R.S. 33-1315 - prohibited provisions in rental agreements

• Use the statutory notice periods to end a periodic tenancy

  At least thirty days' written notice before the periodic rental date for a month-to-month tenancy, and at least ten days' written notice for a week-to-week tenancy, given by either party.

  A.R.S. 33-1375 - periodic tenancy, holdover remedies

• Include the domestic-violence early-termination route

  A tenant who is the victim of domestic violence or sexual assault may request release from the rental agreement in writing with a protective order or a written law-enforcement departmental report, within the statutory time windows, and may change the locks at their own expense.

  A.R.S. 33-1318 - early termination by victims of domestic violence

• Give the pool-safety notice where there is a pool

  A person renting or leasing a dwelling with a swimming pool or contained body of water must give the renter a notice explaining pool-safety education and the responsibilities of pool ownership, as approved by the Department of Health Services.

  A.R.S. 36-1681 - pool enclosures and safety notice

• Make the federal lead disclosure for pre-1978 housing

  For most housing built before 1978, federal law requires the landlord to disclose known lead-based paint and hazards, provide available records and reports, give the tenant the approved lead-hazard pamphlet, and include the prescribed disclosure and warning language in the lease.

  EPA - real estate disclosure of lead-based paint

How to complete this Arizona lease

1. Enter the parties and the manager disclosure. Add the landlord, the tenants, and the name and address of the manager and the owner or agent for service, which Arizona requires in writing.
2. Set the term, rent and deposit. Choose a fixed term or month to month, enter the rent and due date, and set the deposit within the one-and-a-half-month cap the lease shows you.
3. List non-refundable fees with their purpose. Anything not designated as non-refundable in writing is refundable, so state each fee and what it is for.
4. Switch on the disclosures that apply. Pool safety where there is a pool or contained body of water, and the federal lead disclosure for housing built before 1978. Bed-bug materials and the move-in form apply to every tenancy.
5. Download, sign and hand over the documents. Give the tenant a signed copy of the lease, the move-in damage form, the bed-bug materials and any pool or lead documents at the start of the tenancy.

Frequently asked questions

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