Legal Grounds for Breaking a Lease in Arizona

Intro to Lease Agreements in Arizona

Arizona is a transient state and we have renters not only from across this country but around the world. Many of the major employers in Arizona have a large number of employees who are in Arizona for a short time but are rotated on a regular basis.
The problem of people moving to Arizona from another state or country and being required by their employer to go back home is a perennial problem for those of us who handle lease cases in this state.
Bear in mind that a lease agreement is nothing more than a contract. A lease agreement sets forth and controls the relationship between the landlord and the tenant. A lease agreement can be written or oral as long as both the landlord and the tenant comply with the requirements set out in the Arizona Residential Landlord and Tenant Act for oral leases .
One of the major issues in any lease case is the duty of good faith and fair dealing. A landlord and tenant must act in good faith and deal fairly with one another, and the Arizona Residential Landlord and Tenant Act works to carry out this purpose.
In Arizona, a lease agreement has a term and after the passage of the term the lease agreement terminates unless the parties have agreed to renew said lease agreement. There are some issues with terminating residential leases, including whether there was a failure of essential services or property being uninhabitable, both of which could create a situation where a party terminate a lease.

Tenants’ Rights and Breaking a Lease in Arizona

In Arizona, the rights of tenants are generally governed by the Landlord and Tenant Act. This statute lays out all of a tenant’s rights and protections, and is the first place to look when an issue between a tenant and landlord occurs during a tenancy. Tenants in Arizona have a right to a habitable space at the start of a tenancy (a home or apartment that is fit to live in), and to continued habitability during the lease term. This is generally one of the most important protections of the statute. Outside of the implied warranty of habitability, few protections exist for tenants in Arizona. Tenants do not have any sort of security against rent increases, which the landlord can do, as long as some notice is provided. If the home is foreclosed upon during the course of the tenancy, the tenant is now at risk of losing his home. These limitations, among others, severely limit the power given to tenants in leasing situations.
However, this limitation also comes into play when a tenant wishes to break a lease early. If the tenant is unable to perform under the lease – he cannot pay the rent, or the premises has become unfit to live in – then the tenant has an argument for breaking the lease. Whether it is due to work or marriage, a tenant may need to relocate. If a tenant ends the lease without basis, then he is in breach and responsible for the entire remainder of the lease. Landlords often hold this threat over tenants in order to keep them in their homes when they wish to leave.

Legal Grounds for Breaking a Lease

Legal Reasons to Break A Lease in Arizona
While the vast majority of leases classifies an early termination as a breach, there are situations where a tenant can legally break a lease without suffering breaches of contract. In the eyes of the law, the following are some justifications for dropping a lease:
Uninhabitable conditions
If an apartment or sublet undergoes a serious plumbing problem, lacks heating, or faces bug issues, tenants may have a legal right to break their lease. Arizona requires landlords provide a living space that is safe and habitable. While everyone has a different definition of the word "safe," some issues leave too big a risk for a tenant’s safety. Landlords may have the responsibility to fix the problem, however.
Landlord harassment
Sometimes, landlords take advantage of a tenancy. In this case, tenants can move out and terminate their lease as a result of landlord harassment. Harassment can come in the form of verbal abuse, invasion of privacy, or, in some cases, physical assault. If the tenant documents everything, they can break their lease with a clear conscience.
Military deployment
Federal law allows military service members to terminate their lease agreements early without any penalty. This is true regardless of whether the member is on active duty or just part of the National Guard.
As you can see, the law doesn’t classify an unusage clause in the lease as a justification for dropping a lease early. Instead, you really just have the following three options:
•Uninhabitable conditions – An example of this category is bedbugs. If your apartment complex has bedbugs, the complex is not habitable because bugs are bad – and usually dangerous. Make sure you document the bedbug problem and how the landlord is handling the issue. Clipping a photo to an email is going to work like a charm. In other words, don’t expose yourself to bedbugs if you can avoid it.
•Landlord harassment – Your landlord has a lot of power over you as a tenant. You have to do what the lease says or you can be kicked out. A good way to deal with this is to just stick to the lease terms. Sometimes, however, your landlord harasses you. The harassment could be verbal abuse, but it could also be harassment over your lease terms. Don’t feel trapped by the lease terms. That means you can still break the lease.
•Military Deployment – Does your landlord know you’re in the military? How exactly would your landlord know? Just because you are in the military does not mean the landlord has organized.
Regardless of why you need to get out of a lease, timing still matters. You can’t keep using your legal reasons to break a lease in Arizona and expect nothing from the law.

Breaking a Lease for Domestic Violence in Arizona

To be sure, there is no special Arizona law that gives victims of domestic violence the right to break a lease. Instead, Arizona Status § 33-1318 gives a victim of domestic violence several choices that may well, in practical reality, amount to the same thing.
First off, as a condition of lease signing, landlords can require tenants to give the manager notice and proof of domestic violence if and when it happens in order for the tenants to move out. To be sure, the law does not mandate that any particular length of notice be given, merely that it be "reasonable" under the circumstances.
Second, if a tenant is the victim of domestic violence, he or she may "remove themselves or their minor child" from a dwelling unit without being penalized. However, the tenant must still pay rent on the unit, the rent being defined as the "fair rental value" of the unit.
Third, regardless of the above, a landlord cannot end the tenancy of the unit because the tenant asked for help in finding safe housing or has received certain kinds of help.
Fourth, and perhaps most important, if the tenant is no longer going to continue living in the unit, the landlord is required to either find someone new to rent the unit or eliminate that unit from the rental property. This is referred to in the statute as an "affirmative duty" on a landlord’s part.
Clearly, Arizona law allows a tenant who is a victim of domestic violence full and complete legal recourse (and then some) to get out of a lease agreement or simply move out of the unit they are renting without being responsible for any kind of penalty whatsoever. In fact, the Arizona law is so favorable to tenants that, at least with respect to victims of domestic violence, it is highly unlikely a tenant would be able to be held legally responsible for breaking a lease agreement, barring extreme circumstances.

How to Legally Break a Lease

The process to legally break a lease in Arizona involves documenting the problem with the home, notifying the landlord of the problem, leaving the premises and making sure to cover yourself by securing written agreement from the landlord if the time is not covered under the rental agreement.
The first thing the tenant must do is complain to the landlord in writing. It is the tenant’s responsibility to notify the landlord about the legal reasons for breaking the lease. The law actually requires the tenant to send a letter documenting the issue. If the tenant does not send this notice to the landlord in writing, the tenant has basically avoided the legal reasons for breaking the lease.
As a note, complaints should first be made verbally to the property manager or landlord before sending off the written complaint.
Most people think that problems in the place they are renting are an issue with the home, but the real problem is often the landlord refusing to correct the problem. When the tenant communicates with the landlord about any issue that has occurred in the home, the tenant is establishing that there is a problem that needs to be corrected. While it may not sound like much, reminding the landlord about the warranty of habitability is important, not just for the landlord, but for the tenant as well .
When a tenant does not hear back from a landlord after the complaint is filed, the tenant is able to take legal action to break a lease in Arizona. Once again, a tenant must act quickly.
After the complaint is filed, if the issue is still not resolved, the tenant can take the landlord to court. In small claims court, a tenant is able to sue the landlord for any losses. A judge will then decide if the tenant is able to leave the rental early without being penalized by the landlord.
The courts in Arizona allow a tenant to break a lease early, without penalty, if there is a good reason to break the lease. Without good reasons, a landlord can enforce a number of penalties. For example, the landlord may deduct the money from the tenant’s damage deposit or may even sue the tenant. Many out-of-state landlords are surprised that their lease is not enforceable in Arizona.
It is important to remember that, in Arizona, there is no 30-day period to breaking the lease where the tenant can stay on the property and the landlord cannot enforce the lease. For almost all of my clients, I have been able to resolve the situation, allowing them to exit the property, without the penalties.

Consequences for Breaking a Lease

Even with legal reasons to break a lease, a tenant may still have significant risk of financial and legal consequences. A tenant may face rental liability for the remainder of the term, double the amount of the monthly rent, or even triple the cost of the entire lease if lost rent can be proven. The landlord may also be able to recover any un-reimbursed costs and attorney’s fees incurred in attempting to mitigate damages. Arizona Revised Statute § 12-341.01.
Landlords often attempt to profit by claiming lost rent and un-reimbursed mitigation cost more than they are actually worth. It is not uncommon for landlords to attempt to recover the full price of paying to break a lease, even without the legal right to do so. Ask your attorney for help in determining the correct amount of rental liability to be deducted from the security deposit.
If a tenant breaks a lease that cannot legally be terminated, the potential legal and practical consequences can be very difficult for a tenant to over come. The potential "breach" or damages amount increases with the number of months paid to get out of the lease. If a tenant pays 6 months rent to break a lease that can be terminated after 6 months, the tenant’s potential liability is only 6 minus the number of months between the rent being paid and the natural expiration of the lease. Courts may also attribute fault to the tenant when calculating damages for early termination of a lease. Be sure to ask your attorney if early termination is worth the potential liability to the landlord.

Legal Assistance

Before taking any potential course of action, it is strongly recommended that you consult with a qualified attorney who is knowledgeable in Arizona landlord-tenant law. Whether or not breaking your lease is a viable option will depend on your unique circumstances and the type of circumstances the law applies to. While this article is intended to provide you with some basic information about the availability of defenses to obligations under a lease, it is not intended to and does not constitute legal advice.

Conclusion

In conclusion, renters have options when it comes to breaking a lease early in Arizona. Understanding the legal reasons you can break a lease agreement in the state is your best first step toward responsible ownership of a rental property. Unfortunately, the majority of lease agreements for apartment rentals in Arizona are not held up by well-informed renters . By learning about what qualifies as legally relevant like abuse, job loss or relocation, and keeping yourself educated about the rights and responsibilities of landlords and renters, you will not only keep yourself financially responsible for upkeeping your lease but also gain an understanding of when breaking your lease is okay. Whenever you feel that you need to break your lease early, first, talk to your landlord or apartment renter about the possibility of moving out early, since they may be able to find a new tenant for the remainder of your lease, allowing you to avoid a lawsuit and having to pay more than you can afford.