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REFERENCE TITLE: landlord tenant; abandonment; personal property |
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State of Arizona House of Representatives Fiftieth Legislature Second Regular Session 2012
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HB 2128 |
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Introduced by Representatives Urie, Carter: Chabin, Hale, Olson, Pratt, Robson
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AN ACT
amending section 33-1370, Arizona Revised Statutes; relating to the arizona residential landlord and tenant act.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Section 33-1370, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
33-1370. Abandonment; notice; remedies; personal property; definition
A. If a dwelling unit is abandoned after the time or events prescribed in subsection H of this section, the landlord shall send the tenant a notice of abandonment by certified mail, return receipt requested, addressed to the tenant's last known address and to any of the tenant's alternate addresses known to the landlord. The landlord shall also post a notice of abandonment on the door to the dwelling unit or any other conspicuous place on the property for five days.
B. Five days after notice of abandonment has been both posted and mailed, the landlord may retake the dwelling unit and rerent the dwelling unit at a fair rental value if no personal property remains in the dwelling unit. After the landlord retakes the dwelling unit, money held by the landlord as a security deposit is forfeited and shall be applied to the payment of any accrued rent and other reasonable costs incurred by the landlord by reason of the tenant's abandonment.
C. If the tenant abandons the dwelling unit, the landlord shall make reasonable efforts to rent it at a fair rental. If the landlord rents the dwelling unit for a term beginning prior to the expiration of the rental agreement, it the rental agreement is deemed to be terminated as of the date the new tenancy begins. If the landlord fails to use reasonable efforts to rent the dwelling unit at a fair rental or if the landlord accepts the abandonment as a surrender, the rental agreement is deemed to be terminated by the landlord as of the date the landlord has notice of the abandonment. If the tenancy is from month to month or week to week, the term of the rental agreement for this purpose shall be deemed to be a month or a week, as the case may be.
D. After the landlord has retaken possession of the dwelling unit, the landlord may store the tenant's personal possessions in the unoccupied dwelling unit that was abandoned by the tenant, in any other available unit or any storage space owned by the landlord or off the premises if a dwelling unit or storage space is not available. The tenant's perishable items, plants and pets are deemed not to be items required to be stored by the landlord on behalf of the tenant. The landlord shall notify the tenant of the location of the personal property in the same manner prescribed in subsection A of this section.
E. The landlord shall hold the tenant's personal property for a period of ten days after the landlord's declaration of abandonment. The landlord shall use reasonable care in holding the tenant's personal property. The tenant's perishable items, plants and pets are deemed not to be items required to be held by the landlord on behalf of the tenant. If the landlord holds the property for this period and the tenant makes no reasonable effort to recover it, the landlord may sell the property, retain the proceeds and apply them toward the tenant's outstanding rent or other costs which that are covered in the lease agreement or otherwise provided for in title 33, this chapter 10 or title 12, chapter 8 and that have been incurred by the landlord due to the tenant's abandonment. Any excess proceeds shall be mailed to the tenant at the tenant's last known address. A tenant does not have any right of access to that property until the actual removal and storage costs have been paid in full, except that the tenant may obtain clothing and the tools, apparatus and books of a trade or profession and any identification or financial documents, including all those related to the tenant's immigration status, employment status, public assistance or medical care. If provided by a written rental agreement, the landlord may destroy or otherwise dispose of some or all of the property if the landlord reasonably determines that the value of the property is so low that the cost of moving, storage and conducting a public sale exceeds the amount that would be realized from the sale.
F. For a period of twelve months after the sale the landlord shall:
1. Keep adequate records of the outstanding and unpaid rent and the sale of the tenant's personal property.
2. Hold for the benefit of the tenant any excess proceeds which that have been returned as undeliverable for the benefit of the tenant.
G. If the tenant notifies the landlord in writing on or before the date the landlord sells or otherwise disposes of the personal property that the tenant intends to remove the personal property from the dwelling unit or the place of safekeeping, the tenant has five days to reclaim the personal property. To reclaim the personal property the tenant must only pay the landlord for the cost of removal and storage for the period the tenant's personal property remained in the landlord's safekeeping.
H. In For the purposes of this section "abandonment" means either the occurrence of any one or more of the following:
1. The absence of the tenant from the dwelling unit, without notice to the landlord for at least seven days, if rent for the dwelling unit is outstanding and unpaid for ten days and there is no reasonable evidence other than the presence of the tenant's personal property that the tenant is occupying the residence. or
2. The absence of the tenant for at least five days, if the rent for the dwelling unit is outstanding and unpaid for five days and none of the tenant's personal property is in the dwelling unit.
3. The tenancy has been terminated by proper notice by either party and the tenant has returned to the landlord the keys to the dwelling unit and there is personal property remaining in the dwelling unit. Unless the landlord and tenant have agreed in writing to the contrary, the landlord may dispose of any personal property remaining in the unit, notwithstanding any other provision of this section.
4. The tenancy has been terminated by proper notice by either party and the tenant has not returned to the landlord the keys to the dwelling unit. In that event, the following apply:
(a) The landlord may enter the unit without providing the notice prescribed by section 33-1343, subsection D to determine whether there is reasonable evidence that the tenant has vacated the dwelling unit.
(b) If there is no personal property of material value remaining in the rental unit and it is evident to a reasonable person that the tenant has vacated the dwelling unit, the landlord may take immediate possession of the dwelling unit.
(c) The landlord shall make and retain either a photographic record or a videotaped recording of the entire dwelling unit that depicts the condition the unit was in at the time of entry to the unit.