SB1612 - 551R

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

Section 1. 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; termination for cause; 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 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 includes 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.

B. 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 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, which may include an illegal discharge of a weapon, homicide as prescribed in sections 13-1102, 13-1103, 13-1104 and 13-1105, prostitution as defined 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 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. The foregoing list of actions which that may constitute a material and irreparable breach of a tenant's lease is not exhaustive.

B. C. A tenant may not withhold rent for any reason not authorized by this chapter. If rent 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 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 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, 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. D. 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. E. 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. This section does not 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. F. On the day following the day that a writ of restitution or execution is executed pursuant to section 12-1181, the landlord shall comply with section 33-1370, subsections D, E, F, G, H and I regarding the tenant's personal property.

F. 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. Notwithstanding any other statute, for any tenant who has maintained a tenancy of twelve months or more, a LANDLORD may only terminate the rental agreement or refuse to renew the rental agreement if any of the following occur:

1. the tenant fails to pay rent.

2. the tenant materially breaches the rental agreement.

3. The landlord or the landlord's spouse, grandparent, child or grandchild is to reside in the rental property or the landlord removes the rental property from the rental market. For any termination PURSUANT to this PARAGRAPH, the landlord shall WAIVE one month of the tenant's rent or shall provide to the tenant one month's rent as relocation assistance.

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

Sec. 2. Section 33-1371, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE33-1371. Acceptance of partial payments; waiver of right to terminate; exception

A. A landlord is not required to accept a partial payment of rent or other charges. A landlord accepting a partial payment of rent or other charges retains the right to proceed against a tenant only if the tenant agrees in a contemporaneous writing to the terms and conditions of the partial payment with regard to continuation of the tenancy. The written agreement shall contain a date on which the balance of the rent is due. The landlord may proceed as provided in this article and in title 12, chapter 8 against a tenant in breach of this agreement or any other breach of the original rental agreement. If the landlord has provided the tenant with a notice of failure to pay rent as specified in section 33-1368, subsection B c before the completion of the agreement for partial payment, no additional notice under section 33-1368, subsection B c is required in case of a breach of the partial payment agreement.

B. For the purposes of this section, a landlord's acceptance of a housing assistance payment does not constitute an acceptance of a partial payment of rent or a waiver of a landlord's right to terminate the rental agreement for any breach by the tenant.

C. Except as specified in subsections A and B of this section, acceptance of rent, or any portion of rent, with knowledge of a default by the tenant or acceptance of performance by the tenant that varied from the terms of the rental agreement or rules or regulations subsequently adopted by the landlord constitutes a waiver of the right to terminate the rental agreement for that breach. END_STATUTE