Andy Hull, arguably the top landlord/tenant attorney in the Phoenix region, has provided us with this article on landlord responsibilities when an AC system or other essential service becomes non-functioning. We hope this info helps keep you and your tenant safe and happy. Thanks again to Andy, who can be reached at (602) 230-0088.
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As summer drags on, one of the more common questions we get is concerning failure of air conditioning at the rental property and what if any compensation the residents are entitled to. Generally speaking, as long as the landlord makes all reasonable efforts to repair the air conditioning problem, there is no compensation. The main statute in the Arizona Residential Landlord and Tenant Act is A.R.S. § 33-1364. This statute simply states that if the landlord deliberately or negligently fails to supply the tenant with essential services (air conditioning being one of those essential services), the tenant can do an number of things including going to a motel and deducting the daily rent from the motel bill, suing for diminished rental value, or obtaining substitute essential services (a rental air conditioning unit) and deducting those from the rent. However, as along as the landlord is attempting to make the repairs, these options are not available to the tenant. The courts have consistently found that if a landlord attempts to get an air conditioning repairman out, the repairman is backlogged with work for instance, and then needs to order parts from out of state, even if it takes three to five days to complete the air conditioning repairs, legally the tenants are not entitled to compensation.
The tenants, however, have other options. One of those is to give the landlord a 5-day Health and Safety Noncompliance Notice for failure to supply this essential service, and if the landlord cannot correct the noncompliance within five days, the tenant can terminate the lease, vacate, and ask for their deposit back. Also, if the cost of the repair is less than one-half of one month’s rent or $300.00, whichever is greater, the tenant can serve written Notice on the landlord and if repairs are not done, hire their own licensed and bonded contractor to come in and do the repairs. The tenant would have to get a lien waiver from the contractor that they would not place a lien on the property, pay the contractor’s bill, and then submit it to the landlord for the above deduction to be taken off the next month’s rent. However, the law is very clear that the tenant must elect between one of these three remedies and cannot do more than one. As a landlord you should document all of the efforts you have made to correct the cooling problem in the event that the tenant attempts to sue for compensation later. The same laws apply to heating and would apply to lack of heating during the winter months.
Gene Urban & Ron Urban
The Urban Team at Realty Executives
