Question: I have a rental in which the tenant keeps moving unauthorized occupants in and out of. I gave the tenant a demand letter, and he gets the unauthorized occupants to leave temporarily, but then brings them back a few weeks later. What can I do?
Answer: Before you can call someone an unauthorized occupant, you must first make sure that your lease specifies who the occupants are. If you don’t list them, you have no control of who is in your house. If you have unauthorized occupants, you can serve the tenant with a 10 day notice of noncompliance pursuant to A.R.S. § 33-1368. If the tenant does not cure within the 10 day period, then you can file the eviction. If the tenant does cure then the lease continues. Often, tenants think they will continue to get away with the breach if they just bring the occupants back later. A.R.S. § 33-1368(A)(2) addresses this and provides that if a same or similar noncompliance happens, within the lease term, then the landlord can give a second 10 day noncompliance notice. This notice, however, does not have a cure period. Therefore, if it happens a second time, the tenant must leave. As this notice must be given within the lease term, this likely will never arise in a month-to-month tenancy. In such cases, the landlord should simply serve a 30 day notice to terminate the lease.
Information contained in this post is for informational purposes only and should not be considered legal advice. You should always contact an attorney for legal advice and not rely on information published here.