Q: Is there any problem with recording my conversations with my tenants? Do I have to tell them?
A: As an attorney, I will address the legal answer, not the practical answer of whether you want to record all of your interactions with your tenant – that is a judgment call for you. Legally, the answer in Arizona is yes, you can record all of your interactions with another person and you don’t have to tell that person. Arizona is considered a “one-party consent” state meaning that a conversation can be recorded between two people as long as one of those people has given consent. A.R.S. § 13-3005. If you are one of the two people in the conversation, then you are giving consent and it doesn’t matter that the other party may not know. On the other hand, you can’t record other people’s conversations because they haven’t given consent. Again, I am not saying you want to do this, but legally you can. I will note that if a tenant is being aggressive or threatening towards you, it is a good idea to record them, in the event you want to evict or file criminal charges.
By Mark B. Zinman, Zona Law Group