Evicting Short-Term Renters Who Stay Too Long

Question: We have been renting our Scottsdale rental home as a short-term rental home since 2019 with no problems. Our last short-term renter of ten days, however, was a problem because our short-term renter refused to move out after 10 days. We argued with this short-term renter, but we eventually paid him $500 to move out just before our next short-term renter. We are now concerned about move-out problems with future short-term renters. Some of our short-term renters for bachelor/bachelorette parties are only three days over a weekend. What if they want to continue to party for another few days, and we have another short-term renter coming?

Answer: Any short-term rental for less than 30 days, e.g., weekend bachelor party, is no different legally than the renter of a room at a Holiday Inn motel or at a Marriott hotel for less than 30 days. In other words, after a short-term weekend bachelor party ends, the right to occupy also ends. The occupants are then trespassers who can be removed by the police.

Note: A short-term rental for 30 days or more, however, has the protections of the Arizona Landlord Tenant Act which requires notice and eviction by court order.