When An Arizona Landlord Can Charge a 2-Month Penalty

Question: My husband and I were both stationed at Luke AFB. We rented a Glendale apartment for one year at $1,750 per month, with a $1,000 security deposit. Our one-year lease expired June 30. We were transferred to the Presidio in San Francisco effective July 1, but we were unable to move out of our Glendale apartment until July 15, when Presidio base housing finally became available. A new tenant moved into our Glendale apartment the next day. We are OK with forfeiting the $1,000 security deposit and paying the $875 rent for two additional weeks. We have now been served in California with an Arizona lawsuit that says that we owe our landlord $3,375, not only for the $875 for two weeks’ rent from July 1-15, but a penalty of $3,500 for two months’ rent (less a credit of $1,000 for our forfeited security deposit). We understand losing the $1,000 security deposit, plus paying the $875 rent for July 1-15, but why do we have to pay any penalty when a new tenant moved into our apartment the next day?

Answer: Under A.R.S. 33-1375(C), if a tenant holds over after the lease has expired without the landlord’s consent, the landlord can recover, in addition to rent owed, a penalty of two months’ rent.

Note: Inasmuch as you are now in California, however, you have some negotiating leverage, as the landlord should have to get an Arizona judgment certified by a California judge to collect any monies from you.