SB1573 - 561R

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Section 33-1322, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE33-1322. Disclosure and tender of written rental agreement; fees

A. The landlord or any person authorized to enter into a rental agreement on his the landlord's behalf shall disclose to the tenant in writing at or before the commencement of the tenancy the name and address of each of the following:

1. The person authorized to manage the premises.

2. An owner of the premises or a person authorized to act for and on behalf of the owner for the purpose of service of process and for the purpose of receiving and receipting for notices and demands.

B. At or before the commencement of the tenancy, the landlord shall inform the tenant in writing that the Arizona residential landlord and tenant act is available on the Arizona department of housing's website.

C. The information required to be furnished by this section shall be kept current and refurnished to a tenant upon on the tenant's request. This section extends to and is enforceable against any successor landlord, owner or manager.

D. A person who fails to comply with subsections A, B and C of this section becomes an agent of each person who is a landlord for the following purposes:

1. Service of process and receiving and receipting for notices and demands.

2. Performing the obligations of the landlord under this chapter and under the rental agreement and expending or making available for the purpose all rent collected from the premises.

E. At or before the commencement of the tenancy, The landlord shall disclose to the tenant:

1. The exact amount of the rent and the due date for the rent.

2. Any additional fees or costs that may be chargeable to the tenant and that are not included in the periodic rental rate, INCLUDING charges for trash valet or for upgrades to the rental premises necessary to use smart devices, service fees to submit payments online and any other additional fees or costs, including taxes. The landlord shall include the same DISCLOSURES in any advertisement or other PROMOTIONAL material that states the periodic rental rate and shall include those disclosures in any web-based promotional materials, including the website for the rental premises.

3. Whether the landlord or any of its vendors collect or sell the tenant's personal data as a result of using facilities or services on the rental premises.

E. F. If there is a written rental agreement, the landlord must tender and deliver a signed copy of the rental agreement to the tenant and the tenant must sign and deliver to the landlord one fully executed copy of such rental agreement within a reasonable time after the agreement is executed. A written rental agreement shall have all blank spaces completed. Noncompliance with this subsection shall be deemed a material noncompliance by the landlord or the tenant, as the case may be, of the rental agreement.END_STATUTE

Sec. 2. Title 33, chapter 10, article 2, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 33-1322.01, to read:

START_STATUTE33-1322.01. Rental agreement provisions; additional services; payment

A. A LANDLORD or any person authorized to enter into a rental AGREEMENT on the LANDLORD'S behalf shall:

1. Allow a tenant to choose not to receive and pay for any nonessential services, including valet services related to trash or RECYCLING, smart home fees or fees for similar devices or services.

2. Allow a tenant to pay rent and any other amounts due, including move-in costs, with any legal tender, including cash in United States dollars, personal checks, cashier's checks, debit or credit cards, bank or other financial institution websites or any online payment center or system that is provided by the landlord.

3. ASSESS ANY PROPERLY CHARGED ADDITIONAL FEES OR COSTS ONLY ON THE same date that THE RENTAL PAYMENT IS DUE.

B. A LANDLORD or any person authorized to enter into a rental AGREEMENT on the LANDLORD'S behalf may not Charge additional fees for accepting an online payment through the landlord's website or other system that is provided by the landlord. END_STATUTE

Sec. 3. Section 33-1368, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE33-1368. Noncompliance with rental agreement by tenant; failure to pay rent; utility discontinuation; liability for guests; definition

A. Except as provided in this chapter, if there is a material noncompliance by the tenant with the rental agreement, including material falsification of the information provided on the rental application, the landlord may deliver a written notice to the tenant specifying the acts and omissions constituting the breach and that the rental agreement will terminate on a date not less than ten days after receipt of the notice if the breach is not remedied in ten days. For the purposes of this section, material falsification includes the following untrue or misleading information about the:

1. Number of occupants in the dwelling unit, pets, income of the prospective tenant, social security number and current employment listed on the application or lease agreement.

2. Tenant's criminal records, prior eviction record and current criminal activity. Material falsification of information in this paragraph is not curable under this section.

If there is a noncompliance by the tenant with section 33-1341 materially affecting health and safety, the landlord may deliver a written notice to the tenant specifying the acts and omissions constituting the breach and that the rental agreement will terminate on a date not less than five days after receipt of the notice if the breach is not remedied in five days. However, If the breach is remediable by repair or the payment of damages or otherwise, and the tenant adequately remedies the breach before the date specified in the notice, the rental agreement will not terminate. If there is an additional act of these types of noncompliance of the same or a similar nature during the term of the lease after the previous remedy of noncompliance, the landlord may institute a special detainer action pursuant to section 33-1377 ten days after delivery of a written notice advising the tenant that a second noncompliance of the same or a similar nature has occurred. If there is a breach that is both material and irreparable and that occurs on the premises, which may include an illegal discharge of a weapon, homicide as prescribed in sections 13-1102, 13-1103, 13-1104 and 13-1105, prostitution as defined in section 13-3211, criminal street gang activity as prescribed in section 13-105, activity as prohibited in section 13-2308, the unlawful manufacturing, selling, transferring, possessing, using or storing of a controlled substance as defined in section 13-3451, threatening or intimidating as prohibited in section 13-1202, assault as prohibited in section 13-1203, acts that have been found to constitute a nuisance pursuant to section 12-991 or a breach of the lease agreement that otherwise jeopardizes the health, safety and welfare of the landlord, the landlord's agent or another tenant or involving imminent or actual serious property damage, the landlord may deliver a written notice for immediate termination of the rental agreement and shall proceed under section 33-1377. The foregoing list of actions, which may constitute a material and irreparable breach of a tenant's lease, is not exhaustive.

B. A tenant may not withhold rent for any reason not authorized by this chapter. Notwithstanding any provision in the rental agreement, if rent is unpaid when due, the landlord may not charge a late fee if the rent is paid in full within five days after the due date. If rent is unpaid when due and the tenant fails to pay rent within five days after written notice by the landlord of nonpayment and the landlord's intention to terminate the rental agreement if the rent is not paid within that period of time, the landlord may terminate the rental agreement by filing a special detainer action pursuant to section 33-1377. Before the filing of a special detainer action, the rental agreement shall be reinstated if the tenant tenders all past due and unpaid periodic rent and a reasonable late fee set forth in a written rental agreement, except that, notwithstanding any provision in a rental agreement, the landlord may not charge a late fee if the rent is paid in full within the five-day period after receiving the written notice of nonpayment from the landlord. After If a special detainer action is filed, the rental agreement is reinstated only if the tenant pays all past due rent, reasonable late fees set forth in a written rental agreement, attorney fees and court costs. After a judgment has been entered in a special detainer action in favor of the landlord, any reinstatement of the rental agreement is solely in the discretion of the landlord.

C. The landlord may recover all reasonable damages resulting from noncompliance by the tenant with the rental agreement or section 33-1341 or occupancy of the dwelling unit, court costs, reasonable attorney fees and all quantifiable damage caused by the tenant to the premises.

D. The landlord may discontinue utility services provided by the landlord on the day following the day that a writ of restitution or execution is executed pursuant to section 12-1181. Disconnections shall be performed only by a person authorized by the utility whose service is being discontinued. This section does not supersede standard tariff and operational procedures that apply to any public service corporation, municipal corporation or special districts providing utility services in this state.

E. On the day following the day that a writ of restitution or execution is executed pursuant to section 12-1181, the landlord shall comply with section 33-1370, subsections D, E, F, G, H and I regarding the tenant's personal property.

F. For the purposes of this chapter, the tenant shall be held responsible for the actions of the tenant's guests that violate the lease agreement or rules or regulations of the landlord if the tenant could reasonably be expected to be aware that such actions might occur and did not attempt to prevent those actions to the best of the tenant's ability.

G. For the purposes of this section, "days" means calendar days. END_STATUTE

Sec. 4. Section 33-1371, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE33-1371. Acceptance of partial payments; waiver of right to terminate; exception

A. A landlord is not required to accept a partial payment of rent or other charges. A landlord accepting a partial payment of rent or other charges retains the right to may not proceed against a tenant only if the tenant agrees in a contemporaneous writing to the terms and conditions of the partial payment with regard to continuation of the tenancy. The written agreement shall contain a date on which the balance of the rent is due for failure to pay rent and waives the right to terminate the rental agreement for failure to pay rent. The landlord may proceed as provided in this article and in title 12, chapter 8 against a tenant in breach of this agreement or any other breach of the original rental agreement. If only if the tenant fails to pay the next regularly scheduled periodic rent when due and only after the landlord has provided the tenant with a notice of failure to pay rent as specified in section 33-1368, subsection B before the completion of the agreement for partial payment, no additional notice under section 33-1368, subsection B is required in case of a breach of the partial payment agreement.

B. For the purposes of this section, a landlord's acceptance of a housing assistance payment does not constitute constitutes an acceptance of a partial payment of rent or and a waiver of a landlord's right to terminate the rental agreement for any breach by the tenant failure to pay rent.

C. Except as specified in subsections subsection A and B of this section, acceptance of rent, or any portion of rent, with knowledge of a default by the tenant or acceptance of performance by the tenant that varied from the terms of the rental agreement or rules or regulations subsequently adopted by the landlord constitutes a waiver of the right to terminate the rental agreement for that breach. END_STATUTE

Sec. 5. Short title

This act shall be known as the "Truth in Renting Act".