Security deposits under Arizona law, in plain English

Deposits produce more arguments than any other part of a tenancy, and almost every argument comes from the same place: nobody photographed the property at move-in. What follows is how the Arizona Residential Landlord and Tenant Act works in practice, and how we handle it. It is general information about how we operate, not legal advice for your situation.

The cap is one and a half months

Arizona limits a residential security deposit to one and a half times the monthly rent. That cap covers the security deposit itself. Separately identified refundable items, such as a pet deposit, and clearly non-refundable fees that are stated as non-refundable in writing, sit outside it.

In practice most of our properties ask for between one month and the cap. The exact figure belongs on the listing, not in a conversation at signing, which is why every listing on this site states it.

Fourteen business days, with an itemised statement

After a tenancy ends and the tenant has given possession back, the landlord has 14 business days to return the deposit along with an itemised list of any deductions. Business days, not calendar days, which in practice is about three weeks.

We start that clock at the move-out inspection and we attach the photo comparison to the statement. A deduction with a dated before-and-after photo behind it is rarely disputed. A deduction described as cleaning with no evidence almost always is.

Wear and tear versus damage

Normal wear and tear cannot be deducted. The dividing line is use versus abuse, adjusted for how long the tenancy ran and how old the finish was at move-in.

• Wear: scuffed paint and nail holes after two years, carpet flattened in traffic paths, faded blinds on a west window, worn tap finish
• Damage: a hole through a door, pet urine into the pad, a burn on a counter, a missing screen, tile cracked by an impact
• Age matters: a five year old carpet has very little remaining life to charge against, and a deduction should reflect that rather than the replacement price

The thirty minutes that protect you

The single most valuable thing a tenant can do is walk the property at move-in with the condition report open and add everything we missed within the window the lease gives. Photograph it yourself as well. We have never seen a deposit dispute go badly for a tenant who did this.

For owners, the equivalent is insisting on a photographed move-in report even when the tenant seems lovely and the property is new. It costs half an hour and it is the entire evidence base for whatever happens three years later.

Written for a demo website. Figures are samples drawn from a fictional portfolio, and nothing here is legal, tax or investment advice.