Housing · Warranty of habitability

Warranty of Habitability in Arizona

What a landlord in Arizona must keep livable, and your remedy when they do not: whether you can withhold or escrow rent, or must use another route. This is the landlord duty behind the repair-and-deduct remedy. Cited to the statute.

Confirmedagainst Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 33-1324Reviewed by Cholilurrohman · July 2026

Warranty of habitability · Arizona

Arizona law lists what a landlord must maintain in Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 33-1324, including working plumbing, heat, and cooling that was installed and offered. A tenant gives written notice under § 33-1361 and, if the problem is not fixed, may use the repair-and-deduct remedy in § 33-1363 for the greater of $300 or half a month’s rent.

Enumerated duty, repair-and-deduct

Withhold rent?Enumerated duty, repair-and-deduct

Repair-and-deduct capGreater of $300 or half a month’s rent

StatuteAriz. Rev. Stat. § 33-1324

What the warranty of habitability covers in Arizona

What the landlord must maintain, whether you can withhold or escrow rent, and the limits on the remedy.

What the law says	What it means
An enumerated statutory duty	Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 33-1324 requires the landlord to comply with building codes affecting health and safety, make all repairs to keep the unit fit and habitable, keep common areas clean and safe, maintain electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning systems, arrange for trash removal, and supply running water, reasonable hot water, and reasonable heat.
Cooling is unusually strong here	Arizona is the strongest air-conditioning state in the country. Cooling appears twice. Section 33-1324(A)(4) makes the landlord maintain any air-conditioning equipment supplied, and § 33-1324(A)(6) makes the landlord supply reasonable air-conditioning or cooling where such units are installed and offered, when required by seasonal weather conditions.
Repair-and-deduct is available	Under Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 33-1363 a tenant who gives notice and waits the required time may arrange a repair and deduct the cost from rent, capped at the greater of $300 or half a month’s rent. This is a self-help remedy tied to the duty in § 33-1324.

Where it does not apply	What it means
Two notice tracks before a remedy	Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 33-1361 sets two clocks. A general material breach terminates not less than ten days after written notice if it is not remedied within ten days. A noncompliance with § 33-1324 that materially affects health and safety runs on a shorter five-day track. Most comparison charts print only the ten-day figure.
Some duties can shift for a single-family home	The core duties to comply with codes and to keep the unit fit and habitable can never be shifted to the tenant. The trash-removal and the water, hot water, and heat duties may be moved to the tenant of a single-family residence only in writing, supported by adequate consideration, entered into in good faith, and not to evade the landlord’s core obligations.
Tenant-caused conditions	The duty is about the landlord’s failure to maintain. It does not cover damage the tenant or a guest caused, and the tenant still has to give notice and a chance to fix the problem before using a remedy.

No federal habitability law

There is no national warranty of habitability. Whether a landlord must keep a rental livable, and what a tenant can do about a breach, is decided state by state. Arizona settles the question with a detailed statutory list of duties in Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 33-1324.

Heat and cooling

The statute requires reasonable heat but sets no temperature and no dates. Cooling is the notable part. Where a unit was installed and offered with air-conditioning, the landlord must supply reasonable cooling when the weather calls for it, which is a stronger duty than most states impose.

The five-day track is easy to miss

For a problem that materially affects health and safety, the five-day notice track under § 33-1361 is shorter than the general ten-day track. A renter with no cooling in summer or a serious hazard should look at the five-day clock, not the ten.

In plain words

A quick key to the legal terms used on this page.

Self-help

Fixing a problem or acting on your own, such as paying for a repair and subtracting it from rent, without first going to court.

What you can do right now

Concrete, neutral steps when a rental in Arizona is not being kept livable. This is legal information, not legal advice.

Put the problem in writing
Describe the defect in writing to the landlord, date it, and keep a copy. Written notice under Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 33-1361 starts the clock, whether you are on the five-day health-and-safety track or the ten-day general track.
Document the condition
Take photos or video, keep any city inspection reports, and save your messages with the landlord. This record shows the breach if you later repair and deduct or go to court.
Use the right remedy after the wait
If the landlord does not fix the problem in the required time, the repair-and-deduct remedy in Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 33-1363 lets you arrange a repair and subtract the cost, capped at the greater of $300 or half a month’s rent.
Get Arizona tenant help
If you are unsure which notice track applies or how far the repair-and-deduct cap goes, a local legal-aid office or AZLawHelp can walk you through the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act before you act.

Tenant help in Arizona

Withholding rent the wrong way can risk eviction, so a legal aid office can confirm the exact notice and escrow steps before you stop paying.

→ AZLawHelp (Arizona legal aid)

This is general legal information, not legal advice. The notice, the escrow account, and what counts as uninhabitable all matter, so confirm your situation against the statute before withholding rent.

What renters in Arizona get wrong about habitability

Arizona does not leave habitability to the courts. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 33-1324 spells out what a landlord must maintain, from building-code compliance and a fit and habitable unit to working plumbing, heat, and trash removal. What sets Arizona apart is cooling. In a state where summer heat is a genuine danger, the statute names air-conditioning twice. The landlord must maintain any cooling equipment supplied, and where a unit was installed and offered with air-conditioning, the landlord must supply reasonable cooling when seasonal weather requires it. That is the strongest cooling duty in the country. The enforcement side is just as concrete. Section 33-1361 gives two notice tracks, a five-day clock for health-and-safety problems and a ten-day clock for general breaches, and § 33-1363 lets a tenant repair and deduct up to the greater of $300 or half a month’s rent. Written notice and the waiting period come first.

Common questions

Does Arizona require a landlord to provide air-conditioning?

In effect, yes, where the unit came with it. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 33-1324(A)(6) makes the landlord supply reasonable air-conditioning or cooling where such units were installed and offered, when required by seasonal weather. The landlord must also maintain any cooling equipment supplied. This is the strongest cooling duty of any state.

How much notice do I give my Arizona landlord before a remedy?

It depends on the problem. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 33-1361 gives a five-day track for a noncompliance with § 33-1324 that materially affects health and safety, and a ten-day track for a general material breach. Put the notice in writing and keep a copy.

Can I repair and deduct in Arizona?

Yes, within a limit. After proper notice and the waiting period, Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 33-1363 lets you arrange a repair and subtract the cost from rent, capped at the greater of $300 or half a month’s rent. See our repair-and-deduct page for how the cap works.

What must an Arizona landlord maintain?

Under Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 33-1324 the landlord must comply with health-and-safety building codes, keep the unit fit and habitable, keep common areas clean and safe, maintain electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning systems, arrange trash removal, and supply running water, reasonable hot water, and reasonable heat.

Primary source

→ Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 33-1324; Ariz. Rev. Stat. §§ 33-1361, 33-1363

Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 33-1324 (Arizona Legislature) · azleg.gov

Cholilurrohman
Every figure on this page is checked line-by-line against the current statute. Editorial standards →

Not legal advicePlainStatute provides plain-language summaries of public law for general information only. This is not legal advice. Statutes change; always confirm current requirements with the official source linked above before acting.

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