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Arizona Landlord Tenant Law  Criminal Activity

Criminal Activity - Eviction for Material and Irreparable Breach

by Norm Keyt, Arizona landlord tenant attorney

Arizona residential landlords may evict a tenant that is engaging in criminal activity on the landlord's property or engaging in conduct that endangers the health, safety or welfare of other tenants or neighbors by serving the tenant with a notice of immediate termination of the lease. 

Generally, the law allows for the immediate termination of a lease if the tenant is engaged in criminal or dangerous activity.  The notice must be served in exactly the same manner as the five day notice for nonpayment of rent.  See my explanation of the five day notice and how to serve it in my article entitled "Arizona Landlord Tenant Law - Evictions."  See also my sample notice of irreparable breach.

The law also provides that this type of eviction can be accomplished in a much shorter time than the standard forcible detainer.  For example, the trial for an action alleging material and irreparable breach is set for the third day following the filing of the complaint.  I recommend that landlords hire a private process server to serve the immediate termination notice on the tenant.  Make certain that the process server understands that the complaint seeks an immediate eviction.  The process server will probably charge more to attempt an immediate service, but it is necessary because of the short time line.

If the court finds in favor of the landlord in this type of case, the writ of restitution is also accelerated.  Normally the writ can issue on the sixth day following the judgment.  In irreparable breach cases, the writ can issue not less than twelve, nor more than twenty-four hours after judgment. 

If you believe that you have grounds to seek an immediate eviction for a material and irreparable breach, call Norm Keyt 602-265-0273 or send him an email at nck@keytlaw.com.  If you feel that criminal activity is afoot, you may want to involve the police at the same time you initiate your eviction action. 

Hire Norm Keyt to Evict Your Tenant

If you value your time or want to make sure that your eviction is handled properly, you should hire an Arizona leasing attorney to do your forcible detainer and eviction.  If you would like Arizona attorney Norm Keyt to handle the eviction process for you, if there are special circumstances with respect to your tenant or situation, or if you need to evict a commercial property tenant, please call Norm at 602-265-0273 or send him an email at nck@keytlaw.com.  

This article was first published on November 25, 2004.

About the Author

Norm Keyt has been an Arizona lawyer since 1975.  He practices commercial civil litigation, including landlord tenant disputes and evictions. In his twenty-nine plus years of law practice, Norm has been lead counsel in over 100 jury trials.  Norm can be reached by telephone at 602-265-0273, email at  nck@keytlaw.com and fax at 602-265-5964.  Communicating with Norman Keyt via email or otherwise does not cause you to become a client or cause your communications to be confidential or subject to the attorney client privilege.

To hire Arizona landlord's attorney Norm Keyt to evict a residential tenant or to advise you with respect to residential leases and problems with tenants, call Norm at 602-265-0273 or send an email to nck@keytlaw.com.

This page was last modified on June 19, 2008.

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