HB 2963

REFERENCE TITLE: landlord tenant; settlement conferences
State of Arizona
House of Representatives
Fifty-seventh Legislature
Second Regular Session
2026
HB 2963
Introduced by
Representatives
  Villegas: Abeytia, Austin, Cavero, Contreras P, Crews, De Los Santos, Garcia,
  Liguori, Luna-N�jera, Sandoval, Simacek, Stahl Hamilton
AN
ACT
amending sections 12-1175, 33-1368
and 33-1377, Arizona Revised Statutes; relating to the Arizona
residential landlord and tenant act.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Section 12-1175, Arizona Revised Statutes,
is amended to read:
START_STATUTE12-1175. Complaint and answer; service and return; settlement conferences;
notice and pleading requirements
A. When a party aggrieved files a complaint of
forcible entry or forcible detainer, in writing and under oath, with the clerk
of the superior court or a justice of the peace, summons shall issue no not later than the next judicial day.
B. The complaint shall contain a description of the
premises of which possession is claimed in sufficient detail to identify them the premises and shall also state the
facts that entitle the plaintiff to possession and authorize the action.
C. Except for an action prescribed by
subsection D of this section, the summons shall be served at least two
days before the return day, and return made thereof on the day assigned for
trial.
D. for an action for material breach
of the lease as prescribed by section 33-1368, subsection A only or for failure
to pay rent as prescribed by section 33-1368, subsection B, the court shall
schedule a mandatory settlement CONFERENCE for five days after the eviction
notice is served on the tenant. The landlord and tenant shall appear
at the settlement CONFERENCE and shall provide the court with copies of the
lease, past due rent notices and receipts and any other documents relevant to
the settlement conference. If the landlord does not appear at the
settlement CONFERENCE, the case is dismissed. If the tenant does not
appear at the settlement CONFERENCE, the court shall enter a default judgment
against the tenant.� If the case is not settled at the settlement CONFEREncE,
the case shall be set for an eviction hearing on the fifth business day after
the settlement CONFERENCE.� The elected justices of the peace shall preside
over their individual settlement CONFERENCES, except if the justice of the
peace is unable to preside, the settlement conference shall be referred to
another elected justice of the peace in that county or in an adjacent county.�
The court shall track all data relating to MANDATORY EVICTION settlement
CONFERENCE results and shall report this data to the administrative office of
the courts.
D. E. Notwithstanding
any other law, an agency of this state and an individual court may not adopt or
enforce a rule or policy that requires a mandatory or technical form for
providing notice or for pleadings in an action for forcible entry or forcible
or special detainer. The form of any notice or pleading that meets
statutory requirements for content and formatting of a notice or pleading is
sufficient to provide notice and to pursue an action for forcible entry or
forcible or special detainer. END_STATUTE
Sec. 2. Section 33-1368, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
START_STATUTE33-1368. Noncompliance with rental agreement by tenant; failure to pay
rent; settlement conference; 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. 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. After 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.
C. The court, in any special detainer
action regarding unpaid rent or material breach of the lease, shall schedule a
mandatory settlement conference for five days after the eviction notice is
served on the tenant and shall proceed as prescribed in section 33-1377.� The
landlord and tenant shall appear at the settlement conference and shall provide
the court with copies of the lease, past due rent notices and receipts and any
other documents relevant to the settlement conference.� If the landlord does
not appear at the settlement conference, the case is dismissed.� If the tenant
does not appear at the settlement conference, the court shall enter a default
judgment against the tenant.� The elected justices of the peace shall preside
over their individual settlement conferences, except if the justice of the
peace is unable to preside, the settlement conference shall be referred to
another elected justice of the peace in that county or in an adjacent county.�
The court shall track all data relating to mandatory eviction settlement
conference results and shall report this data to the administrative office of
the courts.
D. After a judgment has been
entered in a special detainer office action in favor of the landlord, any
reinstatement of the rental agreement is solely in the discretion of the
landlord.
C. E. 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. F. 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. G. 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. H. 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. I. For
the purposes of this section, "days" means calendar days. END_STATUTE
Sec. 3. Section 33-1377, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:
START_STATUTE33-1377. Special detainer actions; service; trial postponement
A. Special detainer actions shall be instituted for
remedies prescribed in section 33-1368. Except as provided in
this section, the procedure and appeal rights prescribed in title 12, chapter
8, article 4 apply to special detainer actions.
B. Except for an action for material
breach of the lease as prescribed by section 33-1368, subsection A only or for
failure to pay rent as prescribed by section 33-1368, subsection B, the
summons shall be issued on the day the complaint is filed and shall command the
person against whom the complaint is made to appear and answer the complaint at
the time and place named, which shall be not more than
six nor or less than three days from after the date of the
summons. The tenant is deemed to have received the summons three
days after the summons is mailed if personal service is attempted and within
one day of issuance of the summons if a copy of the
summons is conspicuously posted on the main entrance of the tenant's residence
and on the same day the summons is sent by certified mail, return receipt
requested, to the tenant's last known address. The summons in a
special detainer action shall be served at least two days before the return day
and the return day made on the day assigned for trial. Service of process
in this manner shall be deemed the equivalent of having served the tenant in
person for the purposes of awarding a money judgment for all rent, damages,
costs and attorney fees due.
C. For good cause shown supported by an affidavit,
the trial may be postponed for not more than three days in a justice court or
five days in the superior court.
D. For an action for material breach
of the lease as prescribed by section 33-1368, subsection A only or for failure
to pay rent as prescribed by section 33-1368, subsection B, the court shall
schedule a mandatory settlement conference for five days after the eviction
notice is served on the tenant. The landlord and tenant shall appear
at the settlement conference and shall provide the court with copies of the
lease, past due rent notices and receipts and any other documents relevant to
the settlement conference. If the landlord does not appear at the
settlement conference, the case is dismissed.� If the tenant does not appear at
the settlement conference, the court shall enter a default judgment against the
tenant.� If the case is not settled at the settlement conference, the case
shall be set for an eviction hearing on the fifth business day after the
settlement conference.� The elected justices of the peace shall preside over
their individual settlement conferences, except if the justice of the peace is
unable to preside, the settlement conference shall be referred to another
elected justice of the peace in that county or in an adjacent county.� The
court shall track all data relating to mandatory eviction settlement conference
results and shall report this data to the administrative office of the courts.
D. E. In
an eviction hearing, in addition to determining the right
to actual possession, the court may assess damages, attorney fees and costs as
prescribed by law.
E. F. If
a complaint is filed alleging a material and irreparable breach pursuant to
section 33-1368, subsection A, the summons shall be issued as provided in
subsection B  of this section, except that the trial date and return date
shall be set no not later than the
third day following the filing of the complaint. If after the
hearing the court finds by a preponderance of the
evidence that the material and irreparable breach did occur, the court shall
order restitution in favor of the plaintiff not less than twelve nor or more than twenty-four hours later.
F. G. If
the defendant is found guilty, the court shall give judgment for the plaintiff
for restitution of the premises, for late charges stated in the rental
agreement, for costs and, at the plaintiff's option, for all rent found to be
due and unpaid through the periodic rental period provided for in the rental
agreement as described in section 33-1314, subsection C and shall grant a
writ of restitution.
G. H. If
the defendant is found not guilty, judgment shall be given for the defendant
against the plaintiff for costs, and if it appears that the plaintiff has
acquired possession of the premises since commencement of the action, a writ of
restitution shall issue in favor of the defendant. END_STATUTE