Eviction Notice Requirements in Arizona

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Notice for unpaid rent

If rent is unpaid, the landlord must serve a written notice of nonpayment and of the intent to terminate; if the tenant does not pay "within five days after written notice," the landlord may terminate by filing a special detainer action (§ 33-1368(B)). Those five days are calendar days — the statute says so expressly: "'days' means calendar days" (§ 33-1368(G)) — so weekends and holidays count. Paying is not just a courtesy: before the case is filed, the tenancy "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."

Notice for a lease violation

For a curable, non-rent breach — a "material noncompliance by the tenant with the rental agreement" — the landlord serves a notice stating the breach and that the 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" (§ 33-1368(A)). A narrower category has a shorter clock: a breach of the tenant's health-and-safety duties under § 33-1341 gets a five-day cure notice. Both are calendar-day counts.

Unconditional quit (no cure allowed)

Some conduct ends the tenancy immediately with no chance to fix it. If the breach "is both material and irreparable" — the statute lists an illegal weapon discharge, homicide, prostitution, criminal street gang activity, drug manufacturing or dealing, threats, assault, an adjudicated nuisance, or "imminent or actual serious property damage" — "the landlord may deliver a written notice for immediate termination" and proceed straight to court (§ 33-1368(A)). The listed acts are examples, not an exhaustive list. Separately, if the tenant repeats a health-and-safety noncompliance "of the same or a similar nature" after already curing one, the landlord may file after a 10-day notice with no further cure right.

Ending a month-to-month tenancy

To end a periodic tenancy when the tenant has done nothing wrong, the landlord gives "at least thirty days" written notice before the periodic rental date for a month-to-month tenancy (§ 33-1375(B)), or "at least ten days" for a week-to-week tenancy (§ 33-1375(A)). Either side may use these notices; no reason need be given.

How the notice must be served

Arizona's Act does not require a process server. A notice is "given" by "taking steps reasonably calculated to inform" the tenant, and the tenant "receives" it when it is "delivered in hand to the tenant or mailed by registered or certified mail" to the address the tenant holds out for receipt or, failing that, the last known residence (§ 33-1313(B)). A mailed notice counts as received on actual receipt or "five days after the date the notice is mailed, whichever occurs first" — so certified-mail service effectively adds up to five days before the notice clock even starts.

Tenant's right to cure/reinstate

For a curable breach, fixing the problem within the 5- or 10-day window stops the termination. For unpaid rent the reinstatement right is spelled out and narrows as the case moves: before filing, tendering "all past due and unpaid periodic rent and a reasonable late fee" reinstates the tenancy; after the special detainer action is filed, the tenant must also pay "attorney fees and court costs"; and once judgment is entered for the landlord, "any reinstatement... is solely in the discretion of the landlord" (§ 33-1368(B)). The tenant also has a retaliation defense: a landlord "may not retaliate... by bringing or threatening to bring an action for possession" after the tenant complained to a housing-code agency or joined a tenants' union (§ 33-1381(A)), and a complaint "within six months prior to the alleged act of retaliation creates a presumption" of retaliation (§ 33-1381(B)).

What trips people up

The five days for unpaid rent are calendar days, and mailing can add more. Section 33-1368(G) defines "days" as calendar days, so a weekend does not extend the pay-or-quit period the way it does in states that count business days. But if the landlord serves by certified mail rather than in hand, the notice is not treated as received until actual delivery or five days after mailing — so the method of service, not just the day count, controls when your clock runs.

"Pay and stay" gets more expensive the longer you wait. Tender past-due rent plus a reasonable late fee before the landlord files, and the tenancy is reinstated as a matter of right. Wait until after the special detainer action is filed and you also owe attorney fees and court costs; wait until after judgment and reinstatement is entirely up to the landlord.

Some breaches skip the cure step entirely. Drug or gang activity, an illegal weapon discharge, an assault, or serious property damage can be treated as "material and irreparable," letting the landlord serve an immediate-termination notice and go straight to court. There is no 10-day fix-it period for conduct in that category.

Common questions

My landlord served a 5-day notice on a Friday — do the weekend days count? Yes. For the nonpayment notice the statute defines "days" as calendar days, so Saturday and Sunday are counted. If the notice was mailed rather than handed to you, though, it is not treated as received until it actually arrives or five days after mailing, whichever is first.

If I pay everything I owe, can the landlord still evict me? For unpaid rent, tendering all past-due rent plus a reasonable late fee stated in a written lease reinstates the tenancy — but only up to a point. Once the eviction case is filed you must also pay attorney fees and court costs, and after a judgment the landlord doesn't have to take your money at all.

Can my landlord evict me with no reason at all? For a month-to-month tenancy, yes — with 30 days' written notice. Arizona has no statewide "just cause" requirement, so a landlord ending a periodic tenancy need not give a reason. (A city or county ordinance could add more; this page states only the state-law floor.)

Can my landlord change the locks or shut off my utilities to force me out? No. Only a court can order an eviction in Arizona, and the Act separately forbids a landlord from cutting off utilities except after a writ of restitution has been executed. A self-help lockout or utility shutoff is illegal.

Statutes and sources

• A.R.S. § 33-1368(A) — 10-day cure for a material lease breach; 5-day cure for a health-and-safety breach; immediate termination for a material-and-irreparable breach. https://www.azleg.gov/ars/33/01368.htm (accessed 2026-07-10)
• A.R.S. § 33-1368(B) — 5-day nonpayment notice; reinstatement rules before filing, after filing, and after judgment. https://www.azleg.gov/ars/33/01368.htm (accessed 2026-07-10)
• A.R.S. § 33-1368(G) — "days" means calendar days. https://www.azleg.gov/ars/33/01368.htm (accessed 2026-07-10)
• A.R.S. § 33-1375 — 30 days to end a month-to-month tenancy; 10 days for week-to-week. https://www.azleg.gov/ars/33/01375.htm (accessed 2026-07-10)
• A.R.S. § 33-1313(B) — how a notice is given and received; registered/certified mail and the 5-day mailing rule. https://www.azleg.gov/ars/33/01313.htm (accessed 2026-07-10)
• A.R.S. § 33-1381 — retaliatory conduct prohibited; 6-month presumption. https://www.azleg.gov/ars/33/01381.htm (accessed 2026-07-10)