Arizona Roommate Agreement
The Arizona rules that shape the document: no lodger law, no cotenant definition, and no joint-liability or deposit-split default, so the written agreement governs.
Find out where you stand in Arizona
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Introduction
A roommate agreement is a contract between co-tenants who share a home. It is not a lease, and it does not bind the landlord or change the terms of the lease the tenants signed. In Arizona, the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (ARLTA, A.R.S. Title 33, Chapter 10) never defines "co-tenant" or "subtenant" and sets no landlord-consent rule for adding a roommate. ARLTA does define a "roomer," but does not exclude roomers from its coverage, so a roommate, like any tenant, can only be removed through the standard notice-and-eviction process, not a faster lodger-style removal. Arizona also has no statute setting a joint-and-several rent default or apportioning a security deposit among roommates. The written agreement, together with the lease, is what actually governs the rest.
Key Things to Know
- 1
Arizona has no lodger law. The Residential Landlord and Tenant Act defines a "roomer" but does not exclude roomers from its coverage, and A.R.S. 33-1314(D) folds a rent-paying roomer into an ordinary week-to-week tenancy rather than a special removal track. An invited roommate can only be removed through the standard notice-and-eviction process under A.R.S. 33-1368, never by self-help.
- 2
Arizona law does not define "co-tenant" or "subtenant" and sets no landlord-consent rule for adding a roommate to an existing tenancy. Whether an added roommate needs the landlord's consent, and what status that roommate holds, depends entirely on the lease and this agreement, not on a codified state default.
- 3
An Arizona roommate agreement never binds the landlord. It is a contract between the roommates only. It does not require the landlord to recognize a new occupant, does not change who is on the lease, and does not override any landlord-consent clause the lease already contains.
- 4
Only the landlord can terminate a tenancy in Arizona, and only through the courts. A.R.S. 33-1368(A) requires 10 days' written notice for a curable lease breach (5 days for a health or safety violation under 33-1341). No Arizona statute lets one roommate remove another; a landlord's own self-help ouster exposes the landlord to statutory damages under 33-1367.
- 5
Arizona has no statute setting a default joint-and-several rule for rent among roommates. A.R.S. 12-2506 abolishes joint-and-several liability for tort claims only, such as personal injury or property damage, and does not reach lease or rent obligations, so it cannot be read to govern how roommates split rent.
- 6
Arizona's security deposit statute, A.R.S. 33-1321(D), is written only in landlord-to-tenant terms: an itemized accounting is owed to the tenant within 14 days of move-out. It says nothing about dividing a shared deposit among roommates, so this agreement should set that split and process directly.
- 7
Arizona's owner-occupied fair housing exemption, A.R.S. 41-1491.02(A)(2), tracks the federal Mrs. Murphy rule: an owner who lives in one unit of a dwelling of four or fewer units may choose a roommate freely under state law, without adding any state protected class beyond the federal list, and the exemption covers advertising the same as selection rather than treating them separately. Within Phoenix, a city ordinance (Ord. No. G-7086) adds sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, and source of income as protected classes and removes the exemption's protection for source-of-income-based rejection, so a Phoenix owner cannot reject a roommate applicant because of their source of income even though the state exemption itself sets no such limit.
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Roommate Agreement in Arizona, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Roommate Agreement guide walks through them.
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Arizona Requirements for Roommate Agreement
Arizona Agreement Does Not Bind the Landlord
State plainly that the roommate agreement is a contract between the roommates only, does not modify the Lease, and does not obligate the landlord, since Arizona's landlord-tenant act does not define co-tenant status or set a consent default.
Arizona Has No Lodger Law; Removal Requires Formal Eviction
ARLTA folds a rent-paying roomer into an ordinary week-to-week tenancy rather than excluding roomers from coverage (A.R.S. 33-1310(14); 33-1308; 33-1314(D)). State clearly that only the landlord, through the standard eviction process under 33-1368, can remove a roommate, and prohibit self-help removal.
Arizona Has No Default Rule on Joint Rent Liability
No Arizona statute sets a default joint-and-several or pro-rata rule for rent among roommates; A.R.S. 12-2506 reaches only tort claims. Draft the payment clause to state each roommate's share explicitly.
Arizona Has No Statutory Deposit-Apportionment Rule
A.R.S. 33-1321(D) governs only the landlord's itemized accounting to the tenant, with no division among roommates. Include a clause setting each roommate's contribution and the move-out split.
Arizona Fair Housing Exemption Covers Advertising and Selection Alike
A.R.S. 41-1491.02(A)(2) exempts an owner-occupier of a four-or-fewer-unit dwelling from the state's discrimination rules for both choosing and advertising for a roommate, without adding any protected class beyond the federal list. Note this scope when drafting a roommate listing clause.