Arizona Abandoned Tenant Property: Landlord Rules, A.R.S. 33-1370

Under A.R.S. 33-1370, an Arizona landlord may treat a unit as abandoned only after the absence and unpaid-rent periods in subsection (J) have run. The landlord must then send a notice of abandonment by certified mail, post it for five days, and hold belongings left behind for fourteen calendar days (subsection (F)). The section sets no dollar threshold for disposing of them.

What counts as abandonment

• (J)(1): the tenant is absent without notice to you for at least seven days, rent has been unpaid for ten days, and there is no reasonable evidence, other than the tenant’s belongings being there, that the tenant is occupying the unit.
• (J)(2): the tenant has been absent at least five days, rent has been unpaid for five days, and none of the tenant’s belongings are in the unit.

The section says calendar days only in (E) and (F). For the plain days in (A), (B), (H) and (J) it gives no counting rule, so our examples are illustrations (day after the event is day 1). If a date is tight, ask an Arizona attorney.

The steps, in order

1. Wait until the (J) period is complete. Send the notice of abandonment by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the tenant’s last known address and every alternate address you know, and post it on the door or another conspicuous place for five days (33-1370(A)).
2. Five days after the notice is both posted and mailed, you may retake and rerent the unit at a fair rental value; the security deposit is forfeited and applied to accrued rent and other reasonable costs (33-1370(B)). Note the text: (B) allows this “if no personal property remains in the dwelling unit”, while (D) to (F) deal with belongings left after you retake possession. The text does not say how the two fit together. If belongings remain, talk to an Arizona attorney first.
3. Make reasonable efforts to rerent at a fair rental. Rerenting early ends the old lease when the new tenancy begins; failing to make reasonable efforts, or accepting the abandonment as a surrender, ends it on the date you had notice (33-1370(C)).
4. If belongings remain, prepare an inventory and notify the tenant of their location and storage cost in the same manner as step 1 (33-1370(D)).

Belongings: hold, sell, donate, dispose

• Where (E): in the unit, another available unit, storage space you own, or off the premises. You need not store perishables, plants or animals, and may dispose of perishables and, at your discretion, contaminated, biohazard or health-and-safety-risk property.
• Animals (E): after notifying any person the tenant authorized under A.R.S. 33-1314, and if no one retrieves the animal after one calendar day, you may release it to a shelter or boarding facility and must record the name and location of that facility. Otherwise give reasonable care for the hold period, or notify the county enforcement agent or an animal control officer.
• Hold (F): fourteen calendar days after you retake possession, with reasonable care. If the tenant makes no reasonable effort to recover it, you may donate to a qualifying charitable organization or otherwise recognized charity, or sell. Proceeds go to outstanding rent and other costs covered in the lease or the chapter; excess is mailed to the tenant’s last known address.
• Tenant access (F): none until removal and storage costs are paid, except clothing, tools and books of a trade or profession, and identification or financial documents.
• Dollar threshold: none. The only value test: you may dispose of property if “the landlord reasonably determines that the value of the property is so low that the cost of moving and storing the property and conducting a public sale exceeds the amount that would be realized from the sale”. Write down how you reached that conclusion.
• Records (G): for twelve months after a sale, keep records of the unpaid rent and the sale, and hold undeliverable excess proceeds for the tenant.
• Tenant claims (H): if the tenant writes, on or before the date you sell or dispose, that they will remove the property, they have five days to reclaim it, paying only removal and storage costs for the period stored. You must surrender it within five days after a written offer to pay, or face recovery of the property or court-determined damages.
• Keys returned (I): you may immediately dispose of remaining belongings without liability, unless you and the tenant agreed in writing to other treatment.

Landlord must not

If you are evicting

A.R.S. 33-1368(D) lets you discontinue utility services you provide “on the day following the day that a writ of restitution or execution is executed pursuant to section 12-1181”. Only a person authorized by the utility may disconnect, and the utility’s tariff and procedures still apply. Under 33-1368(E), on that day you must follow 33-1370(D) to (I) for belongings. The text names no earlier day. The writ itself is in A.R.S. 12-1181; the court process is outside this article. The text does not say which day counts as retaking possession for the hold after a writ; ask an Arizona attorney.

Worked dates

A sale on Mon 11 Jan 2027 means records kept until 11 Jan 2028. In an eviction, a writ executed Fri 15 Jan 2027 puts the utility and belongings rules into effect Sat 16 Jan.

Inventory template

Our template; the statute requires an inventory and notice of storage location and cost, not this wording.

PROPERTY INVENTORY AND STORAGE NOTICE
Unit: ____________  Tenant(s): ____________
Landlord retook possession on: ________  Notice date: ________
1. Items stored (room, description, condition, photo no.):
   ______________________________________________
2. Items not stored (perishable, plant, animal, contaminated or
   health-risk) and what was done, with date: ____________
3. Items are kept at: ____________
4. Storage cost: $______ (basis: ______)  Removal cost: $______
5. Collectable before costs are paid: clothing, trade tools and
   books, identification and financial documents.
6. Held 14 calendar days after the retaking date, through ______.
   After that they may be donated or sold.
7. To reclaim, write to the landlord before any sale or disposal:
   ____________
8. Mailed certified, return receipt requested, on ______ to last
   known and alternate addresses: ____________
   Posted at ____________ on ______

Common mistakes

• Calling a unit abandoned because the tenant is late and quiet, without the (J) day counts.
• Changing locks or shutting off water or power; 33-1367 gives the tenant remedies.
• Skipping the certified mail or the five-day posting.
• Clearing out belongings during the fourteen days.
• Using a dollar cutoff from a blog; 33-1370 has none.

Not legal advice; contested facts or a tenant who objects are points for an Arizona attorney. Checked against the text published on azleg.gov on 5 October 2026.

Sources

• A.R.S. 33-1370 — Arizona Legislature, Arizona Revised Statutes
• A.R.S. 33-1368 — Arizona Legislature, Arizona Revised Statutes
• A.R.S. 33-1367 — Arizona Legislature, Arizona Revised Statutes
• A.R.S. 33-1314 — Arizona Legislature, Arizona Revised Statutes
• A.R.S. 12-1181 — Arizona Legislature, Arizona Revised Statutes

Related guides

• Arizona Security Deposit Return: The 14-Day Clock Explained
• Maximum Security Deposit in Arizona: 1.5 Months of Rent
• Arizona 5-Day Notice to Pay Rent or Quit (A.R.S. 33-1368(B))
• Arizona 10-Day Notice to Cure a Lease Violation (A.R.S. 33-1368(A))
• Arizona Eviction Process: Special Detainer Steps and Deadlines
• Can a Tenant Stop an Arizona Eviction by Paying Rent? (33-1368)
• Arizona Landlord Entry Notice Rules Under A.R.S. 33-1343
• Arizona Landlord Failed to Repair: Tenant Remedies and Deadlines
• Arizona Late Fee Law for Landlords: What the Statute Says
• Arizona Month-to-Month Notice and Rent Increase Rules
• Arizona Landlord Retaliation Rules Under A.R.S. 33-1381

Informational only, not legal advice. Statute text checked against the Arizona Revised Statutes (Title 33, Chapter 10 and Title 12, Chapter 8, Article 4) as published at azleg.gov on October 5, 2026. Statutes change every legislative session and a court may read them differently than a summary does; for a dispute, an eviction or anything expensive to get wrong, talk to an Arizona landlord-tenant attorney.