What are the security deposit rules in Arizona?
Arizona caps everything a landlord can demand up front — security deposit, prepaid rent, and refundable fees combined, however they are labeled — at one and one-half month's rent, though a tenant may volunteer more.
Within 14 days (excluding weekends and holidays) after the tenancy ends, possession is delivered, and the tenant demands the deposit back, the landlord must send an itemized list of all deductions and any refund by first-class mail to the tenant's last known address. Nonrefundable fees are legal only if their purpose is stated in writing — any fee not designated nonrefundable is refundable by statute. There is no escrow or interest requirement. A landlord who blows the 14-day duty owes the money due plus damages equal to twice the amount wrongfully withheld, and tenants have a statutory right to a move-in damage form and to be present at the move-out inspection.
Arizona security deposits at a glance
| Maximum deposit | 1.5 months' rent — ARS 33-1321(A): a landlord may not demand or receive 'security, however denominated, including prepaid rent in an amount or value of more than one and one-half month's rent' — an AGGREGATE cap covering the security deposit, prepaid rent, and any refundable fees regardless of label. The same subsection lets a tenant VOLUNTARILY pay more than 1.5 months in advance; the cap limits what the landlord may demand. Nonrefundable fees designated in writing under 33-1321(B) sit outside the refundable-security scheme. Mobile home parks are governed separately (ARS 33-1431, ch. 11). |
|---|---|
| Return deadline | 14 days |
| Deadline conditions | Within 14 days EXCLUDING Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays — so roughly three calendar weeks — after the LAST of three trigger events: termination of the tenancy, delivery of possession, and demand by the tenant (ARS 33-1321(D)). The landlord mails the itemized list and any refund by first-class mail to the tenant's last known place of residence unless other arrangements are agreed in writing. The 'demand by the tenant' element is part of the statutory text and routinely omitted by secondary sources. |
| Itemization required | Yes |
| Itemization rules | The landlord must provide an itemized list of ALL deductions together with the amount due and payable to the tenant, if any (ARS 33-1321(D)). Dispute-prevention scaffolding front-loads the documentation: at move-in the landlord must furnish a signed copy of the lease, a move-in form for recording existing damage, and written notification that the tenant may be present at the move-out inspection (33-1321(C)). |
| Separate account required | No |
| Interest owed to tenant | No |
| Account & interest rules | No escrow, trust-account, or interest requirement exists anywhere in ARS 33-1321 (all subsections checked). Fifty-state charts that import other states' escrow or interest rules into Arizona are wrong. |
| Pet deposits | No pet-deposit statute exists for standard rentals. A pet deposit is 'security, however denominated' and counts toward the 1.5-month aggregate cap of 33-1321(A) unless designated in writing as a nonrefundable fee under 33-1321(B). |
| Non-refundable fees allowed | Yes |
| Penalty for violation | If the landlord fails to comply with the 14-day itemization-and-return duty, the tenant may recover the property and money due 'together with damages in an amount equal to twice the amount wrongfully withheld' (ARS 33-1321(E)) — double the amount wrongfully withheld, not double the whole deposit. Other remedies are preserved, and the obligations run with the landlord's interest to successors. |
| Tenant forwarding-address duty | No affirmative statutory duty to furnish a forwarding address — but the 14-day clock includes 'demand by the tenant' as a trigger element, and the landlord's mailing duty runs only to the tenant's LAST KNOWN place of residence (33-1321(D)), so a tenant who never demands or updates an address weakens their own position. |
Notes and caveats
Statute citations
- ARS 33-1321 (A)-(E) Official source
How this record was verified: Direct read of statute text on the official Arizona Legislature site (azleg.gov): ARS 33-1321 and 33-1343 each read in full twice (independent fetches matched verbatim), ARS 33-1368, 33-1375, 33-1329, 33-1376, and 33-1314 read in full, plus trap-check reads of the mobile-home statutes ARS 33-1414 (late fees) and 33-1432 (90-day rent-increase notice) to confirm those figures do NOT apply to standard rentals. Pending-bill statuses (HB 2337 of 2025, HB 4122 and HB 2243 of 2026) checked against azleg.gov bill text and legislative trackers 2026-07-09; all died without committee action.