Lease Renewal Clause
in Phoenix, AZ
How this page is sourced
Statutes verified against primary state sources
Every statute cited here was read in its published text before this page went live: on the state's own site where that site can be reached, otherwise on a republished copy of the code. Court decisions are quoted from the published opinion and linked to it, so you can read the original yourself.
Primary sourcesNot legal advice
Content verified against primary state statutes before publicationLast updated: October 2026
What it actually means, what Arizona law says, what's specific to Phoenix - and exactly what to do. In plain English.
Quick Summary - What You Need to Know
- Month to month: either side may end it with 30 days' written notice. Week to week: 10 days'.
- A fixed-term lease ends on its expiration date; the Arizona sections we read set no non-renewal notice for it.
- No Arizona statute we read limits automatic-renewal clauses. Read your renewal paragraph before you sign.
- Willfully staying on in bad faith after your term can cost up to two months' rent or double actual damages.
- Phoenix adds no renewal rule. A.R.S. 33-1329 preempts municipal rent regulation, and the city has no just-cause ordinance.
Count it for your dates
30 days before: the last day to act
What it means: Written notice to end the month-to-month tenancy is due at least 30 days before that date. Applies to the landlord or the tenant ending a month-to-month tenancy (week to week takes 10 days; the Arizona sections we read set no notice for declining to renew a fixed-term lease) (A.R.S. § 33-1375(B)). Calendar arithmetic only; check how the section counts days before you rely on a date.
Copy and send: Well before your lease's response deadline
Ask about renewal in writing
Fill in the brackets and keep a copy of what you send.
Understanding the Lease Renewal Clause
This page is for Phoenix renters whose lease is ending and who want to know how much warning they get, or owe, about renewal. Start with your tenancy type.
Arizona's notice rule covers month-to-month and week-to-week renters. A fixed term, such as a twelve-month lease, ends on its expiration date, so the timing and any automatic renewal come from the renewal paragraph you signed. Read it early in the term, not in the final weeks.
What renters assume
On a one-year Arizona lease, my landlord must warn me well ahead of time before deciding not to renew.
What is actually true
The Arizona sections we read require no non-renewal notice on a fixed-term lease; it ends on its date. The 30-day written notice in A.R.S. 33-1375(B) covers a month-to-month tenancy.
Arizona sits near the bottom of this chart at 30 days, and even that covers only month-to-month tenancies. Denver renters get 90 days plus a legally required reason, while a Phoenix fixed-term lease can end on its date with no notice and no reason.
Lease Renewal Clause Example - What the Wording Looks Like in Phoenix, AZ
The sample clause below is real lease language - a court quoted it word for word, and then ruled on it. What the judge decided is at the bottom of this block.
Find the equivalent paragraph in your own lease and read the two side by side. The wording will differ; the moving parts rarely do.
A handwritten renewal paragraph, reproduced with the Connecticut court's own bracketed corrections to the spelling left in place:
This lease will automatical[l]y renew on every an[n]iversary for the term of one year unless a written [agreement] is signed by us, or you vacate the apartment when the lease ends.
Quoted from the published opinion in Brook Run Development Corp. v. Noon, 230 Conn. App. 424 (2025). Judicial opinions are not subject to copyright; the lease language is reproduced in limited part for commentary under 17 U.S.C. § 107.
What the 4 highlighted phrases mean
“automatical[l]y renew on every an[n]iversary”
Recurring, not a one-off, so every year brings the same deadline round again. Our Arizona record addresses that mechanism in terms: the state has no statute restricting automatic-renewal clauses in residential leases, and it sets no statutory notice for declining to renew a fixed term, so the lease's own terms control. Two states handle that same yearly moment very differently: in Seattle an ordinance makes the landlord offer a renewal 60 to 90 days before expiry, and in Colorado HB24-1098 means a landlord needs a listed ground before declining one at all.
“a written [agreement]”
Writing is doing the work here, and it was the whole fight in the case below: the tenant read the requirement as a document she also had to sign, which would have let her renew forever, while the court read it as the landlord's own instrument. Arizona's statutory writing requirement is a different animal - A.R.S. § 33-1375(B) requires 30 days' written notice to end a month-to-month tenancy and 10 days for week to week.
“is signed by us”
Find out who the pronoun refers to before relying on any of it. In the case below the lease defined it to mean the landlord, and that definition decided the appeal: each side ended up with its own exit, the landlord's by signing, the tenant's by leaving. Definitions paragraphs are dull, and they are where clauses like this are won and lost.
See the example
“or you vacate the apartment”
The tenant's exit, and in Arizona the expensive one to get wrong. Leaving at the end of the term is the act that ends the arrangement; staying on without a renewal is a holdover, and a willful holdover in bad faith exposes a tenant to up to two months' rent or double actual damages.
See the example
The tenant lost, and the reasoning is worth reading before assuming an automatic-renewal clause traps the landlord. She argued this handwritten paragraph was ambiguous and had locked the landlord into renewing forever. The Connecticut Appellate Court held it clear and unambiguous as a matter of law, creating no perpetually renewing lease. Because the lease defined “we” and “us” to mean the landlord, the clause gave each side its own exit - the landlord by signing a writing declining to renew, the tenant by vacating when the term ended. Reading “agreement” to require the tenant's signature as well would have handed her and her heirs “complete control over the plaintiff's property,” a result the court called untenable and absurd, and the absence of any rent escalation clause pointed the same way. The residential lease was therefore terminated and judgment for the landlord in the summary process action was affirmed. One reading note: the bracketed letters and the bracketed word in the quotation are the court's own corrections to a handwritten lease provision, not the lease's spelling, and they are reproduced here as the opinion prints them.
How this state's law treats this clause
One court, one lease, one state. That answer is not automatically yours, and your lease may be worded to land differently. Use this to know what to look for and what to ask - your state's tenant hotline or a local tenant attorney can answer it for your document.
Arizona Law on Lease Renewal Clause
- A.R.S. 33-1375(B) requires 30 days' written notice to end a month-to-month tenancy, and 10 days for week-to-week.
- The Arizona sections we read set no notice for declining to renew a fixed-term lease, so check what the lease's own terms say.
- A willful bad-faith holdover exposes the tenant to up to two months' rent or double actual damages.
- No Arizona statute we read restricts automatic-renewal clauses in residential leases.
Sources include A.R.S. § 33-1375 - statutes change; verify the current text for your situation.
The notice rule in the Arizona sections we read is A.R.S. 33-1375(B), and it binds you and your landlord alike.
- Month to month. 30 days' written notice to end the tenancy.
- Week to week. 10 days' notice.
- Fixed term. The Arizona sections we read set no notice for declining to renew. The lease ends on its expiration date unless your renewal paragraph says otherwise.
- Automatic renewal. No Arizona statute we read limits these clauses. Check whether yours renews for a full new term if you stay silent.
- Staying past the term. If you stay briefly in good faith, you owe ordinary rent. A willful, bad-faith holdover can cost up to two months' rent or double actual damages.
Statutes change, so check the current text of A.R.S. 33-1375 before you count a day.
What's Specific to Phoenix
Figures are the state rule, or the stronger city ordinance where one exists. Verify the current law for your own situation before relying on it.
Phoenix adds no renewal rule of its own. A.R.S.
33-1329 preempts municipal rent regulation, and Phoenix has no just-cause ordinance and no extra non-renewal notice ordinance. A Melrose District bungalow and an Ahwatukee apartment follow the same state rules.
If a non-renewal turns into an eviction filing, the case goes to Maricopa County Justice Court, and a landlord needs that court's judgment to remove you.
On a fixed term, your lease is where that date comes from. A clear date lets you plan to stay or to move.
A.R.S. 33-1375(B) gives either side 30 days on month to month. Check that a fixed-term clause does not ask more of you.
No Arizona statute we read limits automatic renewal. Staying quiet past the opt-out window can lock you into another year.
The Arizona sections we read set no cap on renewal rent. Ask for the figure in writing before you agree.
Sources
The law this guide relies on, and where to read it. Statutes change, so confirm the current text before you act on it.
- A.R.S. § 33-1375 on azleg.gov, Arizona's own publication of its statutes.
Red Flags to Watch Out For
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Ten days used on a monthly tenancy
10 days is the week-to-week figure. Month to month is 30 days' written notice under A.R.S. 33-1375(B). Match the count to your rent period.
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Auto-renewal with an easy-to-miss opt-out
The lease renews itself unless you opt out by a set date. No Arizona statute we read limits automatic-renewal clauses, so find that date before you sign.
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One-sided notice duty
You must give 60 days' notice to leave, but the landlord owes none. On month to month, A.R.S. 33-1375(B) sets one period for both sides.
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Response deadline buried mid-lease
The date you must answer by sits inside a paragraph you might skim. The Arizona sections we read give no grace period if you miss it.
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A fee for not renewing
A charge or forfeited deposit for leaving when your term ends. The Arizona sections we read require no notice from you on a fixed term. Ask what it covers.
Your Rights as a Phoenix Tenant
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30 days on month to month
A.R.S. 33-1375(B): 30 days' written notice to end a month-to-month tenancy, from the landlord or from you. Week to week, 10 days'.
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Good faith means ordinary rent
Staying briefly past your term in good faith owes normal rent. Up to two months' rent or double actual damages applies only to a willful, bad-faith holdover.
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A court order, never a lockout
A non-renewal does not let a landlord change the locks or cut utilities. Removing you takes a judgment from Maricopa County Justice Court.
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The terms you already signed
A renewal offer is a new contract, not an edit to the one you have. Until you sign it, your current terms, including the rent, control.
What To Do - Step by Step
Name your tenancy type
Month to month, week to week or fixed term? A.R.S. 33-1375(B) covers the first two. On a fixed term, your lease sets the timing.
Find your term end date
Note the expiration date and the opt-out window in the renewal paragraph. Every deadline you have runs off those dates.
Calendar the answer-by date
Put the lease's response deadline in your phone, with a reminder well ahead of it.
Ask for renewal terms in writing
Email the property manager for the renewal rent before that deadline. The Arizona sections we read set no deadline for a landlord to offer one.
Send your answer in writing
Reply by email, not a phone call. Ending a month-to-month tenancy takes 30 days' written notice.
Check the statute, then get help
Read the current text of A.R.S. 33-1375. If a non-renewal turns into an eviction filing, call Community Legal Services in Phoenix right away.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Lease Renewal rules near Arizona
The same clause in the nearest states we cover.
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