Regaining entry after eviction lockout

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dillerboi

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My jurisdiction is: Arizona

In Arizona, is it legal for a landlord to refuse reentry into an apartment, by the tenant, supervised by the landlord, for the sole purpose of gathering their remaining belongings? Is it legal for the landlord to charge a fee of $250 to do so? What legal rights does the tenant have at this point and what remedies are there to legally gain access to their personal items? Contact with the landlord to work out a reasonable agreement has produced nothing but threats, accusations and inuendo from the management staff. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
Has the eviction been granted via a court order or is this a "landlord lockout" (which is illegal in a residential lease)?

Commercial leases are a different matter.

Gail
 
Arizona has some very specific requirements regarding the disposition of any property the tenant has left behind. I've attached an article that very thoroughly describes what must be undertaken in regards to such property:

http://www.keytlaw.com/leasinglaw/azevictions.htm

Skip down to "Disposition of Tenant's Property Left in the Premises" to review these details.

It appears that the landlord does have the right to charge the tenant a reasonable amount to store their personal property.

Gail
 
Reasonable in whose eyes? I think the major issue and reason for the inquiry is the way the situation was handled by the manager of the property. The lock up happened at approx. 3:30 pm with the tenant not finished removing items. Her fault, having had a weeks notice certainly. At that time she was told by the management that she could come back the next morning to finish. When she arrived the next day, she was told she would not be allowed to enter the apartment unless she paid $250, was supervised, and basically had 1 hour to complete the task. She then called a peace officer in to facilitate but the manager was closing the office in a little while so refused entrance again. The tenant, then visited a friend who lives in the same complex for a bit and was leaving when one of the resident managers came out to her and told her to leave the property because she was trespassing and the mgr. was tired of having to watch her so she didn't break into the apt. I know most of this is poor management more than grounds for legal action, but combined, it adds up for a very frustrating time for my friend. And of course, she is acrewing extra costs in Uhaul charges, gas, etc. Is there really anything that can be done?
 
Reasonable fees means the landlord/management has had to fork out some fees to keep these items. For example, if they've acquired expenses moving the items to a rented storage facility. Or, the unit could not be made ready to rent because of the items that were stored in there.

It's doubtful management lost any money since we're talking about only one days difference.

Gail
 
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