Renting in Tucson with a broken AC

This is general information, not legal advice. Statutes change; read the current text at azleg.gov or ask a lawyer or tenant help line about your situation.

What Arizona law requires

Under the Arizona Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, A.R.S. 33-1324 requires the landlord to maintain in good and safe working order all heating, ventilating and air-conditioning facilities and appliances supplied by the landlord. The same section requires reasonable air-conditioning or cooling where such units are installed and offered, when required by seasonal weather conditions.

If the landlord deliberately or negligently fails to supply air-conditioning or cooling where it is installed and offered, A.R.S. 33-1364 lets the tenant give reasonable notice specifying the breach and then choose one remedy:

• Recover damages based on the drop in the fair rental value of the unit.
• Get reasonable substitute housing during the landlord's noncompliance, and be excused from rent for that period.
• Procure certain essential services and deduct their actual reasonable cost from rent, as the statute spells out.

These rights don't arise until you have given notice, and they don't apply if you, your household or a guest caused the problem. A.R.S. 33-1361 separately allows a tenant to give notice that the lease will end if a noncompliance that materially affects health and safety is not fixed within five days.

The 82 degree figure

The Arizona Attorney General has said that in the cities of Phoenix and Tucson, rentals with air conditioning cannot exceed a maximum temperature of 82 degrees in all habitable rooms, and that evaporative coolers are allowed 86 degrees. In April 2026 the AG also said a landlord must act within five days when temperatures pose a health and safety risk, after written notice, and suggested following up in writing, preferably by certified mail.

The AG cites the Tucson City Code. We could not open the code text itself to confirm the exact section, so if your case depends on it, ask the City of Tucson's Code Enforcement Division to confirm the current standard.

What to do

1. Tell the landlord in writing, with the date, what is wrong and how hot the unit is getting. Keep a copy.
2. Take dated photos of a thermometer in the main rooms.
3. If anyone is at risk from the heat, move them somewhere cool now. Pima County lists cooling centers on pima.gov.
4. If the landlord doesn't act, contact Tucson Code Enforcement: (520) 791-5843, codeenforcement@tucsonaz.gov, or 311. Its page lists lack of cooling as an interior property issue it handles.
5. You can also file a consumer complaint with the Arizona Attorney General at azag.gov.

Arrange any repair through the landlord unless the statute or your lease says otherwise. A.R.S. 33-1364 says the tenant's rights under it do not include the right to repair.

If you own the home

None of this applies. If you own and your system is out, start here.