How to Fire Your Property Manager in Arizona

A step-by-step guide for Arizona landlords switching property managers, covering the statutory handover deadlines, broker trust accounts, tenant deposits and what to collect before you cut ties.

Last updated September 23, 2026

Statements that never reconcile. Repairs that sit for weeks. A deposit nobody can account for. Arizona is one of the better states to be in when you decide you are done. The licensing law puts the handover on a clock and spells out what your manager owes you.

Here is how to make the switch without losing a deposit, a tenant or a month of rent.

Step 1. Read the management agreement

Arizona law tells your manager what the agreement has to contain, which makes it easier to read. A property management agreement states the material terms of the service, names a beginning and an ending date, carries cancellation provisions both sides agreed to, explains how collected money and tenant deposits are handled, sets the type and frequency of status reports to you, covers any operating reserve the firm holds, and states your compensation terms (A.R.S. § 32-2173(A)).

Go straight to the cancellation clause and the ending date. Then check the fee terms for a termination charge or a leasing fee clawback on tenants the manager placed.

If the firm broke the agreement, an earlier exit may be on the table. That is a question for an Arizona attorney.

Step 2. Send written notice

Send it by email and by whatever method the agreement names. State the termination date, ask for the full handover, and list what you expect back. Keep it short and factual. You want your records and your money, not a fight.

Date the letter. The statutory handover deadlines in Step 3 run from termination, so your proof of the date matters.

Step 3. Hold them to the handover deadlines

Arizona sets hard deadlines for a broker after a property management agreement ends (A.R.S. § 32-2173(C)).

Five days. A list of all tenant security deposit obligations.
Thirty-five days. Reimbursement of the money left in the property accounts the firm maintained for you, minus what is needed for unpaid obligations run up during the term.
Seventy-five days. A final list of accounts receivable and accounts payable, and a final bank account reconciliation.

On top of the money, the firm turns over originals or copies of every rental agreement and related document it holds for current and previous tenants, plus building plans, contracts, keys and warranties.

If those dates pass and you are still waiting, file a complaint with the Arizona Department of Real Estate.

Step 4. Collect everything

Ask for all of this in your notice letter.

Tenant security deposits with the amount held for each tenant, matched to the five-day list
The trust account ledger showing rent collected, fees taken and what is still owed to you
Signed leases, renewals, amendments and addenda
Move-in damage forms each tenant signed
Tenant contact details and payment history
Open work orders, vendor contacts, invoices and appliance warranties
Keys, fobs, gate remotes, garage remotes and access codes
Building plans and service contracts
Year-to-date income and expense reports for your taxes

Ask early. Your manager keeps residential rental agreements for one year after expiration and client financial records for at least three years, at the main office, a branch office, electronically, or at an Arizona off-site storage location the department knows about (A.R.S. § 32-2175). Once those retention periods lapse, the paper is gone.

Step 5. Know how the trust account worked

A broker holding your money without putting it straight into neutral escrow places it in a trust fund account at a federally insured depository in Arizona, separate from the firm's own money, with records tying every deposit to a transaction (A.R.S. § 32-2151). Property management accounts carry a trust designation on the broker's books, owner money goes into the trust account (or directly into your own account at your direction) within three banking days of receipt, and every lease the manager signs states what happens to tenant deposits (A.R.S. § 32-2174).

That last rule is your lever. The lease itself should tell you where each deposit sits.

Step 6. Move the security deposits

Once the deposits land with you, Arizona's deposit rules are yours to follow (A.R.S. § 33-1321).

You may hold no more than one and a half months' rent per tenant, prepaid rent included.
Any fee not stated in writing as nonrefundable is refundable.
At the end of a tenancy you owe an itemized list of deductions and any balance within 14 business days, excluding weekends and legal holidays.
Get it wrong and the tenant can recover twice the amount wrongfully withheld.

Arizona does not require a separate escrow account for a self-managing owner. Open a dedicated deposit account anyway. Reconstructing who is owed what, two years later, from one mixed checking account is how landlords lose the double-damages fight.

Check the handover list against the leases. If a deposit is short, raise it before the 35-day reimbursement date.

Step 7. Tell your tenants

Arizona requires the tenant to be told in writing who manages the property and who can accept service of process for the owner (A.R.S. § 33-1322). Firing your manager changes both. Send one dated message naming yourself, the effective date, where rent goes now, the number to call for repairs, and confirmation that the deposit moved and is still credited to them.

Step 8. Take over the day-to-day

Line up plumbers, HVAC and a locksmith before the handover date. Set up rent collection. Get a maintenance line somebody answers at 2am. Arizona summers do not wait, and air conditioning is part of your habitability duty where it is installed (A.R.S. § 33-1324).

Who may manage property for pay in Arizona

Renting, leasing or collecting rent on real estate for someone else and for compensation is broker activity under A.R.S. § 32-2101. A property management firm is a licensed entity or a designated broker that manages rental property for compensation by written agreement (A.R.S. § 32-2171).

You do not need a license to manage your own property. The exemption covers a natural person, a corporation through its officers, a partnership through its partners, or an LLC through its members or managers dealing in renting, leasing or managing property the person or entity owns (A.R.S. § 32-2121(A)(1)). A separate exemption covers an unlicensed on-site employee of the owner or the owner's licensed management agent doing residential leasing at a single location, with a performance bonus capped at half of total compensation (§ 32-2121(A)(6)).

Hiring a new firm instead of self-managing? Run the name through the department's public license database first.

Your switching checklist

Read the cancellation clause, the ending date and any fee clawback
Send dated written notice with your termination date
Hold them to five, 35 and 75 days
Collect deposits, ledgers, leases, move-in forms, warranties and keys
Match the deposit list to every lease before the 35-day payout
Open a dedicated deposit account and set your 14-business-day reminder
Tell tenants who manages the property now and where rent goes

Switch to Taz

Taz is an AI property manager built for landlords who have been let down before. It answers tenants day and night, routes repairs to vendors, chases rent and keeps every record in one place, for a flat monthly price per door instead of a cut of your rent. See how Taz works.

Where this guide says a state has no rule on something, that means we found no statute setting one, which is not the same as none existing. Local ordinances and court practice can add requirements. Confirm anything you plan to rely on.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Your management agreement and your specific facts matter. Talk to an Arizona attorney before ending a contract. Last checked September 2026.