Arizona Laws 13-1806. Unlawful failure to return rented or leased property; notice; classification
A. A person commits unlawful failure to return rented property if, without notice to and permission of the lessor of the property, the person knowingly fails without good cause to return the property within seventy-two hours after the time provided for return in the rental agreement.
Terms Used In Arizona Laws 13-1806
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- Felony: means an offense for which a sentence to a term of imprisonment in the custody of the state department of corrections is authorized by any law of this state. See Arizona Laws 13-105
- Knowingly: means , with respect to conduct or to a circumstance described by a statute defining an offense, that a person is aware or believes that the person's conduct is of that nature or that the circumstance exists. See Arizona Laws 13-105
- Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
- Misdemeanor: means an offense for which a sentence to a term of imprisonment other than to the custody of the state department of corrections is authorized by any law of this state. See Arizona Laws 13-105
- Obtain: means to bring about or to receive the transfer of any interest in property, whether to a defendant or to another, or to secure the performance of a service or the possession of a trade secret. See Arizona Laws 13-1801
- Person: means a human being and, as the context requires, an enterprise, a public or private corporation, an unincorporated association, a partnership, a firm, a society, a government, a governmental authority or an individual or entity capable of holding a legal or beneficial interest in property. See Arizona Laws 13-105
- Property: means any thing of value, tangible or intangible, including trade secrets. See Arizona Laws 13-1801
- Unlawful: means contrary to law or, where the context so requires, not allowed by law. See Arizona Laws 13-105
- Vehicle: means a device in, upon or by which any person or property is, may be or could have been transported or drawn upon a highway, waterway or airway, excepting devices moved by human power or used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks. See Arizona Laws 13-105
B. If the property is not leased on a periodic tenancy basis, the person who rents out the property shall include the following information, clearly written as part of the terms of the rental agreement:
1. The date and time the property is required to be returned.
2. The maximum penalties if the property is not returned within seventy-two hours of the date and time listed in paragraph 1.
C. If the property is leased on a periodic tenancy basis without a fixed expiration or return date the lessor shall include within the lease clear written notice that the lessee is required to return the property within seventy-two hours from the date and time of the failure to pay any periodic lease payment required by the lease.
D. It is a defense to prosecution under this section that the defendant was physically incapacitated and unable to request or obtain permission of the lessor to retain the property or that the property itself was in such a condition, through no fault of the defendant, that it could not be returned to the lessor within such time.
E. Unlawful failure to return rented or leased property if the property is a motor vehicle is a class 5 felony. In all other cases, unlawful failure to return rented or leased property is a class 1 misdemeanor.