Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Arizona

A real property owner may terminate his agency relationship with the property manager and require that rents be paid directly to him, the owner. However, how do you know that you are dealing directly with the owner and not with some stranger who is going door-to-door handing out self-addressed envelopes and tricking unsuspecting renters into paying him instead of the true owner? You would be within your rights to insist that the "owner" provide to you proof of ownership and give you the direction to pay him instead of the property manager in writing. As an added precaution, payments should be made to a street address, not a post office box. An attorney or a title company can help you sort out whether the proof of ownership he provides is valid and current.

The Ortega answer is good advice. There are many scammers out there trying to take advantage of the unsuspecting. Your lease agreement should be with the owner of the property as landlord, and not the management company, who is the owner's agent. I agree that you must determine who is the actual owner of the property, and until that is proven, do not pay the rent to the management company which you are not able to contact. You should deposit the rent, on a timely basis, in a separate account for the benefit of the owner of the property, so that you are not in violation of the lease, and notify the owner that you have done so pending proof that he is the owner. You might also consider making a complaint to the AZ Dept. of Real Estate about the conduct of the management company and the failure to notify you of what is going on.

A common legal option is to pay disputed funds into the registry of the District Court in your area, and notify both the leasing agent and the owner that you will continue to deposit funds there until they either agree, in writing, on a disposition, or they present a court Order directing to whom the funds should be paid.