In February, Joley Hamilton was preparing to move out of the Tempe apartment she’d lived in since March 2025.
As part of the process, she completed a move-out inspection with her landlord. Hamilton said he didn’t point out any damages or raise any concerns.
“ The landlord made some comments about, ‘Oh, did you have the carpets, like, professionally cleaned?’ … complimenting how I had vacuumed,” she told Rent Check PHX.
Hamilton, 29, said the landlord gave her the impression he didn’t see anything that would prevent her from getting her full security deposit back. So she was surprised when she received an email saying only $495 of the $1,595 deposit would be returned.
Instead of accepting the loss, Hamilton pushed back against her landlord and eventually filed a claim—and she won back even more than what she was originally owed. The process, she says, was easier than she expected. Here’s how she did it.
Filing the case
Hamilton happened to already know a bit about tenants’ rights in Arizona as this exchange with her landlord was happening. A previous renting experience had spurred her to look up the Arizona Residential Landlord and Tenant Act.
For example, she knew the landlord had to provide an itemized list of deductions, and that he had to return the deposit within 14 business days after she moved out.
Hamilton emailed her landlord to dispute some of the deductions—for example, a cabinet shelf that had fallen over prior to her moving in. She also argued that some of the deductions counted as “normal wear and tear,” which are generally the landlord’s responsibility rather than the tenant’s.
According to emails reviewed by Rent Check PHX, the landlord offered to return $845 of the deposit, without itemizing the deductions. Hamilton said she was willing to settle on that amount if he provided proper documentation—but, by the 14th business day after she turned in her keys, she hadn’t received it.
“ So the next morning was when I had let him know, ‘Hey, you are in violation of the Arizona Landlord Tenant Act and it’s within my right to claim twice the deposit amount that was withheld,” Hamilton said.
She gave the landlord one more chance to resolve the issue, with a warning that she’d file a lawsuit if she didn’t hear from him by the end of the week.
“ I didn’t hear from him, and I’m a woman of my word, so I went through what was kind of honestly surprisingly a pretty easy process,” Hamilton said.
Using information from the Maricopa County Justice Courts website, Hamilon filed a lawsuit for $58. She also paid around $11 to send certified mail to her landlord notifying him of the case.
The court case
Once the landlord received notification of the lawsuit, he offered to return the full deposit. But Hamilton said she would only drop the case if he gave her the larger amount that she was now entitled to.
“ I informed him I do think it’s important to hold landlords accountable when they break the law,” she said. “So I did hold firm.”
About three weeks after filing in the Kyrene Justice Court, Hamilton received the virtual court date. She had five days before the hearing to submit evidence, which included emails and photos of the apartment.
In small claims, neither party has a lawyer (unless both sides agree in writing to include them), and neither party can appeal the ruling—which helped Hamilton feel comfortable moving forward with the case.
Rent Check PHX reviewed footage of the roughly 20-minute court proceedings. To Hamilton’s surprise, the hearing officer stated she had reviewed all the evidence and sided with the plaintiff—before either side had given testimony.
The hearing officer ruled that, minus $100 Hamilton agreed to pay the landlord for landscaping, the landlord had improperly withheld part of her deposit. Hamilton was awarded $2,942, plus reimbursement for the filing fee and certified mailing costs. Hamilton said she received the check from the landlord a few days later—which she said was “a huge relief.”
Reminder for renters
Hamilton said that although she felt intimidated at first to file the lawsuit, the plain language of the law made her feel confident that she had a claim. She also said the court’s website and staff were helpful in figuring out the process.
Her advice for other renters: Don’t be afraid to read the law back to landlords—especially when it comes to money they owe.
“ You’re giving them a lot of money,” she said. “You don’t have 14 business days to pay rent. Like, if I was ever three or four days late with my rent, it wouldn’t have been the same story.”
