Is the Landlord Liable for a Tenant's Dog Bite in Arizona?

By the FigureMyTax Editorial Team · How we calculate

Arizona's powerful strict liability statute doesn't reach landlords — a real limitation worth understanding if a tenant's dog bites someone on rental property.

The strict liability statute is owner-specific

Arizona courts have held that A.R.S. §11-1025's strict liability applies to the dog's owner, not to other possessors of the property — a landlord who doesn't own the dog falls outside the statute's strict liability framework entirely, per Johnson v. Svidergol (Ariz. Ct. App. 1985).

Negligence remains a real path

This doesn't mean a landlord is automatically off the hook. A victim could still pursue an ordinary negligence claim against a landlord who knew the tenant's dog was dangerous and had the practical ability to address it — for example, by enforcing a lease provision or requiring the dog's removal — but failed to act. This mirrors the knowledge-based standard used more broadly in states without any dog-bite statute at all.

Knowing a dog exists isn't the same as knowing it's dangerous

A landlord's pet-friendly policy, by itself, generally isn't enough to establish liability. The key fact a negligence claim needs is that the landlord knew this specific dog had dangerous propensities — not merely that tenants were permitted to have dogs under the lease.

The dog-at-large statute as a possible alternate route

A.R.S. §11-1020 imposes liability on a person responsible for a dog running at large, which in some circumstances might reach further than the owner-only strict liability statute — though this still generally requires the landlord to have had some actual responsibility for or control over the dog at the time of the incident, not simply being the property owner.

This is general information, not legal advice. Landlord liability for a tenant's dog turns heavily on the specific facts and what the landlord actually knew. Confirm how this applies to your situation with a licensed Arizona attorney.