Charities That Help With Rent in Arizona: 40+ Real Programs (2026)

If you are behind on rent in Arizona right now, the first thing you need to know is that the program most websites will send you to no longer exists. The Arizona Rental Assistance Program — the statewide fund that paid up to $10,500 in back rent — stopped taking applications on 31 August 2024. The Arizona Department of Economic Security still keeps the page online, and it says so in plain words: “The Arizona Rental Assistance Program has ended and applications are no longer being accepted.”

That is the bad news, and most guides bury it. The good news is that Arizona still has real money moving through counties, community action agencies, churches and a small number of charities that will pay a landlord directly. This guide lists them by county, with the phone number each organization publishes itself, what it actually pays for, who qualifies, and — the part almost nobody publishes — which doors are currently closed, so you do not waste a week of a five-day notice calling a dead line.

Everything below was verified against the organization’s own website on 3 September 2026. Where two sources disagreed, or where an organization does not publish a detail, we say so instead of guessing.

Start here: the three calls that matter most

What happened to Arizona’s statewide rental assistance

Between 2021 and 2024 Arizona ran two large rent programs. The pandemic-era Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) came first, paying rent and utilities for households in Maricopa, Pima and Yuma counties. It was followed by the statewide Arizona Rental Assistance Program (ARAP), which paid a lump sum of up to three months’ rent capped at $10,500, covering arrears, forward rent and late fees, for households at or below 80% of area median income.

Both are finished. DES’s own page states the final day applications were accepted was 31 August 2024, and that the page is “temporarily maintained for archival purposes and to support the continued processing of existing applications.” If you applied before that date and are still waiting, the status line is 1-833-912-0878, Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. If you did not, there is nothing to apply for there — and any article telling you to “apply for Arizona ERAP” in 2026 is out of date.

This matters more than it sounds. Arizona is one of the highest-eviction states in the country. Maricopa County Justice Courts recorded 87,310 eviction filings in 2024 and were running near that pace through 2025, according to figures the courts gave AZFamily in December 2025. The statewide safety net for those households got smaller in 2024, not bigger, and what replaced it is a patchwork of county and charity funds that open and close with their budgets.

What is actually open statewide in 2026

DES Short-Term Crisis Services (STCS) — the main state benefit

This is the closest thing Arizona has to a live statewide rent benefit, and it is badly under-publicized because you cannot apply to the state for it directly.

• What it pays: rent or mortgage to prevent homelessness, emergency shelter, utility payments and deposits, rental deposits, and employment-related needs.
• Who qualifies: Arizona residents with a dependent child in the home, at or below 125% of the federal poverty guidelines — or 150% if a household member is 60 or older or has a disability.
• How often: once in any 12-month period.
• How to apply: through your local Community Action Agency. There is no statewide STCS application line.
• The honest caveat, in the state’s own words: availability of STCS assistance is not guaranteed. Agencies run out.

The dependent-child rule is the one that surprises people. A single adult with no children in the home is not eligible for STCS in Arizona, which is exactly why the county and charity programs further down this page matter so much.

LIHEAP — not rent, but it frees up rent money

Arizona’s Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program pays your heating and cooling bill directly to the utility. In a state where a Phoenix summer electric bill can exceed a car payment, getting the power bill covered is often what makes rent possible.

• Phone: 1-866-494-1981, Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Income limits (monthly gross): $2,936 for a one-person household; $5,647 for a household of four, rising with household size.
• Automatic eligibility: households already receiving DES Nutrition Assistance or Cash Assistance qualify without a separate income test.
• New for 2026: households approved on or after 23 March 2026 receive a Supplemental Utility Assistance Benefit automatically — no extra application.

If your problem is a shut-off notice rather than an eviction notice, start with our guide to charities that help with utility bills and, heading into winter, help with heating bills.

Find your Community Action Agency

Arizona’s community action agencies are the front door to STCS and to most federally funded emergency assistance. Wildfire AZ — formerly the Arizona Community Action Association — maintains the statewide directory but does not itself hand out rent money; it is a referral organization.

County	Agency	Phone	Notes
Maricopa	Maricopa County Human Services Department	602-506-0589	Covers unincorporated county and every city except Phoenix, Mesa and Glendale
Pima	Pima County Community Action Agency	520-724-2667	Mon–Fri 8 a.m.–5 p.m., closed noon–1 p.m.
Apache, Navajo, Coconino, Yavapai	Northern Arizona Council of Governments (NACOG)	928-774-1895	NACOG allocates federal funds across all four northern counties
Coconino (county program)	Coconino County Health & Human Services	928-679-7453	Runs PHIFF — also open to Mohave and Yavapai residents (see below)
Mohave, La Paz, Yuma	Western Arizona Council of Governments (WACOG)	928-782-1886 (Yuma)	Kingman 928-753-6247 · Parker 928-217-7137
Cochise, Graham, Greenlee, Santa Cruz	Southeastern Arizona Community Action Program (SEACAP)	1-800-293-1144	Lists rental assistance as a current service
Gila	Gila County Community Services	928-425-7631 (Globe)	Payson 928-474-7192 · toll-free 1-800-304-4452 ext. 8650
Pinal	Community Action Human Resources Agency (CAHRA)	520-466-1112	Does not currently list rental assistance — see the closed-doors section

A note on phone numbers: NACOG blocks most of its own site from automated reading, so the 928-774-1895 number above is the one carried consistently by both Wildfire AZ’s directory and the national Community Action Partnership directory rather than one we could read off NACOG’s own page. If it does not connect, 211 will route you.

The best-documented open program in Arizona right now: PHIFF

If you live in northern or western Arizona, read this section before you call anyone else.

Preventing Housing Insecurity Flexible Funds (PHIFF) is run by Coconino County Health and Human Services, and it is unusual in three ways: it publishes its dollar cap, it publishes its expiry date, and it is not limited to Coconino County residents.

• What it pays: up to $3,000 in one-time assistance, which can include one month of past-due or upcoming rent or mortgage.
• Who qualifies: residents of Coconino, Mohave or Yavapai County, at or below 80% of area median income, who can show they will be able to sustain the housing after the payment and who have exhausted other resources. You must currently be housed — it is a prevention fund, not a rehousing fund.
• Phone: 928-679-7453 (Empowerment Services, 2625 King Street, Flagstaff).
• The deadline nobody else publishes: the county states plainly that the “grant ends by December 31, 2026, or until funds have been expended.”

That last line is the single most actionable fact in this guide. A Kingman or Prescott household reading a national listicle will never learn that a Flagstaff-administered fund will pay their rent, and will never learn that it has a hard expiry roughly four months out. Call it before it closes.

Maricopa County and metro Phoenix

Maricopa County Rental Assistance

The county pays past-due rent for residents of unincorporated Maricopa County and of every city in the county except Phoenix, Mesa and Glendale, which run their own programs. You need a documented crisis event — income loss, an unexpected expense, or a health-and-safety risk — and you need to be behind on rent.

• Phone: 602-506-0589 (this is the number attached to rental assistance inquiries; 602-506-3011 is the county’s general main line).
• Apply: online at the HSD Client Portal, or in person at a Community Action Program office. In-person intake is first come, first served.
• What the county does not publish: a dollar cap, an income limit, or whether the program is currently accepting applications. We checked the page and it states none of the three. Call before you drive.

Maricopa County Community Action Program offices

Office	Phone	Serves
AllThrive 365 — Peoria, 8335 W. Jefferson St.	623-979-3911	Peoria, Youngtown
AllThrive 365 — Wickenburg, 466 W. Wickenburg Way	928-684-7894	Aguila, Anthem, Carefree, Cave Creek, Morristown, New River, Wickenburg
Avondale, 995 E. Riley Dr.	623-333-2703	Avondale, Cashion, Goodyear, Litchfield Park
AZCEND — Chandler, 345 S. California St.	480-963-1423	Chandler, Queen Creek, Sun Lakes
AZCEND — Gilbert, 132 W. Bruce Ave.	480-428-5446	Gilbert
Buckeye, 110 E. Irwin Ave.	623-349-6619	Arlington, Buckeye, Gila Bend, Palo Verde, Rainbow Valley, Tonopah, Hyder
Guadalupe, 9241 S. Avenida del Yaqui	480-730-3093	Guadalupe
Scottsdale, 7700 E. Roosevelt St.	480-312-2323	Scottsdale, Paiute
Surprise, 12425 W. Bell Rd. Ste. 124	623-222-4673	El Mirage, Sun City, Sun City West, Surprise, Waddell, Wittmann
Tempe Community Action Agency, 2146 E. Apache Blvd.	480-422-8922	Tempe, Fountain Hills
Tolleson, 9055 W. Van Buren St.	623-936-2760	Tolleson
Rural Maricopa County (portal only)	602-506-0589	Circle City, Harquahala, Higley, Paloma, unincorporated areas

City of Phoenix Human Services

Phoenix residents do not go to the county — they go to the city. The Human Services Department handles eviction prevention, move-in assistance and emergency utility help through three Family Services Centers.

• Phone: 602-534-AIDE (602-534-2433) or 1-866-882-1778. Online intake is available through the city’s client portal.
• Centers (all Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., closed city holidays): John F. Long, 3454 N. 51st Ave.; Sunnyslope, 914 W. Hatcher Rd.; Travis L. Williams, 4732 S. Central Ave.
• Bring: identification, proof of Phoenix residency, your lease or utility bill, and proof of household income and composition.
• The city’s own warning: funding for rent and utility assistance is limited due to high demand, and appointment availability may mean trying again the following week. Treat this as a program you call repeatedly, not once.

City of Phoenix Eviction Legal Services — free representation, and it is real

This is one of the strongest tenant programs in the state and it is badly under-used.

• Who qualifies: Phoenix residents or City of Phoenix water customers who are facing eviction or have received a notice to vacate, with household income at or below 80% of area median income. The income table published on the city’s page is labelled with 2025 limits — $62,850 for one person up to $111,300 for seven — so treat those as indicative and let the screener confirm the current year.
• What you get: full or limited legal representation in court, mediation, or post-eviction help.
• Phone: 602-262-7210 · Email: HSD.EvictionHelp@phoenix.gov · in person at the Travis L. Williams Family Services Center.
• Speed: the online screening form is answered within one business day, in English or Spanish.

Salvation Army — Phoenix

The Salvation Army’s Phoenix corps runs the most schedule-dependent rent program in the metro, and knowing the schedule is the whole game.

• Rental and utility assistance opens on the first of each month, and the call line is first come, first served. Call 602-267-4127 and leave your contact details for a callback.
• Who qualifies: you must live inside Phoenix city limits, and you must have lost income within the past 90 days or had an unplanned out-of-pocket expense within the past 30 days.
• What it will not do: security deposits, and City of Phoenix water bills.
• Office: 2702 E. Washington St., Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. For emergency shelter, the Family Housing Hub is 602-595-8700.

St. Vincent de Paul — Diocese of Phoenix

SVdP pays one-time rent, mortgage and utility assistance through volunteer-run parish conferences, each covering its own neighbourhood boundary. There is no central Phoenix rent line; you find your conference through the interactive map on the society’s website, or ask 211 to route you.

A correction worth making: several national directories still publish 602-850-6948 as SVdP Phoenix’s rent and utility line. That number does not appear anywhere on the organization’s current website. The only phone number SVdP publishes on its rent-and-utility page today is for Southern Arizona: 520-628-7837. Do not plan your week around the old number.

A New Leaf

A New Leaf’s Tenant-Based Rental Assistance is a long-term subsidy of up to 24 months, not a back-rent grant — and it is for people already experiencing homelessness, entered through Coordinated Entry. Tenants pay $25 a month or 30% of adjusted gross income, whichever is greater. Service area: Mesa, Surprise, Phoenix, Apache Junction and Glendale. Family Housing Hub 602-595-8700; Housing@turnanewleaf.org. If you are still housed and behind on rent, this is not your program.

Catholic Charities Community Services (Phoenix)

Catholic Charities in Arizona is a major housing organization, but its rent help is folded into existing case-managed programs — refugee resettlement, early education, family preservation — rather than offered as a standalone emergency rent line you can call cold. Its main number is 1-855-316-2229. Ask specifically whether any current program you are enrolled in carries rental assistance; do not assume a general fund exists.

Pima County and Tucson

Pima County Community Action Agency

Rent, mortgage and utility assistance intake runs through 520-724-2667, Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., closed noon to 1 p.m. The county’s page says plainly that funding is dependent on availability. Pima County’s general Community and Workforce Development line is 520-724-7700.

Emergency Eviction Legal Services (EELS)

EELS provides free court navigators to every tenant and landlord in a Pima County eviction case, plus a free attorney for tenants at or below 80% of area median income. The number is 520-724-3357 (520-724-EELS), and the county’s instruction is worth quoting: if you do not know whether you qualify, contact them anyway.

One honest flag. EELS was funded with federal relief money, and the last publicly reported extension carried it through June 2026. Pima County’s page still describes the service in the present tense and lists no closure, but it does not state what happened to the funding after June. Call before you rely on it, and if the line is dead, go to Southern Arizona Legal Aid instead.

Primavera Foundation

Primavera runs the most clearly documented charity rent program in Tucson, with published hours and a published document list.

• Phone: 520-308-3079 · Email: evictionprevention@primavera.org · 702 S. 6th Ave.
• Hours: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 9 a.m.–12:30 p.m. in person and 1–4 p.m. by phone; Tuesday 8 a.m.–4 p.m. by phone only.
• Bring: photo ID for every adult in the household, Social Security cards, proof of citizenship, income documents for the whole household, and your current five-day eviction notice.
• Rules that disqualify people: you cannot have received Primavera rent assistance in the past 12 months, you must meet federal poverty guidelines, and you must be able to show you can pay next month’s rent yourself.

Other Tucson doors

• Salvation Army Tucson — utility and rental assistance phone lines are open Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., at 520-792-1111. (The general office number, 520-795-9671, is a different line.)
• St. Vincent de Paul, Diocese of Tucson — 520-628-7837, 829 S. 6th Ave., working through 34 parish conferences across southern Arizona.
• Interfaith Community Services — describes its work as emergency financial assistance for housing and utilities plus short-term case management. Its own site does not render a phone number; Pima County’s referral list gives 520-297-6049, which is the number to try.
• Chicanos Por La Causa — serves Pima County by phone and virtually, but see the closed-doors section: CPLC states it does not have rental assistance funds.
• Catholic Community Services of Southern Arizona — main line 520-623-0344. Its Pio Decimo Center has historically run emergency rent and utility assistance; the organization does not currently describe that program on its own website, so confirm by phone before making the trip.
• City of Tucson Housing and Community Development — 520-791-4171, 310 N. Commerce Park Loop. The city runs public housing, Section 8 vouchers, down-payment assistance and home repair. We could not find a general rent or eviction cash-assistance program on the city’s own pages, despite a news report of one launching earlier in 2026, so do not count on it until the city publishes it.

Northern Arizona: Flagstaff, Prescott, Kingman, the White Mountains

• Coconino County PHIFF — 928-679-7453. Up to $3,000, open to Coconino, Mohave and Yavapai residents at or below 80% AMI. Ends 31 December 2026 or when funds run out. This is the first call in all three counties.
• Flagstaff Shelter Services — 928-225-2533. Rapid rehousing: application fees, security deposits and first month’s rent, delivered through case management rather than as a walk-in grant.
• Housing Solutions of Northern Arizona — 928-214-7456 (TDD 711), 1500 E. Cedar Ave. Ste. 86, Flagstaff. Worth knowing what this organization is not: it does not run its own eviction-prevention fund and will refer you to the county. Useful for housing counselling and homeownership.
• Catholic Charities Community Services, Northern Arizona — 1-855-316-2229. Emergency shelter, a Flagstaff family shelter, and rapid rehousing with short-term rental assistance.
• Salvation Army Flagstaff — 928-774-1403, 507 N. Humphreys St. Salvation Army Prescott — 928-778-0150, 237 S. Montezuma St., Monday 9 a.m.–noon and Tuesday to Friday 9 a.m.–3 p.m. Neither corps publishes a rent program on its page; ask directly what is funded this month.
• NACOG — 928-774-1895, the community action agency for Apache, Navajo, Coconino and Yavapai counties and the route to Short-Term Crisis Services in the north.

Western Arizona: Yuma, La Paz, Mohave

• WACOG (Western Arizona Council of Governments) — the community action agency for Mohave, La Paz and Yuma counties, listing rent and mortgage help among its human services. Yuma: 928-782-1886, 1235 S. Redondo Center Dr. Kingman: 928-753-6247, 208 N. 4th St. Parker: 928-217-7137, 1317 S. Joshua Ave.
• Coconino County PHIFF covers Mohave County residents too — 928-679-7453.
• Salvation Army Yuma — 928-783-0181, 445 S. 4th Ave.
• Community Legal Services has offices in Yuma (928-782-7511), San Luis (928-627-8023) and Kingman (928-681-1177, covering Mohave and La Paz).

Two Yuma-area organizations that come up constantly in search results are worth ruling out before you call: Crossroads Mission (928-328-8013) provides shelter, meals, recovery and job training but not rental assistance, and the Yuma Community Food Bank (928-343-1243) is food only.

Southeastern Arizona: Cochise, Santa Cruz, Graham, Greenlee

SEACAP is the community action agency for all four counties and lists rental assistance among its current services. The number to call is the toll-free line the agency itself publishes: 1-800-293-1144, and it asks callers to phone to confirm service dates and times, which is a strong hint that intake windows move. Offices: 1326 Arizona Highway 92, Suite 11, Bisbee (Monday to Thursday, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.) and 283 W. 5th St., Safford.

Salvation Army Sierra Vista is at 520-459-8411, 180 E. Wilcox Dr. For eviction defence, Southern Arizona Legal Aid’s Sierra Vista office covers Cochise, Graham and Greenlee at 520-432-1639 or 1-800-231-7106.

Santa Cruz County is also listed by the Arizona Department of Housing as running its own emergency rental, utility and mortgage assistance, but the state page carries no phone number or application link for it, so we have not published one. Ask SEACAP or 211 whether the county program is taking applications.

Pinal and Gila counties

Gila County Community Services runs a program it names directly: Eviction Prevention Rent Assistance, alongside utility payment and deposit assistance and utility discount programs with APS and Southwest Gas. Applicants must meet federal poverty guidelines and document their need. Globe/Miami: 928-425-7631. Payson: 928-474-7192. Toll-free: 1-800-304-4452 ext. 8650.

Pinal County is the harder one. CAHRA, the county’s community action agency (520-466-1112), lists weatherization, minor home repair and appliance repair and replacement on its housing programs page — but not rental assistance or eviction prevention. Pinal residents facing eviction should call 211 first, then Southern Arizona Legal Aid’s Casa Grande office at 520-316-8076 or 1-800-718-8086, which does serve the county.

Tribal communities

Tribal members have a parallel set of doors, and the general-population programs above do not always apply on reservation land.

• Navajo Nation General Assistance (Division of Social Services) provides temporary financial assistance explicitly covering rent, utilities and food, with case management, for Navajo members living in Arizona, New Mexico or Utah. Phone 928-871-6556; email info@ndcfs.org. The published benefit-payment detail is still marked as forthcoming, so ask what is currently being paid.
• Navajo Housing Authority — 928-871-2600, Window Rock. Runs public rental and homeownership programs; no emergency rental assistance program is listed on its site.
• Hopi Tribal Housing Authority — 928-737-2800, Polacca. Offers Tenant-Based Rental Assistance, which is a voucher-style subsidy rather than one-time back-rent help, plus home ownership, rehab and HUD-VASH.
• Gila River Indian Community, Department of Community Housing — 520-562-3904, Sacaton. Runs an Urban Rental Assistance Program. Its emergency rental assistance flyer dates from 2020 and should be treated as expired unless the department says otherwise.
• White Mountain Apache Housing Authority — 928-338-4831, Whiteriver. San Carlos Housing Authority — 928-475-2346, Peridot. Neither publishes an emergency rent program; call and ask.
• DNA-People’s Legal Services is the legal-aid provider across the Navajo Nation, Hopi and other tribal communities in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. Centralized intake: 1-833-362-1102. Offices: Window Rock 928-871-4151, Chinle 928-674-5242, Tuba City 928-283-5265, Keams Canyon 928-738-2251, Flagstaff 928-774-0653.

If you are an off-reservation urban Native household in Phoenix, note that Native American Connections (602-254-3247) states on its own contact page that it does not offer rental assistance and refers people to 211 or City of Phoenix Human Services.

Doors that are closed — check this list before you call

Every Arizona rent guide we compared this against lists at least three of the following as live options. None of them is. This section is the reason to read this page instead of a listicle.

Program	Status as of 3 September 2026
Arizona Rental Assistance Program (ARAP) — statewide	Closed. Final applications accepted 31 August 2024. Status line for existing applicants only: 1-833-912-0878.
Arizona Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP)	Closed and superseded by ARAP, which is itself closed. Anything telling you to apply at des.az.gov/ERAP is out of date.
Maricopa County Eviction Prevention Pilot (ZIP codes 85008, 85040, 85041, 85042 — $3,000 over two months)	Closed 21 August 2026 at 4:00 p.m. Thirteen days before this guide was published. Expect it to keep appearing on other sites for months.
Community Investment Corporation (Tucson) eviction prevention	Ended. CIC’s own page states it no longer provides COVID-19 eviction prevention services. It paid out more than $55.4 million in rent and $4.7 million in utilities between 2020 and 2022; that era is over. CIC now does mortgage credit certificates and down-payment help only. 520-529-1766.
Coalition for Compassion and Justice (Prescott)	Not funded. CCJ states it “is not able at this time to offer rent, utility or emergency financial assistance.” It still runs Second Chance Housing and the Stagger Straight overnight shelter (928-445-8382).
River Cities United Way (Bullhead City, Kingman, Lake Havasu)	Funds depleted. Its assistance page states “No UTILITIES or RENTAL Assistance Funds Available.” 877-855-8318.
Campesinos Sin Fronteras — Alivio Program (Yuma County)	Closed. “The application period is now closed. Any phone numbers used for this program have been deactivated.” General offices: Somerton 928-627-5995, San Luis 928-627-1060.
Chicanos Por La Causa — Terri Cruz Family Assistance	No rent funds. CPLC states directly: “We do not have Rental Assistance funds.” It does help with APS, SRP, Southwest Gas and TEP utility bills, funeral assistance and referrals. Call 602-805-1666 Monday to Wednesday, 9 a.m.–noon or 2–4 p.m.
Old Pueblo Community Services (Tucson)	Does not provide rental assistance, in its own words. It works on imminent homelessness inside a 14-day window and refers rent requests to 211. 520-546-0122.
Native American Connections (Phoenix)	Does not offer rental assistance; refers to 211 and City of Phoenix Human Services. 602-254-3247.
CAHRA (Pinal County)	Housing programs page lists weatherization, minor home repair and appliance repair — no rental assistance listed. 520-466-1112.
SVdP Phoenix rent line 602-850-6948	Not published by the organization. The number circulates on directories but does not appear on St. Vincent de Paul’s current site. Use the parish conference map instead.

One program is coming rather than going: Maricopa County announced an Eviction Diversion Program on 26 May 2026, pairing the Justice Courts with mediation and resource navigation in the Phoenix ZIP codes with the heaviest filing volume, funded in the county’s tentative FY2027 budget. There is no intake line or start date published yet. Ask about it when you call 602-506-0589.

Your legal clock in Arizona: what A.R.S. § 33-1368 actually gives you

Arizona’s eviction timeline is short and most tenants misread it. These are the rules as written in the statute and in the Arizona Judicial Branch’s own guidance.

1. Five days, not thirty. If rent is unpaid, the landlord must give you written notice of nonpayment and of the intention to terminate. If you do not pay within five days of that notice, the landlord may file a special detainer action.
2. Paying inside the five days stops the case entirely. The statute says the rental agreement “shall be reinstated” if you tender all past-due, unpaid periodic rent plus a reasonable late fee that is set out in a written rental agreement. A late fee that is not in your written lease is not owed under this provision.
3. After the case is filed but before judgment, you can still reinstate — but the price goes up. At that stage you must pay all past-due rent, reasonable written-lease late fees, attorney fees and court costs.
4. After judgment, your right disappears. The statute is blunt: any reinstatement of the rental agreement after judgment is “solely in the discretion of the landlord.” This is the single most important line in Arizona landlord–tenant law for a tenant with money coming.
5. The writ comes fast. In most cases the landlord can return to court five days after judgment to obtain a writ of restitution. If the case was filed as an immediate and irreparable breach, the writ can issue the next court day.
6. Nobody can lock you out without the writ. A landlord may not change locks or remove you until the court issues the writ and a constable or sheriff serves it. A lockout before that is illegal.

What this means practically: the value of getting a charity payment approved falls off a cliff at judgment. If you are on day two of a five-day notice, an agency that can commit in a week is still useful. If you already have a judgment, your leverage is the landlord’s willingness, and your best call is a lawyer, not a fund.

Free eviction lawyers in Arizona, by county

Where you live	Who to call	Phone
Maricopa County	Community Legal Services	602-385-8880 · statewide 1-800-852-9075
City of Phoenix (resident or water customer)	Phoenix Eviction Legal Services Program	602-262-7210
Pima County	Emergency Eviction Legal Services (navigators + attorneys)	520-724-3357
Pima & Santa Cruz	Southern Arizona Legal Aid	520-623-9461 · 1-800-248-6789
Pinal	Southern Arizona Legal Aid, Casa Grande	520-316-8076 · 1-800-718-8086
Cochise, Graham, Greenlee	Southern Arizona Legal Aid, Sierra Vista	520-432-1639 · 1-800-231-7106
Gila, Navajo, Apache	Southern Arizona Legal Aid, White Mountain	928-537-8383 · 1-800-658-7958
Yavapai	Community Legal Services, Prescott	928-445-9240
Mohave & La Paz	Community Legal Services, Kingman	928-681-1177
Yuma	Community Legal Services, Yuma / San Luis	928-782-7511 · 928-627-8023
Navajo Nation, Hopi and other tribal communities	DNA-People’s Legal Services	1-833-362-1102

Arizona also runs two free self-help portals worth an hour of your time: the Arizona Judicial Branch’s Legal Info Hub, which publishes plain-language sheets on nonpayment of rent and on what happens after an eviction judgment, and azevictionhelp.org, a statewide eviction-help portal with a legal aid directory.

Making the call go well

Almost every rejection we see in Arizona comes down to timing and paperwork rather than eligibility. Four habits change the outcome:

• Call on the day the window opens. Salvation Army Phoenix opens rental assistance on the first of the month, first come first served. Maricopa County CAP offices take walk-ins first come, first served. Primavera takes in-person applications four mornings a week. These are not rolling programs.
• Have the packet before you dial. Photo ID for every adult, Social Security cards, proof of income for the whole household, your lease, and the actual eviction notice. Primavera publishes exactly this list; most agencies want the same and simply do not say so.
• Be ready to answer the question behind the question. County and charity programs are prevention funds: they ask whether you can pay next month on your own. Have a concrete answer — a start date, a benefit award, a second job — because “I do not know” is a denial.
• Do not stop at one. Arizona funds are small and stack. A county payment on arrears, a Salvation Army payment on the current month and LIHEAP on the power bill is a common combination, and no single agency will assemble it for you.

Related help

• Charities that help with rent — the national programs behind the local ones
• Charities that help with security deposits — for move-in costs Arizona funds rarely cover
• Churches that help with rent — parish and congregation funds, which is how SVdP actually works
• Charities that help with utility bills and help with heating bills
• Free legal help for low-income families
• Charities that help with hotel vouchers — if the writ has already issued
• Charities that give money to individuals and grants for single mothers
• Get help paying for… — our full assistance directory

Other state guides: California · Texas · Florida · New York · Pennsylvania · Illinois · Ohio · Georgia · North Carolina · Michigan · New Jersey · Virginia · Washington

Frequently asked questions

Is there still a state rental assistance program in Arizona?

No. The Arizona Rental Assistance Program stopped accepting applications on 31 August 2024, and the earlier Emergency Rental Assistance Program closed before it. The nearest statewide equivalent today is DES Short-Term Crisis Services, which you apply for through your local community action agency, and which requires a dependent child in the home and income at or below 125% of the federal poverty guidelines (150% if a household member is 60 or older or has a disability).

How fast can I be evicted in Arizona for not paying rent?

Faster than in most states. Your landlord must give written notice of nonpayment and the intention to terminate, and you have five days to pay. After that a special detainer action can be filed. Once judgment is entered, the landlord can usually get a writ of restitution five days later — the next court day if the case was filed as an immediate and irreparable breach. Only a constable or sheriff serving that writ can remove you; a landlord who changes the locks before then is acting illegally.

If I get the money together, does the landlord have to take it?

It depends entirely on when. If you pay all past-due rent plus any late fee written into your lease within the five-day notice period, the statute says the rental agreement shall be reinstated. After the case is filed but before judgment, you can still reinstate by paying rent, written-lease late fees, attorney fees and court costs. After judgment, reinstatement is solely at the landlord’s discretion. This is why the day you make the call matters as much as the amount.

I do not have children. Can I still get help with rent in Arizona?

Yes, but not through Short-Term Crisis Services, which requires a dependent child. Your routes are county programs (Maricopa County Human Services at 602-506-0589, Pima County at 520-724-2667), Coconino County’s PHIFF fund if you live in Coconino, Mohave or Yavapai County (928-679-7453), Salvation Army corps, St. Vincent de Paul parish conferences, and Primavera in Tucson. Start with 211 to find out which of them is funded this week.

What is PHIFF and can I use it if I do not live in Flagstaff?

PHIFF stands for Preventing Housing Insecurity Flexible Funds. It is administered by Coconino County Health and Human Services but is open to residents of Coconino, Mohave or Yavapai County — so Kingman, Bullhead City, Lake Havasu City, Prescott and Prescott Valley households qualify too. It pays up to $3,000 one time, including a month of past-due or upcoming rent, for households at or below 80% of area median income who can show they will keep the housing afterwards. The county states the grant ends by 31 December 2026 or when funds run out.

Which Arizona rent programs have closed that I might still see listed?

The big ones are the state ARAP and ERAP programs, the Maricopa County Eviction Prevention Pilot for ZIP codes 85008, 85040, 85041 and 85042 (closed 21 August 2026), and Community Investment Corporation’s Tucson eviction prevention programme. Several organizations also say plainly that they have no rent funds right now: Coalition for Compassion and Justice in Prescott, River Cities United Way in Mohave County, Campesinos Sin Fronteras in Yuma County, Chicanos Por La Causa, Old Pueblo Community Services and Native American Connections.

Can I get a free lawyer for an eviction in Arizona?

In many cases, yes, and it is free. Maricopa County residents can call Community Legal Services at 602-385-8880; City of Phoenix residents and city water customers have a dedicated Eviction Legal Services Program at 602-262-7210 that answers screening forms within one business day. Pima County funds navigators for every tenant in an eviction case plus attorneys for households at or below 80% of area median income through EELS at 520-724-3357. Southern Arizona Legal Aid covers Pima, Santa Cruz, Pinal, Cochise, Graham, Greenlee, Gila, Navajo and Apache counties; Community Legal Services covers Yavapai, Mohave, La Paz and Yuma; DNA-People’s Legal Services covers tribal communities at 1-833-362-1102.

Will these programs pay my landlord directly or give me the money?

Almost always the landlord, not you. County programs and most charity funds pay the housing provider directly, which is why they ask for your lease, your landlord’s W-9 or payment details, and the exact ledger balance. Have your landlord’s contact information ready when you apply, and warn them that a payment may arrive from a third party — an unexpected check from a county agency has stalled more than one approved case.