Arizona at a glance
- License
- Broker license to rent for others; reservations and money for stays of 31 days or less are exempt
- Trust account
- Federally insured trust account in Arizona; property management money within 3 banking days; up to $5,000 broker funds
- Records kept
- 3 years (financial records)
- Reconciliation
- Monthly three-way reconciliation
Details and citations for each point are below.
Who needs a license
- A real estate broker includes anyone who, for another and for compensation, rents or leases real estate, offers or negotiates to, or collects rent for the use of real estate. Doing that business without a license is unlawful.A.R.S. § 32-2101; A.R.S. § 32-2122
- Exemptions include people and entities dealing in their own property without special compensation, a power of attorney used for an isolated transaction, residential leasing agents and on-site managers at one location, and someone who manages a hotel, motel or RV park.A.R.S. § 32-2121
Short-term rental rules
- Exempt: a person who, on behalf of another, solicits, arranges or accepts reservations or money, or both, for occupancies of 31 or fewer days in a dwelling unit.A.R.S. § 32-2121
- Arizona’s residential landlord-tenant act excludes transient occupancy in a hotel, motel or recreational lodging.A.R.S. § 33-1308
The trust account
- Unless all parties agree otherwise in writing, a broker places money entrusted to them, on receipt, in a trust account in a federally insured account at a depository in Arizona (or in a neutral escrow depository in Arizona). An out-of-state depository needs the written agreement of all parties and specific disclosures.A.R.S. § 32-2151
- All property management accounts are designated as trust accounts on the broker’s records, and a broker’s trust account is required for all of the owner’s money unless the owner directs deposits straight to the owner’s own account.A.R.S. § 32-2174
- Property management money that is not in dispute or contingent is deposited within three banking days of receipt, into the owner’s account or the firm’s trust account for the owner.A.R.S. § 32-2174
- Commingling client money with the broker’s own is prohibited, except that a broker may deposit up to $5,000 of personal money to keep the account open or avoid minimum-balance charges.A.R.S. § 32-2151
- Trust accounts may bear interest. Failing to remove earned interest from a trust account at least once every twelve months is a violation.A.R.S. § 32-2174; A.R.S. § 32-2151
Advance rents and deposits
- Every rental agreement a property manager signs states how any tenant deposits will be handled.A.R.S. § 32-2174
- The designated broker may authorize a licensee or an unlicensed employee to sign on trust accounts, but stays responsible for all money handled.A.R.S. § 32-2174
Records and how long to keep them
- Property management financial records — bank statements, canceled checks, deposit slips, receipts, journals, owner statements, client ledgers and invoices — are kept at least three years from the date of each document.A.R.S. § 32-2175
- Residential leases and related documents are kept one year after the lease expires, or until handed to the owner when the management agreement ends. Records may be kept at the broker’s office, electronically or at an off-site location in Arizona after written notice to the Department.A.R.S. § 32-2175
Reconciliation and ledgers
- Trust records follow generally accepted accounting principles and include receipts, a disbursement journal and a client ledger, with a separate ledger for each property.A.R.S. § 32-2151
- Each month the broker completes a three-way reconciliation of the trust account bank statements, client ledgers and trust account ledgers, and explains any variance.A.R.S. § 32-2151
Check with the Arizona Department of Real Estate
We could not confirm these from a primary source, so we don’t state them as rules:
- How far the 31-day exemption reaches — whether it covers owner payouts, maintenance and other management work, and whether it applies to homes spread across several locations. An industry association reports a narrower Department reading; we could not read the Department’s own material.
- Whether a licensed broker doing exempt short-stay reservation work must still run that money through a trust account.
- Who is entitled to trust account interest — the statutes we read say only that it may be earned and must be removed at least yearly.
- The Department’s rules (Arizona Administrative Code Title 4, Chapter 28) were not reviewed for this page.
Sources
Each source was read on 2026-10-25.
- A.R.S. § 32-2101 — Arizona Legislature
- A.R.S. § 32-2121 — Arizona Legislature
- A.R.S. § 32-2122 — Arizona Legislature
- A.R.S. § 32-2151 — Arizona Legislature
- A.R.S. § 32-2174 — Arizona Legislature
- A.R.S. § 32-2175 — Arizona Legislature
- A.R.S. § 33-1308 — Arizona Legislature
The reconciliation itself
Whatever your state’s rules, the monthly check is the same idea: the bank, your books and what you hold for each owner and guest should agree. Our three-way reconciliation guide walks through it with a free worksheet. If your reservations run on VacayOps, trust accounting is part of the Full Platform: guest payments are recorded into trust, owner statements build each owner’s balance, and the month’s reconciliation is signed off and exported as a PDF for your accountant. VacayOps records and reconciles the money in your own bank and processor accounts. It never holds or moves funds.