Tag: Eviction

Arizona Eviction Process

Steps to Residential Evictions in Arizona

1. notice to tenants

In Arizona, a written notice must be sent to the tenant(s) before beginning a residential eviction.

2. Filing the Lawsuit and Serving Tenants

An eviction Complaint, Summons, 6-month payment history, lease, residential eviction explanation sheet and proposed form of judgment are prepared by our Firm and filed with the corresponding court.

Once the pleadings have been filed with the court, they must be served on the tenants by a licensed process server.

3. Eviction Hearing

Every eviction case has a hearing. One of our attorneys will appear at the hearing on your behalf so you do not have to take time out of your schedule to come to one of the justice court, courthouse.

Eviction Trial– Occasionally, an eviction case will be set for trial. An eviction trial is completely different than an eviction hearing. Click HERE to read more about eviction trials.

4. Eviction Judgment

An Eviction Judgment is the goal of an eviction hearing. An Arizona eviction judgment is made up of two basic components.

Monetary Award– The monetary portion of the judgment, orders the tenants to pay the landlord all back rent, late fees, court costs, and attorney’s fees.

Vacate the Property– The second part of the eviction judgment orders the tenants to vacate the rental property within 5 calendar days. If the Arizona tenants do not voluntarily vacate within that time, then you must file a Writ of Restitution. This writ orders the court constable to go to the rental property and remove the renters, by force if necessary.

5. Writ of Restitution

A Writ of Restitution is filed with the Court if the tenant fails to vacate the Arizona rental property within 5 calendar days of us obtaining the eviction judgment.

Filing Fee- As of 2023 the filing fee for the Writ of Restitution in the Maricopa County justice court system is $115. Also, in cases where the rental property is rural and far from the court then the constable may charge an additional travel fee.

Tenant’s Belongings– If a tenant vacates but leaves behind their belongings then the landlord must store the tenant’s belongings for 14-days.

An Arizona landlord can charge a tenant the actual cost of moving their belongings and the actual cost of storing their belongings. However, the landlord cannot hold a tenant’s belongings hostage demanding that the eviction judgment is paid until the belongings will be released. Again, if an Arizona tenant reimburses the landlord for the actual cost of moving and storing the belongings then they must be returned.

If you have additional questions about the Arizona eviction process then contact the Dunaway Law Group at 480-702-1608 or HERE.

* The information provided is informational only, does not constitute legal advice, and will not create an attorney-client or attorney-prospective client relationship. Additionally, the Dunaway Law Group, PLC limits its practice to the state of Arizona and New York.

Atypical Evictions Arizona

Our law firm is frequently contacted by Arizonans looking for help with an “atypical eviction”. There are a few keys ingredients that make up an atypical eviction. The first ingredient in an atypical eviction is the actual person we are trying to evict. Often we are evicting an ex-girlfriend, ex-boyfriend, ex-friend, roommates, adult children, relatives, etc.

For example, if a woman moves into her boyfriend’s house, they breakup, boyfriend asks her to leave, and she won’t leave–then we must move forward with a formal eviction to get her out of the house.

The second ingredient that makes these situations unusual is that the person requesting the eviction is often living with the person they are seeking to evict. (This must make for some really awkward conversation around the breakfast table). Tensions can become very high in a home where people are living side by side and one of them is trying to evict the other. In these atypical evictions it’s not uncommon for one of the residents to obtain a restraining order against the other person.

It is important to note that whether it is a “traditional” Arizona eviction or an atypical eviction as described above, we must always follow the same formal process. There are no shortcuts! So resist the temptation to just lock this person out of your house and throw their belongings into the street. Trying to take any shortcuts with the eviction process can; delay the eviction, cost you money, and create more stress in your life. Do it right the first time and you will be able to get this person out of your life.

How Long Will an atypical Eviction Take?

The time it takes to eviction someone from your house depends on a few important variables. One of the most important variables is whether or not there was an agreement for this other person to pay rent. If there was an agreement for this person to pay rent and they were not paying rent then we can send them a typical 5-day notice for non-payment of rent. The entire eviction process for non-payment of rent can take 3 to 4 weeks. So if you have any illusions about your ex-lover/ex-friend/roommate leaving in a day or two you need to re-adjust your thinking.

If there never was agreement for this person to pay rent and there is not a written lease agreement in place then you must send them a 30-day notice to vacate. If they do not leave after the expiration of the 30 days then we can begin the eviction process thru the courts.

If you would like to speak with an experienced eviction attorney then contact the Dunaway Law Group at 480-389-6529 or message us HERE.

* The information provided is informational only, does not constitute legal advice, and will not create an attorney-client or attorney-prospective client relationship. Additionally, the Dunaway Law Group, PLC limits its practice to the State of Arizona.

Recovering Future Rents from Tenant

If a tenant that is under a current lease agreement who is evicted or abandons the property; can that landlord sue for all future rents thru the end of the lease? The answer is; “yes”, “no” and “maybe”.

Let me answer this question by using an example. an Arizona Landlord and Arizona Tenant sign a 24 month lease agreement. Tenant promises to pay $2,000 each month for rent. However, 6 months into the lease term the tenant does not pay rent and so the landlord evicts him. Tenant still has 18 months left on his 2 year lease. Can landlord sue tenant for the remaining 18 months? Maybe, I will answer the question in greater detail below.

No, Landlords may not sue for future rents

Hypothetically, if the Arizona landlord finds a new tenant, who begins paying rent the very next month then landlord may not sue the initial previous tenants for the future rent he should have paid. A landlord may not sue an Arizona tenant for future unpaid rents at an eviction hearing. Because the landlord won’t know how long the property will sit empty and therefore the courts award would be based off of speculation. But a landlord can sue for all past rents owed during an eviction lawsuit.

A landlord has a duty to “mitigate” his losses. An Arizona landlord mitigates his losses after an eviction by doing everything possible to re-rent the property. Landlord must take the same actions they would if re-renting the property under normal circumstances. The Arizona landlord cannot simply let the property sit empty for 18 months and then sue the tenant because the property sat empty. He must take all reasonable actions to re-rent the property as soon as possible. Again, a landlord may not sue a tenant for future rent through an eviction lawsuit. However, there is another option a landlord may take to recoup losses from a breaching tenant.

Yes, a Landlord MAY sue a former tenant for unpaid rents.

Yes, a landlord may sue a former tenant for unpaid rents after they were evicted from the Property. However, the Arizona landlord must first market and re-rent the Property before suing the former tenant. The law doesn’t allow for double-dipping, meaning you cannot sue a former tenant for terminating a lease 16 months earlier while collecting rent each month from a new tenant.

However, you can sue a previous tenant for all the months the Property sat vacant until it was re-leased to a new person. Using the example from above, let’s assume the landlord re-rented the Property one month after evicting the previous tenant. In this situation the Property only sat empty for one month and so the previous tenant is only liable to one months rent to the Landlord. Regardless of how many more months or years were left on a previous tenants lease, a landlord can only sue for the months the Property actually sat empty.

If you need help from an Arizona landlord – tenant attorney then contact the Dunaway Law Group at 480-702-1608 or message us HERE.

The Dunaway Law Group limits its practice to the states of Arizona and New York.