Thank you to everyone who attended the Webinar on April 6th What Does COVID19 mean for Landlords. There were several questions which required a little additional research and some that came in after we closed the Webinar.
Webinar questions:
- If a property has some section 8 tenants and some non-section 8 tenants and the property does not have a federally subsidized loan, can I give notices to the non-section 8 tenants?
Section 4024 states that the Eviction Moratorium and its provisions apply to any property that “participates in a covered housing program.” If a Unit therefore is not Section 8, that property/unit does not participate in Section 8. However, it is not clear if “property” means the entire property or each individual unit. My interpretation is that a Unit for which the owner is not receiving Section 8 payments would not be covered by the CARES Act Moratorium, but it would be best to examine each case as they arise to make a final determination on whether or not the CARES Act applies.
- Can you provide a five-day notice for nonpayment of rent if the property qualifies for the Federal Eviction Moratorium under the CARES Act?
The language is a bit vague, but the CARES Act provides that the landlord may not issue a notice to vacate. The five-day notice in Arizona for nonpayment of rent provides the tenant with the option of vacating or paying rent. As such, I recommend not providing tenants with a five da notice for nonpayment. You may provide the tenant with a “reminder” that rent is due, but not the actual five-day notice which indicates they must pay or vacate.
- What if an owner with a federally backed mortgage has not requested Forbearance under the CARES Act?
The Moratorium does not apply to Owners with a Federally backed loan that have not requested relief. Section 4023. In other words, a landlord paying his/her federally backed loan may provide notice to vacate and may initiate an eviction under Section 4023.
However, Section 4024 indicates that the Eviction Moratorium applies to any property with a federally backed mortgage. Therefore, even if a landlord has not requested relief under the CARES Act, the Landlord may not file an eviction action or charge late fees for nonpayment of rent. Furthermore, the owner may not issue a notice to vacate (see question 2 above).
Even if an owner has not requested Forbearance under the CARES Act, the Landlord must abide by the Eviction Moratorium under the CARES Act.
- Contact Information for Arizona Legislators. Please contact our legislators and let them know when tenants don’t pay their rent and you can’t evict them it creates a hardship for landlords.
Federal Representation
US Senator Martha McSally https://www.mcsally.senate.gov/contact_martha
US Senator Kyrsten Sinema https://www.sinema.senate.gov/contact-kyrsten
US Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick https://kirkpatrick.house.gov/contact/ (AZ Congressional District 2)
US Congressman Raul Grijalva https://grijalva.house.gov/ (Arizona Congressional District 3)
State Representation:
Arizona Governor Doug Ducey https://azgovernor.gov/engage/form/contact-governor-ducey
Tucson covers Arizona Legislative Districts 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11 and 14
Contact information for all State Legislators can be found here: https://www.azleg.gov/memberroster/