Breaking Down the Arizona Landlord Tenant Act ARS 33-1315

Prohibited Provisions in a Lease Agreement. ARS §33-1315 Provides Landlords with a list of things they cannot have in their rental agreements.  If a landlord does include one of these provisions, it is 1.  Not enforceable and 2. If the landlord deliberately uses a known prohibited provision in the lease the tenant may recover two months’ rent or actual damages from the landlord. You may not have a provision in your lease agreement where the tenant agrees to pay the landlord’s attorney’s fees unless the provision indicates the prevailing party is entitled to attorney’s fees (i.e., winning party, either landlord...

Fair Housing: How is Handicap defined under Fair Housing

  “Handicap” means, with respect to a person, a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more major life activities; a record of such an impairment; or being regarded as having such an impairment.  This term does not include current, illegal use of or addiction to a controlled substance.  For purposes of this part, an individual shall not be considered to have a handicap solely because that individual is a transvestite. “Physical or mental impairment” includes: 1.        Any physiological disorder or condition, cosmetic disfigurement, or anatomical loss affecting one or more of the following body systems:  Neurological; musculoskeletal;...

City of Tucson Passes Source of Income Ordinance

What Landlords Need to Know: 1. The City of Tucson passed The Source of Income Ordinance (11959) on September 27th. It goes into effect immediately! 2. The Ordinance lists source of income as a protected class under Fair Housing and Discrimination laws. 3. If a Prospective Tenant calls and asks if you accept Section 8 or another voucher program for a rental property/unit within the Tucson City limits and you indicate in any way that you do not accept that form of payment or indicate the tenant will not qualify you may be in violation of the City Ordinance. 4....

City of Tucson to Amend Fair Housing to Include Source of Income Protection

The City of Tucson is currently considering adding source of income as a protected class under Fair Housing.  The City has noted that fewer Landlords are participating in the Section 8 voucher program, and many Section 8 recipients are in need of housing.  The ordinance (we do not yet have a complete draft making this partially speculative) would require landlords to accept tenants whose source of income for housing is HUD Section 8 or other government or charitable subsidies.  The primary impact would be the requirement that all Landlords accept tenants using Section 8 vouchers. In years past the City...

Service and Emotional Support Animals, the Basics.

Under Fair Housing Regulations, if a tenant requests a reasonable accommodation for a disability or covered condition, the landlord must consider and allow a reasonable accommodation.   The most frequent request landlords receive is for an animal, either an emotional support animal or a service animal.  If an animal qualifies as either an emotional support animal or service animal you may not charge the tenant pet rent, a pet deposit or disallow the animal in the unit.  The animal is not considered a pet and the pet provisions and requirements you may have in place for a pet do not apply. ...

Accepting Payments after Court and Proceeding with a Writ of Restitution

Once a judgment has been entered, the landlord may accept payments on the judgment and still proceed with their request for the writ of restitution.  HOWEVER, it is not uncommon for a tenant to waive a receipt at a constable when he or she comes to execute the writ of restitution and claim the writ cannot be served because the tenant paid.  We, therefore, recommend the following procedures or steps when accepting money from a tenant after court and before the writ of restitution: Have the tenant sign a note saying the tenant understands that the payment made is payment...

Service and Emotional Support Animals at the Pool?

With the weather heating up, what about service or emotional support animals in or near the pool?   In the pool, the answer is no.  That is not a reasonable accommodation as it violates health and safety protocol and procedures.   Near the pool, however, it depends.  An emotional support animal is less likely to be considered a reasonable accommodation around a pool unless there is some connection to pools and water for which it is needed. For a service animal, the answer is more likely to be yes, but again it depends on the service the animal provides.  A...

City of Tucson may attempt to require all Landlords to accept Section 8 Tenants and prohibit Landlords from conducting Criminal Background Checks on Prospective Tenants

The City of Tucson, according to a Draft Housing Affordability for Tucson (HAST) proposal, appears to be considering requiring all Landlords to accept Section 8 tenants.  From the limited research I have been able to do it appears that property owners and managers were not included in some of the initial meetings regarding this plan.  Having represented Landlords for over 20 years, both large and small property management companies and individual owners, a requirement that owners accept Section 8 raises many concerns for me on behalf of my clients. I am not disparaging the Section 8 housing program or suggesting...

Alabama Association of Realtors challenging most recent extension of the CDC Eviction Moratorium

The Plaintiff in Alabama Association of Realtors v. United States Department of Health and Human Services filed an emergency motion yesterday to enforce the Supreme Court’s ruling and to vacate the stay pending appeal.  We have a copy of the Motion available through the below link.  As we understand it, we expect an answer from the CDC today.  We will keep you posted.   Emergency Motion

CDC Extended Eviction Moratorium through October 3, 2021

August 3, 2021   Dear Clients:   We just received the extension of the eviction moratorium from the CDC based upon the statement made by President Biden earlier this afternoon.  We have attached a copy of the CDC statement here.   According to the information reported to date regarding why President Biden has taken this action, it is our understanding the President was informed by the “bulk” of Constitutional scholars that the eviction moratorium was not constitutional as issued by the CDC.  However, President Biden felt it was worth the risk and stated, “at a minimum, by the time it...