LAYING DOWN THE LAW – New Rules for Evictions

Christopher J. Charles

Attorney, Provident Law

The Arizona Supreme Court recently promulgated new rules for eviction actions. Per the new rules, before proceeding with an eviction action, landlords must serve tenants with not only the Complaint and Summons, but also with a copy of the controlling lease, any addenda to the lease, plus a written accounting of all rent payments for the prior six months. If the above documents are not properly served on the tenant, the tenant will have grounds to dismiss the Complaint for failing to comply with Rule 5, ArizonA rules of Procedure for eviction Actions. The new law hopes to streamline evictions and help the parties understand early in the process what contract controls the dispute and what monies are owing.

To the right, review the text of the new rule:

Christopher J. Charles is the Founder and Managing Partner of Provident Law®. He is a State Bar Certified Real Estate Specialist and a former “Broker Hotline Attorney” for the Arizona Association of REALTORS® (the “AAR”). He is also an Arbitrator and Mediator for the AAR regarding real estate disputes; and he served on the State Bar of Arizona’s Civil Jury Instructions Committee from 2011-2015 where he helped draft the Agency Instructions and the Residential Landlord/Tenant Eviction Jury Instructions. Christopher is a licensed real estate instructor and he teaches continuing education classes at the Arizona School of Real Estate and Business. He can be reached at chris@providentlawyers.com or at 480-388-3343