Gerald A. Williams
Arizona Bar No. 018947
North Valley Justice Court
14264 West Tierra Buena Lane
Surprise, AZ 85274

The Maricopa County Justice Court bench unanimously recommends the rejection of this rule change petition and notes that, if adopted, the Petitioner’s proposed language will create a conflict between a court rule and a state statute.

Zona Law Group P.C., attorneys for Commenting Party Manufactured Housing Communities of Arizona
7701 E. Indian School Rd.,
Suite J
Scottsdale, AZ 85251
(480) 949-1400
Scott A. Baluha
[email protected]
Bar Number: 029957
Tatianna Dunne
[email protected]
Bar Number: 036776

Charles Lucking
Arizona House of Representatives
1700 W Washington St, Phoenix, AZ 85007
(602) 926-4221
[email protected]
Arizona State Bar: 031964

This proposed change would require plaintiffs to verify if the property at issue is a CARES Act “Covered” property, and if the plaintiff has complied with the 30-day notice provision required by the CARES act. This is information that is vital for judges to understand in order to appropriately determine if proper procedures and due process are being followed, and for defendants to have so that they can fully understand their rights. This is also information that is very difficult and occasionally impossible to obtain except for the Plaintiff themselves who are in a position to understand the status of their properties. Currently the RPEA does not contain safeguards to ensure that plaintiffs are complying with the law or giving courts and defendants notice that the property is subject to the CARES Act. Some judges are already requiring this, and this proposed change would formalize an important safeguard that is being inconsistently and sporadically incorporated in our Justice Courts' processes.

Maxine M. Becker, Arizona Bar. No. 019951
Wildfire: Igniting Community Action to End Poverty in Arizona
340 E. Palm Lane, Suite 315
Phoenix, Arizona 85004
[email protected]
Telephone: 602-832-7839

The rule change proposed by Petitioners would require plaintiffs to state whether the rental property in an eviction case is a CARES Act property and verify that the plaintiff complied with the 30-day notice provision required by the Act. This is necessary information for tenants and judges so that judges can correctly decide if the landlord followed the Act's procedures. This rule change will also allow tenants, who are almost always self-represented, to understand and advocate for their rights. Ownership and finance information for rental properties is obtuse and can be impossible to obtain, particularly for self-represented tenants. Plaintiffs know this information and can easily provide it to the Court. Current eviction rules do not address this important protection for tenants and self-represented tenants do not know enough to ask about this requirement. The disclosure of whether a rental property is covered by the CARES Act, and verification by the plaintiff that they followed the Act, is a straightforward requirement that can and should be uniformly required in all eviction cases.

Hull, Holliday & Holliday PLC, Attorneys for Commenting Party
7150 N 16th Street
Phoenix, Arizona 85020
(602) 230-0088
Christopher T. Hoynicki
Bar Number: 034840
[email protected]

Denise Holliday
Bar Number: 017275
[email protected]

Kevin Holliday
Bar Number: 017276
[email protected]

Judy Drickey-Prohow
Bar Number: 005796
[email protected]

Keally L. Cieslik, AZ Bar No. 038984
Unemployed Workers United, a project of Working Families Power
100 N Howard Street, Suite #400
Spokane, WA 99201-0508
(508) 250-0518
[email protected]

Unemployed Workers United (“UWU”) hereby respectfully submits this Comment in support of the Petition to amend Rule 5(d) of the Arizona Rules of Procedure for Eviction Actions.

Christopher R. Walker, Esq. (Ariz. Bar No. 28977)
CLARK & WALKER, P.C.
4222 E. Thomas Rd., Ste. 230
Phoenix, Arizona 85018
(602) 957-7877 [Tel]
(602) 957-7876 [Fax]
[email protected]
Commenting Party

Commenting party hereby submits its comment to the proposed rule petition and respectfully requests this Court deny same for the reasons articulated in the attached comment.

Christopher R Walker (AZBN 028977)
Clark & Walker, P.C.
4222 E. Thomas Rd., Ste. 230
Phoenix, Arizona 85018
Ph: (602) 957-7877
Email: [email protected]
Attorney for Arizona Multihousing Association

On behalf of the Arizona Multihousing Association we join in the opposition to R-24-0024 and submit the attached comment.

Joseph Falcon-Freeman, SBN 036798
DISABILITY RIGHTS ARIZONA
4539 E. Ft. Lowell Rd,
Tucson, AZ 85712
Telephone: 520-327-9547
Fax: 520-884-0992
[email protected]

Disability Rights Arizona respectfully submits its attached comment in support of Petition R-24-0024 to Amend Rule 5(d) of the Rules of Procedure for Eviction Actions.

Comment of the State Bar of Arizona

Lisa M. Panahi
Bar No. 023421
General Counsel
State Bar of Arizona
4201 N. 24th St., Suite 100
Phoenix, AZ 85016
602-340-7236
[email protected]