At least 3,164 Maricopa County renters had five or more eviction filings against them in the period examined by The Republic. They have to think fast if they have their IDs, phone chargers, medicine or diapers for their baby before they are locked out.”Īnd landlords can and do file multiple eviction claims against the same tenant. “It’s such a bleak, traumatic moment of their life. "Most tenants facing eviction are terrified and don’t know what to do,” Becker said. A tenant can be out of in five days if the courts approve that type of eviction. Writ of restitution: An enforcement order of an eviction that allows a constable to remove the tenant from the property and allows the landlord to change the locks on the rental.Īrizona's eviction process can move even faster if a landlord files for an immediate eviction because of police activity or property damage. Judgment: The justice of the peace decides whether the landlord or tenant should have possession of the property and any money owed and issues a judgment, which determines whether the tenant is evicted.
Immediate eviction: Allows a landlord to file a lawsuit immediately instead of giving five to 10 days notice and is usually reserved for police or public safety issues. A tenant is then issued a summons for a hearing. A constable is responsible for physically locking renters out of their rentals after an eviction judgment.Įviction filing: If landlords think tenants are breaking a lease agreement (not paying rent, breaking rules of the apartment complex, etc.), they can file a complaint with the local justice court. Justices need to be registered voters in Arizona and don't have to be attorneys.Ĭonstable: An officer of the county justice courts charged with executing writs of possession in evictions.
Justice of the peace: Elected officials who oversee local justice courts that handle evictions. Management company: A group hired by a landlord to deal directly with tenants by collecting rent, handling maintenance issues as well as tenant complaints and pursuing evictions. Landlord: The owner of a rental property. McDonough received last-minute rental aid from Mesa and was able to stay in her apartment, but she’s afraid the filing will still hurt her credit.Įven if renters can stop an eviction before a lockout, an eviction filing on their record can still affect their credit and their ability to find another landlord willing to rent to them. “I couldn’t believe we could be locked out of our home in five days.” About two weeks after missing her first rent payments, her landlord filed to evict her and her teenage son, who has autism. She kept up with the almost $1,300 monthly rent for her two-bedroom Mesa apartment until October. Shawn McDonough left her job as a recruiter early last year when she was hospitalized after getting COVID-19 for a second time. If the renter does not pay during the five days, the landlord can file for eviction. The landlord can serve the five-day notice as early as the day after rent was due. Landlords seeking an eviction for nonpayment of rent must give their tenants five days' notice. The swift process to evict in Arizona also concerns tenant advocates. “It’s very concerning when you have millions of dollars being pumped into rent payments and evictions are still climbing,” said Maxine Becker, an attorney and tenant advocate for Phoenix-based Wildfire, a poverty-relief nonprofit. Too often, rental aid isn't arriving until after the eviction. In January, February and March of this year, Valley evictions reached about 91% of filings from the first three months of 2019.Ībout 65,000 Arizona renters believe they will likely be evicted in the next two months, according to the latest Census Pulse Survey.Īdvocates and government agencies are working to keep people in their rentals by getting out federal aid faster and providing more legal help.īut Arizona law allows a landlord to initiate an eviction as soon as five days after a tenant misses rent, and the tenant is typically locked out within three weeks of the first filing. An Arizona Republic analysis found eviction filings in Maricopa County hit a five-year high in 2019, the year before the COVID-19 pandemic.
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