Eviction

questions & answers

Question: My house foreclosed and was sold at auction on 4/4. On 4/5 I spoke with the new owner and he said he would give me until 4/12 to vacate. Today 4/9 I recieved a Forcible Detainer request form in the mail. DO I need to be out by today?

Answer:

AzLawHelp is not able to answer when the specific date of move out is required, that information may be in the notice.  However, in eviction situations, an initial notice is typically mailed to the tenant.  In this case it could be a precaution to make sure the house is vacated by a certain date, so there is not delay in the event that move out is not completed by the agreed upon date, however this is only speculation. 

The eviction process is actually like most court processes just on a faster timetable.  The tenant would at some point be served with a complaint similar to a law suit, the complaint is usually filed in a local Justice Court an has a date of appearance.  For more detailed information on how eviction process works and how it relates to this situation, it is best to speak with an attorney practicing landlord tenant matters.  You may apply for free and reduced fee legal assistance using the Online Access To Justice System located under the LegalLEARN section of the top right corner of AZLawHelp.  You may also contact the legal aid agency in your area directly for a faster response, the three legal aid agencies in Arizona are Community Legal Services, Southern Arizona Legal Aid, and DNA Legal Services; all serve different counties.  To find the contact information for a local office, use the "Find Free Legal Help" section on the right vertical column of AZLawHelp.  Additionally, since the matter is foreclosure related, it may qualify under the funding that legal aid receives via the National Mortgage Settlement, however only legal aid can say for sure.

If the foreclosed home at issue is not yours, and you are a tenant with a lease, there may be additional rights you have as far as notice and time to depart, those protections come under the federal law, Protecting Tenants At Foreclosure Act, for more information see the AZLawHelp article:  WHAT IF I RENT A HOUSE THAT'S IN FORECLOSURE?  And if you are a tenant in this circumstance, you should again contact legal aid or other resources as previously described.

Lastly the Maricopa County Justice Courts has a helpful information page on Evictions.