questions & answers

Question: I was recently evicted out of my apartment and went to court for none payment for rent but we tried to pay the apartment the day before the court hearing and several other timer the rent but they wouldnt accept the money and they change my locks on my door and ive tried to get ahold of them and they wont answer the phones and me and my 11year old cannot get our things and they took the curtains down and everbody can see all my stuff how can i get it

Answer: I always recommend consulting the Arizona Residential Landlord and Tenant Act found here: https://housing.az.gov/sites/default/files/documents/files/AZ%20Residential%20Landlord%20and%20Tenant%20Act%20-%20Revised%20July%203%202015.pdf A.R.S. 33-1368 governs acceptance of rent payments. Subsection B provides as follows: B. A tenant may not withhold rent for any reason not authorized by this chapter. If rent is unpaid when due and the tenant fails to pay rent within five days after written notice by the landlord of nonpayment and the landlord's intention to terminate the rental agreement if the rent is not paid within that period of time, the landlord may terminate the rental agreement by filing a special detainer action pursuant to section 33-1377. Before the filing of a special detainer action the rental agreement shall be reinstated if the tenant tenders all past due and unpaid periodic rent and a reasonable late fee set forth in a written rental agreement. After a special detainer action is filed the rental agreement is reinstated only if the tenant pays all past due rent, reasonable late fees set forth in a written rental agreement, attorney fees and court costs. After a judgment has been entered in a special detainer action in favor of the landlord, any reinstatement of the rental agreement is solely in the discretion of the landlord. Based on that section, if you offered to pay the past-due rent and late fee before they filed the court case against you, the landlord was required to accept the payment and reinstate your lease. If you offered to pay the past-due rent, late fees, attorneys' fees and court costs after the court case was filed but before the judgment was entered against you, the landlord was required to accept it and reinstate your lease. You are permitted to recover your personal property. Subsection E of the same statute provides: E. The landlord shall hold the tenant's personal property for a period of twenty-one days beginning on the first day after a writ of restitution or writ of execution is executed as prescribed in section 12-1181. The landlord shall use reasonable care in moving and holding the tenant's property and may store the tenant's property in an unoccupied dwelling unit owned by the landlord, the unoccupied dwelling unit formerly occupied by the tenant or off the premises if an unoccupied dwelling unit is not available. If the tenant's former dwelling unit is used to store the property, the landlord may change the locks on that unit at the landlord's discretion. The landlord shall prepare an inventory and promptly notify the tenant of the location and cost of storage of the personal property by sending a notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, addressed to the tenant's last known address and to any of the tenant's alternative addresses known to the landlord. To reclaim the personal property, the tenant shall pay the landlord only for the cost of removal and storage for the time the property is held by the landlord. Within five days after a written offer by the tenant to pay these charges the landlord must surrender possession of the personal property in the landlord's possession to the tenant upon the tenant's tender of payment. If the landlord fails to surrender possession of the personal property to the tenant, the tenant may recover the possessions or an amount equal to the damages determined by the court if the landlord has destroyed or disposed of the possessions before the twenty-one days specified in this section or after the tenant's offer to pay. The tenant shall pay all removal and storage costs accrued through the fifth day after the tenant's offer to pay is received by the landlord or the date of delivery or surrender of the property, whichever is sooner. Payment by the tenant relieves the landlord of any further responsibility for the tenant's possessions. Based on that section, the landlord is required to inventory your personal property and give you written notice of the location and cost of storage by certified mail. In order to recover it, you need pay only the cost of removal and storage as set forth in the notice. You need to make a written offer to the landlord to pay those charges and, within 5 days, the landlord must give you back your personal property. You need to act quickly though as the landlord is only required to hold your property for 21 days. If they fail to hold it or turn it over to you, you can recover damages against the landlord for the value of all your property in a court case. Even if you don't pay storage and removal costs, you are permitted under subsection F to remove your clothing, ID, financial documents, and the like. Please note that I am providing general information based on the very limited information available to me. I am unable to provide you with legal advice, and no attorney-client relationship is created hereby. I wish you the best in this and all your endeavors.