questions & answers

Question: I’ve lived in a trailer park for over 20 years and purchased my trailer from the park which I own free and clear. I’m very low income and now my landlord hit me with an eviction notice. I have no money to move my trailer and no money for a deposit on another trailer. Can he just kick me out of my house for no reason and take my trailer from me? Please help

Answer: Under the Arizona Mobile Home Parks Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, a mobile home park landlord may only seek a tenant’s eviction in court for violating the rental agreement. If the tenant violates the rental agreement, the landlord must provide the tenant with a written notice describing the violation and stating that the rental agreement will end in 30 days if the tenant does not fix the violation within 14 days. If the tenant violates the rental agreement in a way that threatens health or safety, the landlord must provide the tenant with a written notice describing the violation and stating that the rental agreement will end in 20 days if the violation is not fixed within 10 days. Only if the tenant violates the rental agreement in a “material and irreparable” way that cannot be fixed, for example by committing a crime on the property, may the landlord provide the tenant with a written notice immediately ending the rental agreement. If the tenant violates the rental agreement by not paying their rent when it is due, the landlord must provide the tenant with a written notice stating that if the rent is not paid within 7 days, then the landlord will end the rental agreement and file an eviction action against the tenant in court (A.R.S. 33-1476(D)). Any tenant who is facing eviction may wish to seek legal advice. There are links to free and low-cost legal services on this website (at http://www.azlawhelp.org/accessToJustice). You may wish to contact your local free civil legal aid organization directly. Depending on where in the state your mobile home park is located, this is either Community Legal Services (http://clsaz.org), Southern Arizona Legal Aid, Inc. (https://www.sazlegalaid.org), or DNA-People’s Legal Services (https://dnalegalservices.org).