Phoenix Police crack down on slumlord
The Phoenix police department shut down a community due to the negligence of the landlord. Rooming, Inc is the owner of two properties located within the city of Phoenix. According to azcentral.com, “Police said Rooming Inc. President Elijah Brown targeted mentally ill and homeless people in a scheme that required them to turn over their Social Security checks in exchange for rent.”
This is a huge problem in Arizona and the system here fails our tenants at every turn. Tenants complain to the landlord and he does nothing. The tenant attempts self help or uses his limited funds to provide himself with heat or an alternative place to live. Then the landlord initiates an eviction action. Although the Rules of Eviction Procedure allows for a counterclaim, the Justice tells the tenant that he does not have a counterclaim because he failed to send a certified 5 day notice of repair, although he sent text messages and sometimes emails. Tenant complains to the police and is told that this is a civil matter. Tenant complains to building code and building code sends a notice to the landlord of an upcoming “visit”. The landlord patches up some items, code enforcer comes out gives the okay and doesn’t return for another year or so. So the tenant doesn’t complain. Tenant pays his rent and continues to live in deplorable conditions because Tenant knows that his complaints will fall on deaf ears.
And although it is admirable that the PD stepped in and issued citations and closed the community, it took way too long for the city to notice. “This landlord has been cited for multiple, non-criminal code violations, including: improper outside storage, unsafe buildings, and construction permit, certificate of occupancy and zoning violations. Phoenix police Sgt. Vince Lewis said, adding the apartments were the source of hundreds of emergency calls. “In 2016, we had 600 calls for service at this address; 400 for police, 200 for fire.”- AZCentral
To protect our tenants, we must enforce the law and allow for counterclaims during eviction actions. The only way to change the living conditions of our AZ residents is to hit the landlords, and their attorneys where it hurts; in their pockets.
Reference: http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix-breaking/2017/01/19/phoenix-slumlord-investigation-multiple-families-displaced/96774452/
For legal help, contact Tenant Protectors @ www.tenantprotectoraz.com