Real Estate Litigation

By:  Kevin Parker

In a recent case, the Arizona Court of Appeals addressed the special rules of procedure for eviction actions. The eviction rules became effective January 1, 2009.  In Sotomayor v. Sotomayor-Munoz, 735 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 28 (March 28, 2016), the court addressed the question of whether the evicted tenant had timely appealed.  The trial court had entered a formal judgment of eviction; and the tenant had filed various post-judgment motions which the tenant apparently believed extended the tenant’s deadline for filing a notice of appeal.  The Court of Appeals determined that the appeal was untimely because, according to the court, the particular motions filed by the tenant did not extend the appeal deadline.  In reaching this decision, the Court of Appeals pointed out that the regular rules of civil procedure do not apply in eviction actions unless specifically incorporated by reference into the rules of procedure for eviction actions.  The take-away:  be aware of the separate rules of procedures for eviction actions, and in particular note that the regular rules of civil procedure do not apply unless specifically incorporated into the rules of procedure for eviction actions.