Reasonable Accommodations denied under Title II

[gettup]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Arizona

Hi There.

This could also belong under evictions, but it's not so much a landlord issue (well, not anymore anyway..) as it is a MAJOR issue with the Justice Court that handled the eviction proceedings. I am not exaggerating here when I tell this story, and actually, I am just touching the surface, there was so much more blatant, and what would seem to me to be unlawful and unfair treatment and a violation of my rights as a disabled person on such a grand scale.

I was illegally evicted from the condo I was renting, that I had just moved into - only living there for 2 months before the AC broke down in the middle of July in Arizona (115 degrees) and the landlord refused to fix it, having me sign a letter stating it was broke, he couldn't afford to fix it and wasn't going to, that he deemed it uninhabitable and recommended I move out and was no longer charging me rent. I signed it, noting that I didn't want to move, that I had signed a year lease, and that I would even fix the AC myself when I got my deposit back from my previous landlord who's policy was to return it after 90 days, but that I would go stay at a friends house until the weather cooled down (who lives in Flagstaff) and he agreed.

I took off for Flagg and on the drive up there, I called my previous landlord and told him about my situation and that I really needed my deposit back asap because I needed to buy an AC because the one in my condo broke, yada, yada, yada, and he told me that he actually had a used AC unit that was in excellent condition that I could have if I wanted to call it even on the deposit, which I thought was awesome so I made arrangements for him to go to my condo while I was in Flagg and install it, he said he probably wouldn't need to gain entry as it was an outside unit so I told him to go ahead and do it and just call if he ran into any problems and to let me know when he was finished.

A few days after getting to Flagg, I get a call from the landlord telling me the condo is being foreclosed on and that he wants to short sell it to avoid foreclosure and that he wanted to know if I could be out in 2 weeks so he could take pictures! I was like, WHAT??? you're kidding me right?? I told him that I just had the AC replaced and that it was probably being installed as we spoke, yada, yada, yada, So he tells me he'll call me back. Well, he didn't call back, instead I get a text message from him a few days later, telling me he's at the courthouse filing for an eviction! I asked him WHY? and he replied, "you'll find out in court" (I took screenshots of these text messages from my iphone and printed them out, so I do have this in writing, or a form of communication between us.) But this is how I was informed, I wasn't given a 5 day notice or anything, he notified me of via text message knowing I was out of town for at least a few weeks and wouldn't be able to contest it.

I didn't owe him any rent, in fact, I had a letter from him in writing that he was no longer charging me rent. He made false statements that I owed a homeowner's association fee knowing I wouldn't make the eviction hearing since I was out of town. I decided to return home early and sure enough there was a summons on my door & the hearing was in like 15 minutes! I hauled ass down to the courthouse & came flying into the courtroom and was so relieved to see the landlord still up in front of the judge... I hurried through the little swinging wood mini door and went and stood behind my landlord waiting to address the judge, but she wouldn't even acknowledge me!

The court clerk waved some papers in the air at me and told me a default judgement had been entered against me cause I didn't show up (I even called the court on my way down there and told them I was on my way and that I was having some trouble (which I'll explain in a bit) but I would definitely be there! I was only 10 min late but the court was adamant about not hearing me at all. I immediately filed a motion to vacate the default judgement & it was granted and a new hearing was scheduled. So instead of having to be out in 5 days, I had a new hearing on that day instead.

The summons said I owed for Augusts rent! Now, granted, I hadn't paid it, but I had a letter from him stating not to and since he never called me back like he said he was the day I told him I replaced the AC, we didn't renegotiate my paying rent , which was what I planned on discussing with him had he called back. I figured since I had that letter in writing from him I would be found not guilty at the hearing, However, at the hearing, he pulls out a letter from the homeowner's association showing the check I gave him for $150 when I initially moved in (for the homeowner association fee) had been returned unpaid!

I had run out of checks and he required the rent and fees be paid by check or money order so I asked my ex sister-in-law if she'd write the check for me if I gave her the cash, and she never told me it bounced and neither did he! The date on the notification of the returned check was dated 10 days prior, I'm assuming he just decided to use that as an excuse to get me out for whatever reason, cause I was not behind on rent and didn't owe him anything that I was aware of, and had he TOLD me that check bounced I would've immediately taken care of it, but I wasn't presented with that opportunity. I thought this was so unfair, but I produced the receipt given to me by the HOA for the payment and notified the judge that I never received notice of this returned check. The judge would not let me speak any further and ruled in favor of the landlord!

Ok, I was assuming I had 5 days to move out but a couple hours after I got home from court the landlord shows up with the constable telling me I had to move out right then! (I was in the shower when they knocked at the door and didn't hear them, so the constable decides to come in through my bedroom window as I am coming out of the bathroom with just a towel wrapped around me! the landlord had the constable serve the vacated judgement on me! when I told the constable that judgement had been vacated he didn't believe me so I got on the courts website and pulled up the file and showed him where it said it was vacated, but he said it didn't matter, and held up a signed writ by the judge and said he had to go by that document!!

I was in tears at this point and told him to let me call the court and get it straightened out because I know I had 5 days! (let me just say that when I lost the hearing, I just got up and walked out of the courtroom I was so upset, so I didn't get any paperwork from the clerk this time, and the landlord knew this so I'm sure that's why he pulled a fast one on me) so I got the clerk on the phone and asked her to please tell the constable that I didn't have to be out for another 5 days, and that I would put him on the phone, but to my utter dismay, the court clerk told me, "I don't know if you're aware of this or not, but when you lost the 2nd hearing, the ORIGINAL judgement came forward and took affect, so you do have to be out today, your 5 days are up today"

This did NOT seem right, I explained to her that that judgement had been vacated, how can that be? once a judgement is vacated, it's vacated, and no longer valid, but she was mean, rude and nasty and insensitively told me, that no, I was wrong, that the rule is when you lose a hearing when a judgement had been vacated and a new hearing set, if you lose that hearing the original judgement takes affect, as if the original hearing that i lost in was reinstated. I was beyond angry! I was so certain I would win that hearing that I had nothing packed. And the constable was giving me 15 minutes to gather up some things and leave, saying I'd have to make arrangements with the landlord to get the rest of my stuff out and that I only got one shot at it so make sure I came with a truck & that was that, I was removed!

 

[gettup]

Continued from Reasonable Accommodations denied under Title II

Continued...

The next day I went down to the courthouse to obtain an appeal packet so I could appeal this judgement and also to get a blank motion to fill out asking the judge to allow me to post the supersedes bond and remain in the condo during the appeals process, even though the bond has to be posted BEFORE the writ is executed and I was going to explain that I didn't realize the vacated judgment took affect when I lost the 2nd hearing. The court clerk was rude and very impatient with me. She did not want to help me at all! I wondered if she was dating my landlord or something and maybe THAT's why she didn't like me, because I was at battle with him, heck, I didn't know WHAT to think.

I asked her why she had a problem/attitude with me and what did I do to her to make her act so unfriendly towards me? and she told me that I don't listen and that I ask her questions and then don't let her finish answering me, that I interrupt her while she is talking. I apologized for doing that and informed her that I recognize that it is sometimes a problem with me, and that I cannot help it and don't even realize I am doing it.

I informed her that I have a speech disorder, amongst other impairing functions that I am on disability for and that they are considered disabling under the ADA standards. I went out to my car to obtain the medical documentation that I have with me at all times, documenting of my hypomanic disorder which also consists of circumstantial speech disorder, and that I am considered disabled and on social security because of these impairments along with also having PTSD and ADHD and how the three exacerbate one another and it is well documented in my medical history and that I am very sorry. She showed some empathy for about 5 minutes, but got all rude with me again when I asked her for copies of the paperwork I didn't receive from the 2nd hearing that shows the judgement because I left so upset that I forgot to get it and she told me there was no paperwork from the 2nd hearing!

I was like, HOW can there be no paperwork? she said, the only paperwork there is, is the paperwork she gave me from the 1st hearing, that THAT paperwork took affect just like the vacated judgment did and that there was no new paperwork produced from the 2nd hearing. I thought this was extremely odd and didn't make any sense. Because I know there are taped or court reported documentation of all court proceedings, and you mean to tell me there is no record of this hearing that took place on file? She then went to go retrieve some forms for my appeal and when she did, I slipped over the other justice court counter (there are like 5 justice courts all in the same building) and I asked THAT clerk if there was a hearing where the judgement was vacated and a new hearing was set, in which I lost, would there be new paperwork for that hearing, or just the paperwork from the first hearing? and she told me yes, that there would be paperwork from the 2nd hearing.

I explained to her that this other court clerk says there is none, and that there is only paperwork from the first hearing, but she disagreed and told me that was false information. Dumbfounded, I made my way back over to the counter where I was conducting my business at and waited for that court clerk to return with my appeal packet. After obtaining it, I took it home and filled it out and brought it back to the courthouse the next day along with the motion requesting allowance of the supersedes bond. After she read my motion to the judge explaining how this weird process of a vacated judgement coming into affect, she disappeared for a minute and came back up to the counter and slid a form my way, a document that had the courts seal on it, and said "Here, this is so you can file that motion"

I thought, "huh? what does she mean by that? I can file this motion regardless,... and upon looking down at the document she slid over to me I was shocked and absolutely FURIOUS! it was the paperwork from the 2nd hearing, the judgement, and it said I had to be out 5 days from the date of that 2nd HEARING!! the date that was written hadn't even passed yet, it was for the following day! so here all this time, I really did have a full 5 days from the day that constable came out and removed me, and here I been staying in hotel rooms and not have hardly any of my personal belongings! and technically, I still had a right to be in the unit until tomorrow at noon! I was beyond aggrieved!

I was flabbergasted and I asked her, WHY is this date on here? when I called you the day the constable was at my house making me leave, you told me that other vacated judgement had taken affect, when really it had not, WHY did you lie? she told me she didn't lie, that it was a "mistake" and besides, it allowed me to file the motion for the supersedes bond, I told her, had I been given the original 5 days like I should have been given, I would've had plenty of time to post the supersedes bond long before the writ was executed! and I wouldn't even need to be filing this motion in the first place! I drove right back to that condo and picked the lock and went back in, because legally, I was still entitled to have legal possession of the place until noon the following day AND all of my stuff was still in there.

I was confident that the judge would allow me to post that bond and I would be back living in there until my appeal went through and I was correct, the judge granted my motion to post the supersedes bond, I posted the supersedes bond & filed a timely appeal & regained possession and all was normal again, at least for the moment. BUT...

then, when I was notified by telephone from the court that I could post the bond & regain possession pending my appeal (which was arbitrarily dismissed) I was told to pay my rent to the court from now on beginning on the 1st of next month. I was only back in my condo for 10 days when on the 1st, I called the court & requested reasonable accommodations to allow me to pay my rent over the phone with a debit card due to my disability because the PTSD gets so bad sometimes, I am afraid to leave the house and it sometimes takes a lot of preparing and psyching up for it, no way am I just able to jump up and leave, I have to get everything in order, and watch my breathing because I start to pant and get panicky when I know i have to leave the house and go out somewhere, especially on the road, it just makes me super nervous... once I get going and am in route, I relax, but it is a issue getting out that door.

So I asked if I could pay my rent over the phone with my debit card bcuz my disability check just posted 10min ago & I couldn't get down there by 5pm due to my limitations and panicking, but they denied me reasonable accommodations! so I told her I'd be there 1st thing in the morning at 8am to pay it but come 5pm they called my landlord & informed him that I hadn't paid the rent as of yet & THEN ALLOWED HIM to file a motion OVER THE PHONE to lift the stay of the writ & the writ was served again less than 24hrs later!

It should be noted that the court had called me at 3:45pm on the day they notified me that my motion had been granted and that I could post the supersedes bond but that I had to have it paid by 5pm or I couldn't regain possession, I reminded her again that I was mentally disabled & the challenges I face and need prep time to leave the house and that there was no way I could get there in an hour & I requested reasonable accommodations on this day too and asked to please allow me pay it in the morning, but they denied it.

I called legal aid, & managed to get thru & spoke to an atty who told me to call them back & insist they grant my request bcuz I am disabled & it is my right to be afforded reasonable accommodations and that I will be putting myself at great risk and danger if I try to get there in the short amount of time they gave me to get down there and finally, they granted it after begging but the court wouldn't grant me reasonable accommodations when I requested them a 2nd time due to the same issue with time constraints on getting to the courthouse by 5pm to pay my rent since my disability check just posted to my bank account moments before.

But they just refused, they didn't care that I had challenges and difficulties getting around, they think just because I don't LOOK disabled that I'm not. and when I got to the courthouse on the morning of the 2nd at 8am they refused to take my rent money and told me the stay had already been lifted the day before at 5pm when the landlord requested it over the phone after finding out I didn't pay it by 5pm. Isn't this a clear case of discrimination under the ADA's Title II?

Since I am disabled and unable to get somewhere on such short notice due to the challenges I face relating to my disability, wouldn't asking the court to allow me to pay my rent over the phone w a debit card be considered a reasonable accomodation?

What I don't understand is, they say they don't allow payments over the phone, yet, they allow a motion to be filed over the phone by my landlord? I'd think if anything they'd allow a payment over the phone with a debit card before they'd allow a motion to be filed telephonically, I mean, don't those require the plantif's signature? I know first hand when I wanted to fax a motion to a different court on a different matter, they wouldn't allow that, they said I had to file it in person or by mail. Also, after he filed the motion to lift the stay, there should've been a hearing with oral argument within 5 days on this particular type of motion and within 3 days if the original writ involved an irreparable breach, but I got nothing, but the boot.

Do I have any recourse under title II?

 

[sandyclaus]

There is no way I am going to read such a long post to answer your question.

How about making it short and sweet?

What were the requested accommodations and upon what basis were they requested?

What was the SPECIFIC reason given for the denial?

Why do you feel that the denial was improper?

Don't need a blow-by-blow, nor all the lines in between.

 

[gettup]

omg, I'm sorry it's so long. That's part of my disability, circumstantial speech disorder. Here are the facts:

After a vacated writ had been illegally served on me, I filed a motion to allow me to post a supersedes bond to regain possession during the appeal, I had to get permission because those bonds must be posted BEFORE the writ is executed, but since I had a vacated writ served, one hour after losing the hearing, I had no time to pay the bond before the writ was executed.

The motion was granted and the court called me an hour before they closed and told me I could post the supersedes bond, but if I didn't post it by 5pm, I would lose the right to post it and regain possession. Due to my disability I requested reasonable accommodations asking to let me pay it the following morning at 8am, they denied it, but after speaking to a lawyer, i called them back and begged them for the accommodation citing that I had spoke to an atty that said I was entitled to them, so they granted the reasonable accommodation and I regained possession and moved back in.

10 days later, on the 1st, my rent was due, which I now paid to the court. My disability check posted to my acct at 4:15pm leaving me 45 min to get down to the court to pay it before they closed at 5pm, but due to my disability, there's no way I would've made it by 5pm, so I called and requested reasonable accommodations again, to allow me to pay my rent over the phone with my debit card, they said no, (so they granted the reasonable accommodation the first time when I was unable to get there by 5, but wouldn't grant it the 2nd time when I wasn't able to get there by 5) so I told them I would be there in the morning at 8am to pay it, but at 5pm they called my landlord and told him I hadn't paid my rent and then allowed HIM to file a motion over the phone to lift the stay and re-execute the writ! when I got to courthouse in the morning, they refused to accept my rent, telling me when it wasn't paid by 5pm the day before, the landlord filed a motion over the phone to lift the stay.

So they wouldn't accept payment for my rent over the phone when I requested this reasonable accommodation, yet, they allowed my landlord to file a motion over the phone to lift the stay?

 

[gettup]

Maybe this is better:

What were the requested accommodations and upon what basis were they requested?

I asked to pay my rent to the court over the phone with my debit card because I have a disability that prevents me from just up and leaving on a whim, there is preparation involved before I can leave the house, and since my disability check didn't post to my acct until 4:15 on the 1st, there was no way I could make it down to the court to pay it by 5pm

What was the SPECIFIC reason given for the denial?

They don't allow payments to be made over the phone with a debit card

Why do you feel that the denial was improper?

Because 45 min later, they allowed the landlord to file a motion OVER THE PHONE to lift the stay, which is not allowed either, but they wouldn't allow me to pay my rent over the phone, even though my disability prevented me from getting there in person by 5pm to pay it.

Thank you for your help

 

[Proserpina]

There is no way I am going to read such a long post to answer your question.

How about making it short and sweet?

What were the requested accommodations and upon what basis were they requested?

What was the SPECIFIC reason given for the denial?

Why do you feel that the denial was improper?

Don't need a blow-by-blow, nor all the lines in between.

(In all honesty, I'm not seeing a case here at all)

 

[sandyclaus]

(In all honesty, I'm not seeing a case here at all)

I'm not either.

From what I could surmise from my quick skim, I got that the OP was upset because no one wanted to extend their time to pay rent before getting evicted from their home. Their claim is that their PTSD was keeping them from getting where they needed to in order to get the payment to whomever it needed to get to.

Sorry, but when there's a will, there's a way. If OP was too "sick" to do it, then have someone else do it. But a deadline is there for a reason. If you can't meet a deadline like this, you'd better be dead or laid up in the hospital, and have absolutely no one in the world who could do things for you.

 

[ecmst12]

my disability check didn't post to my acct until 4:15 on the 1st

You wanted an extension to pay your rent because you DIDN'T HAVE THE MONEY. This has nothing to do with your condition and is not an accomodation for your disability.

 

[Proserpina]

I'm not either.

From what I could surmise from my quick skim, I got that the OP was upset because no one wanted to extend their time to pay rent before getting evicted from their home. Their claim is that their PTSD was keeping them from getting where they needed to in order to get the payment to whomever it needed to get to.

Sorry, but when there's a will, there's a way. If OP was too "sick" to do it, then have someone else do it. But a deadline is there for a reason. If you can't meet a deadline like this, you'd better be dead or laid up in the hospital, and have absolutely no one in the world who could do things for you.

That's pretty much how I'm seeing it, too.

 

[cbg]

I don't think the OP understands what is meant by a reasonable accomodation and when it is required. Not every entity has the ability or equipment to take a debit card over the phone and the refusal to do so at the drop of a hat is hardly a violation of the ADA.

 

[gettup]

Thanks to all who replied, I appreciate it.

Someone said I wanted an extension because I didn't have the money. I was trying to pay it with my debit card, which means I did too have the money.

The thing is Arizona Revised Statutes regarding paying rent to the court states:

A.R.S. § 12-1179 The tenant shall pay to the justice court, the amount of rent due, on or before each periodic rental due date during the pendency of the appeal under the terms of the lease or rental agreement.

Ok, the rental agreement I signed states my rent is due on the 3rd of each month, since my disability check is paid on or before the 3rd, but usually posts on the first, but so I wouldn't accrue late fees in case it didn't come on the first, since technically they had til the third, my landlord stipulated in the rental agreement that my rental due date was the third.

But the court disregarded what the statute states and told me I had to pay it on the first, which I contested but they demanded it be paid on the first. Since my check usually comes on the first, I thought I would be able to pay it on the first, but when it didn't post to my account until 4:15pm, due to my DISABILITY, there was no way I could get to the court by 5pm and since legally, according to the statutes, I shouldn't of had to pay my rent to the court til the third, because that was in the rental agreement with the landlord, but they refused to honor that, I asked for a reasonable accommodation to allow me to pay it over the phone with my debit card. Nowhere did I state I didn't have the money. They ARE equipped to take payments over the phone with a debit card because they do so for payments on traffic tickets and ecourt filing fees, so they DO have the means of accepting payments over the phone, not only that, I called another justice court in the same building, same county, just the next city over and asked them if they took rental payments over the phone from tenants who have posted a supersedes bond and remaining in the unit pending appeal that pay their rent to the court and THEY said they would ask, they put me on hold and came back on the phone and said yes, they would allow that. I asked them if they normally allow it and they said there was no automated system in place to take payments over the phone but that they would run the card manually, in other words, they were willing to make an exception for anybody, not just someone requesting reasonable accommodations, so why couldn't the justice court my case was in afford me that accommodation, since my reason for not being able to pay it in person was directly related to my disability?

It wasn't like I didn't have a ride, or didn't have the money, and like I said, they afforded them to me before when I was in this same exact situation. They called me at 3:45pm, an hour before they closed to tell me to come pay the supersedes bond by 5pm. Although they initially denied my request, they eventually granted it after I told them I spoke to an atty who told me to call back and insist. So they granted reasonable accommodations since my disability prevented me from getting down there in an hour, so when I only had 45 min to get down there on the first, I thought for sure since they granted it last time, they would grant it this time.

What really seems unfair is, they don't allow motions to be filed over the phone either, but they allowed my landlord to file the motion to lift the stay over the phone, but wouldn't allow me to pay my rent over the phone, when the other justice court in the same building said that they would allow it if my case was in their court.

The fact that my rent wasn't due until the third under the terms of my rental agreement and the statute states that it should be paid to the court under those same terms, but I was denied paying it on the third seems to me there should be some kind of recourse. I should've never been evicted in the first place, the writ that was served on me had been vacated.

 

[sandyclaus]

Let me ask a question to clarify something:

Did the rental agreement state that rent was DUE on the 3rd?
Or did the agreement say that rent was DUE on the 1st of the month, but gave you a grace period until the 3rd of the month before a late fee would be applied?

(The answers are important.)

 

[gettup]

Let me ask a question to clarify something:

Did the rental agreement state that rent was DUE on the 3rd?
Or did the agreement say that rent was DUE on the 1st of the month, but gave you a grace period until the 3rd of the month before a late fee would be applied?

(The answers are important.)

Hi. Thank you for your reply.

It states on the fourth actually. I just looked at it.

When I first moved in, I disclosed my disability to the landlord and told him I had a fear of leaving the house, but I force myself to do it but if he could pick up the rent and HOA fee from me every month, instead of me having to
drive to do it, would help me imensely. Mailing it wasn't an option for the HOA fee because it was due on the 5th and If my check didn't come til the third (sometimes it comes on the third, sometimes the second, but usually on the first, but not always) I didn't want to have to pay a late fee.

So the landlord wrote this in my lease, and this is verbatim:

"write a check and I will come by and get the check, put it in an envelope with one of the payment stubs out of the book I gave you and I'll take care of the rest. (getting it over to the HOA) Each month on the 4th you can pay the rent and write a separate check for the HOA and I'll take it over to them. The rent will be considered late after the 5th and a late fee will apply."

 

[gettup]

Also, this is WHY I wrote such a long post, it explains how I was treated.

At the very beginning of my post I stated, "as it is a MAJOR issue with the Justice Court that handled the eviction proceedings. I am not exaggerating here when I tell this story, & actually, I am just touching the surface, there was so much more blatant, & what would seem to me to be unlawful, unfair treatment & a violation of my rights.

Now if the reasonable accommodation denial wasn't a violation of my rights as a disabled person, then is THIS discrimination: (I swear, this is the truth & it's gotta be on the court's transcripts since everything is recorded)

After the court clerk told me her ill treatment of me was because I interrupted her & talked too much & didn't listen, I told her that it was due to my disability & I showed her a medical document that states my condition under the DSM Diagnosis:

Mental Status Exam:

Appearance: The patient consistently presents appropriately dressed and groomed.
Mood: Generally euthymic, although sometimes dysphoric.
Affect: Congruent
Speech: Fast and pressured, but of normal prosody.
The patient also has marked impulsivity and impairment in judgement and executive functioning. She attempts to cooperate with interview, but her impulsive & pressured, circumstantial speech often interfere. This has led to problems such as speaking out of turn or being able to refrain from speaking out of turn in the courtroom & being held in contempt of court during the weeks of her trial. (having viewed this behavior in my office during session, I strongly feel that it is directly related to her mental illness, rather than being characterolgic). It was also likely contributory in her decision to display an inoperable, unloaded handgun to scare away the man who stalked her when he was parked across the street from her house watching her while she worked in her front yard, resulting in her being charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon when she called the police for help (because the man had taken it from her) resulting in a trial in which she struggled to conform to courtroom etiquette, ultimately being charged with contempt in the courtroom.
Thought process: severely circumstantial
Thought content: No apparent delusionality
Cognition/Memory: No apparent deficits
Insight/Judgment: The patient has some deficit in judgement as indicated by her behavior in the courtroom. Although I have not detailed her ADHD here, she has severe symptoms of both inattention and hyperactivity (combined type) which also contributes to her speech deficit.

Ok, so when the court clerk told me she didn't like me because of my excessive talking, not listening & interrupting, i showed her this statement from my doctor & apologized (as I stated in my original post)

after reading it, SHE then told me that I better not behave this way in the courtroom during my rescheduled hearing because the judge will dismiss me or rule against me. (Isn't THAT discrimination?)

Ok, THAT scared me, because as my Dr. stated, it's not characterologic, it's directly related to my mental illness, & I was worried about the judge getting pissed off at me if I spoke out of turn or spoke circumstantially, or any of my speech disorder traits showed up in the courtroom, so when the hearing began, she turned to me & asked me if the allegations made by my landlord were true, & before saying anything, I disclosed my speech impairment to her in open court & asked her to please bear with me if my speech disorder interferes & I would try my best to not let it.

The judge immediately said, "well you're not going to be saying too much & I'm not going to let you speak unless I ask you to, are the allegations true or not?"

I stated "no" they were not, but was compelled to explain WHY, but I refrained & it was difficult. Then my landlord started telling his side of the story & after he was done, she turned to me & asked, "Is this true?" & I couldn't just answer yes or no, it required an explanation to justify my answer, & I said, "yes, BUT..." & she stopped me & said "YES or NO?" I couldn't refrain, so I said, "No, i DID pay it, but he failed to inform me that payment had been returned & since i didn't write the check, (my ex sister-in-law wrote it) there was no way for me to have known it was returned, so that I could've remedied it." I proceeded to say, "Your Honor, there's a lot more going on here than just this payment, the AC in the condo broke & he didn't want to fix it &....

She cut me off right there and said, "There will be no speaking on any subject other than this payment. If it has nothing to do with the payment, you can't talk about it, & if you attempt to talk about it, I will put you in jail for contempt! now, was this payment made or not?"

I replied, "Yes."

She turns to the landlord and says, "She said the payment was made, was it?"

and instead of answering THAT question, he proceeds to say exactly what I just said but worded it differently! he said, "Your Honor, it runs much deeper than just this payment, the AC broke & I am in no position to fix it..." & proceeds to speak at great length about the AC & that I replaced it with a stolen one! she did nothing to interrupt him or tell him he could not speak about anything other than the payment like she did to me, & when he said I replaced it with a stolen air conditioner, I held up the receipt for the AC I had bought from my previous landlord & said "I HAVE THE RECEIPT! IT IS NOT STOLEN!"

the judge immediately said to me, "I don't need to hear anymore, your landlord has met his burden of proof, the judgement is for the plaintiff"

She didn't look at my receipt for the AC, she didn't look at the receipt I had showing the payment WAS in fact made, she didn't take into consideration that I was never given a 5 day notice, and that my landlord notified me of the eviction via text message which I took screen shots of from my iphone and printed them out and submitted them to the court when I filed my answer! she didn't look at the fact that I was never properly served the summons, and that he filed for the eviction knowing damn well I was out of town and wouldn't be served and instead, taped the summons to my door! If I didn't come home early from Flaggstaff, I would've missed the hearing. She didn't take into consideration that I had a letter from him in writing telling me he was no longer charging me rent as of August 1st, yet, in his summons, it stated I failed to pay Augusts rent!

I disclosed my speech disorder to her, and she held it against me and didn't let me speak because of it, yet, she allowed the landlord to speak at great length on the same exact subject she banned me from speaking on, even threatening to hold me in contempt if I did!

This is ALL on the taped proceedings, but I am afraid to request the transcripts thinking they may try to tell me there isn't one, because they know they did me dirty and might try to hide the evidence, just like they did when they served the vacated writ! The clerk eventually came forward with the REAL writ that showed I didn't have to be out until the 10th and it was only the 9th, yet, I was removed 4 days earlier!

They dismissed my appeal, stating it had no merit, when the whole eviction was riddled with illegal actions, it was FULL of merit! but they had no right to dismiss it! it's not up to them to decide that, it's up to the higher court! When I filed my timely appeal, I tried to get the transcript from them to send to the superior court with my brief but I never got it, when I asked for it again, that's when they dismissed my appeal! it states:

12-1180. Stay of proceedings on judgment; record on appeal

When the appeal bond is filed and approved, the justice of the peace shall stay further proceedings on the judgment and immediately prepare a list of all entries on the justice's docket in the action and transmit it, together with all the original papers, to the clerk of the superior court of the county in which the trial was had.

Even though it says the court is supposed to transmit it to the superior court, they didn't do it, the clerk told me I had to do it, but when I asked for the transcripts, I didn't get them, they just dismissed my appeal

Also, I got no hearing after the landlord filed the motion to lift the stay over the phone! even though the rules for eviction under appeals in the Arizona Revised Statutes states under 17B A.R.S. Rules of Procedure for Eviction Actions Rule 17. Appeals, states:

"In the event that a defendant remaining in possession pending appeal subsequently breaches an appeal condition imposed by the court, the plaintiff may file a motion to lift the stay, and the court shall conduct a hearing within three days"

BUT 12-1179 A.R.S. states:

If during the pendency of the appeal the party seeking to stay the execution of the judgment for possession fails to pay the rent on the periodic rental due date, the plaintiff may file a motion in the justice court to lift the stay of the execution of the judgment for possession. The justice court shall hear the motion within five court days from the failure of the party to pay the periodic rent due under the terms of the lease or rental agreement. If the judgment appealed from involves a finding of a material and irreparable breach the justice court shall treat it as an emergency matter and conduct a hearing within three days.

Nevertheless, no hearing on the motion was given, they just executed the writ!

 

[sandyclaus]

If your disability was so severe, then you should have had an attorney represent you in court. If you were qualified as low-income and disabled, that probably could have gotten you a legal aid attorney in most situations.

Otherwise, if you proceeded, knowing that you were unable to properly represent your case, then the court did what it was required to in your situation.

There is still nothing that you have said that distinctly qualifies as failure to accommodate your disability for the purpose of this eviction. But if you insist there is, then you could contact legal aid now, or the ACLU or ADA, and see if someone there is willing to take your case on appeal and fight the battle for you. (I'm thinking they probably won't.)