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Arizona eviction

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flamingstar2

Guest
Please help!!! I was given a '5-day pay or quit' notice by my landlord today. I am late on paying the rent which was due 09/15/00. However, I had a verbal agreement with him to pay the rent plus late charges when I got my paycheck the first week of October.

He called me at work today and asked if he would be receiving the rent today. I told him that I had not been paid yet, but I would tell my boss that I needed it today and would be over to pay it. As soon as I hung up, he called my work and told the receptionist that he was my landlord and I had told him that I hadn't been payed yet, and was that true or was I making it up. She said that I had not been paid yet and then told me that he called. I immediately called him back on his cell phone and told that I didn't appreciate being called a liar. His response was that he didn't call me a liar, he just called to see if I was telling the truth. I ended the call and hung up. He called me back 5 minutes later and said, 'you're right, I shouldn't have called your work, what I should have done was give you an eviction letter two weeks ago. I'll be there in 5 minutes, meet me out side, I don't want to have to embarrass you in your work.' He came and gave me the notice and told me that he will be out on Monday and that he wants me gone by than.

What I need to know is this, the notice says 'pay or quit' by 10/8/00. I can't afford to move right now, we had already agreed that I would move out by 02/15/01. If I try to pay him now, does he have to accept the rent or can he refuse it and evict me? If he refuses the rent, does he have to serve me with another notice, filed through court? What exactly are my rights?

 


HomeGuru

Senior Member
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by flamingstar2:
Please help!!! I was given a '5-day pay or quit' notice by my landlord today. I am late on paying the rent which was due 09/15/00. However, I had a verbal agreement with him to pay the rent plus late charges when I got my paycheck the first week of October.

He called me at work today and asked if he would be receiving the rent today. I told him that I had not been paid yet, but I would tell my boss that I needed it today and would be over to pay it. As soon as I hung up, he called my work and told the receptionist that he was my landlord and I had told him that I hadn't been payed yet, and was that true or was I making it up. She said that I had not been paid yet and then told me that he called. I immediately called him back on his cell phone and told that I didn't appreciate being called a liar. His response was that he didn't call me a liar, he just called to see if I was telling the truth. I ended the call and hung up. He called me back 5 minutes later and said, 'you're right, I shouldn't have called your work, what I should have done was give you an eviction letter two weeks ago. I'll be there in 5 minutes, meet me out side, I don't want to have to embarrass you in your work.' He came and gave me the notice and told me that he will be out on Monday and that he wants me gone by than.

What I need to know is this, the notice says 'pay or quit' by 10/8/00. I can't afford to move right now, we had already agreed that I would move out by 02/15/01. If I try to pay him now, does he have to accept the rent or can he refuse it and evict me? If he refuses the rent, does he have to serve me with another notice, filed through court? What exactly are my rights?

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

You should pay him. He needs a court order to evict you. He does not have to accept the rent but would be to his advantage to do so.
 
T

Tracey

Guest
He does have to accept the rent & late fees. If you pay the entire amount before he files in court, he has no cause to evict you. Get a cashier's check for the rent & late fees & have *a friend* send it to him by certified mail/overnight (or have *a friend* hand deliver it). The reason you have someone else mail the thing/deliver it is so they can file an Affidavit of Service showing that he received the check on x/x/xx, which was before the 5 days was up. They can also testify that he refused to accept payment. This blows his case out of the water & the court will force him to pay your attorney fees.

By the way, L calling your workplace to verify that you hadn't been paid yet violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. [15 USC 1692] Sections 1692b/c say that L can't contact third parties except to 'verify location information' & can't say you owe money. Asking if you've been paid yet is illegal. Under 1692k, he is liable to you for actual damages + punitive damages up to $1,000. However, if he can show that the violation was not intentional, he gets off. I don't recommend you actually sue him under the FDCPA, but you can reference the laws & point out that you *could* sue him. This may put the fear of god into him. On the other hand, it will make him your enemy forever. (But maybe he already is!)

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This is not legal advice and you are not my client. Double check everything with your own attorney and your state's laws.

[This message has been edited by Tracey (edited October 04, 2000).]
 

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