For a good part of this pandemic, there has not been much help for the landlords of Arizona, though, they are equally suffering the weight of the financial burden of the COVID pandemic as their tenants. Starting last Wednesday, Governor Ducey announced that he will free up $5 million dollars for the Rental Property Owner Preservation Fund for financial assistance for the landlords of Arizona. CIMA Law Group will explain what it entails to get assistance from the relief funds and summarize how landlords feel about this.
Governor Doucey stipulates The Rental Property Owner Preservation Fund will have help landlords with funds around $5 million, with each landlord eligible to receive up to $50,000. There’s also a cap at five months of rental income up to $2,000 per month per unit. To access such found the landlord must:
- small rental property owners, owning up to five single-family properties or up to twenty total units in a multi-family property;
- large rental property owners, owning more than five single-family properties or more than twenty total units in a multi-family property;
- and whose tenants have not paid rent or have not received rental assistance for the months in the unit for which they are seeking funding.
The biggest thing to note as well the property does not need to be at risk of foreclosure for a landlord to qualify for assistance. However, many landlords believe $5 million is not enough funds for the landlords of Arizona and that many will lose millions in the process. A property owner from Mesa who has two properties asked for a $50,000 loan and stated that even if they do not get paid by their tenants, landlords like himself still have liabilities, still have loans to pay, have insurance, as well have their own payroll and still they will need to maintain the property.
Recently many landlords such as The Arizona Multihousing Association, Manufactured Housing Communities of Arizona, and several rental housing owners filed the special action on Wednesday against Governor Ducey for this eviction moratorium citing unconstitutional act by him.The Arizona Multi-housing Association as well indicated that Arizona assistance system has not been beneficial for both tenants and landlords as the funding has received more than 20,000 requests for nearly $11 million in assistance for renters and property owners since April, but only 7% of those applications have been approved. Less than $2 million has been deployed. As well The AMA President LeVinus said “The eviction moratorium has created a rent holiday for thousands of renters, while property owners still have a mortgage and taxes and bills to pay – including utility bills for many residents who are paying no rent,”.
CIMA Law Group Blog 