Gerald A. Williams
Arizona Bar No. 018947
North Valley Justice Court
14264 West Tierra Buena Lane
Surprise, AZ 85274

The Maricopa County Justice Court bench respectfully requests this Court reject the proposed amendments to Rule 11(d)(1) and to 18(d) of the Rules of Procedure for Eviction Actions.

Comment in support of R-25-0020 on behalf of:

Samuel A. Thumma
Chair, Arizona Commission on Access to Justice
Judge, Arizona Court of Appeals
Division One
State Courts Building
1501 West Washington Street
Phoenix, AZ 85007-3329
Telephone: (602) 452-6700

Katherine Henrichs
AZ Bar No. 035928
Disability Rights Arizona
4539 E. Ft. Lowell Rd.
Tucson, AZ 85712
520-327-9547
[email protected]
www.disabilityrightsaz.org

Disability Rights Arizona respectfully requests this Court adopt the proposed amendments to Rules 11(d) and 18(d) of the Rules of Procedure for Eviction Actions.

Hull, Holliday & Holliday PLC, Attorneys for Commenting Party
7150 N 16th Street
Phoenix, Arizona 85020
(602) 230-0088

Denise Holliday
Bar Number: 017275
[email protected]


Judy Drickey-Prohow
Bar Number: 005796
[email protected]

Comment of the State Bar of Arizona

Lisa M. Panahi
Bar No. 023421
State Bar of Arizona
4201 N. 24th Street, Suite 100
Phoenix, AZ 85016-6288
(602) 340-7236
[email protected]
[email protected]

Keally L. Cieslik, AZ Bar No. 038984
Organized Power in Numbers, a fiscally sponsored project of Working Families Organization
100 N Howard Street, Suite #400
Spokane, WA 99201-0508
(508) 250-0518
[email protected]

Organized Power in Numbers ("OPIN") hereby respectfully submits this Comment in support of the Petition to amend Rule 11(d) and 18(d) of the Arizona Rules of Procedure for Eviction Actions.

Zona Law Group P.C., attorneys for Commenting Party Manufactured Housing Communities of Arizona
7701 E. Indian School Rd.
Suite J
Scottsdale, AZ 85251
(480) 949-1400
Scott A. Baluha
[email protected]
Bar Number: 029957

Charles Lucking
AZ Bar No. 031964
Barton Mendez Soto PLLC
401 W Baseline Rd Suite 205,
Tempe, AZ 85283
(480) 418-0668
[email protected]

Commenting Party, Charles Lucking, hereby submits this comment in support of Petition R-25-0020 based on the need to provide tenants with adequate due process. Commenting Party represents tenants and in that capacity experiences the difficulties and obstacles with speedy eviction process.

Tenants have little time to seek legal advice and prepare their case after notice of the eviction action. Take for instance an eviction action for an alleged irreparable breach. The tenant has even less time to prepare for trial, yet this is a situation that calls for a greater need to gather evidence–witnesses and documents. The tenant is left with no time to obtain and issue a subpoena if needed. This leaves the tenant with only his testimony to defend against accusations that the landlord has made. Under these circumstances, due process demands a continuance.
Additionally, as shown by the MIJ study, landlords are granted continuances at a disproportionately higher rate than tenants. (Pet. at 6.) Tenants’ need for continuances arise from the inability to take time off from work with the short notice provided in eviction proceedings. They frequently take time off of work to attend their hearing only to have the plaintiff request and be granted a continuance, requiring the tenant to have to take more time off work for a second scheduled hearing. At the same time, when a tenant is unable to make the first hearing due to a health emergency, an ADA need, an employment scheduling conflict, or any other number of reasonable circumstances, there are no protections in the law to accommodate them and these requests for continuances are almost always denied.
These proposed changes would provide an opportunity for due process and allow tenants to utilize a continuance when justice requires. We encourage the Court to strongly consider accepting these changes.

Attached, please find Petitioners' Reply to Comments in Arizona Supreme Court File No. R-25-0020.

Respectfully filed and submitted on this 2nd day of June 2025.

WILLIAM E. MORRIS INSTITUTE FOR JUSTICE jointly and on behalf of COMMUNITY LEGAL SERVICES, DNA PEOPLE'S LEGAL SERVICES, and SOUTHERN ARIZONA LEGAL AID

ANDREW P. SCHAFFER, AZ Bar. No. 037352
BRENDA MUÑOZ FURNISH, AZ Bar. No. 027280
MICHELLE J. SIMPSON, AZ Bar. No. 020199
WILLIAM E. MORRIS INSTITUTE FOR JUSTICE
3707 North Seventh Street, Suite 101
Phoenix, Arizona 85014-5095
(602) 252-3432
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]