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Haven't we all at some time in our lives tried to dance with a new partner who seems to be cha-cha-ing to our fox trot? The embarrassment alone is often more memorable than the pain of stubbed toes and bruised shins. Yet if the partner is one just met at the local disco and never seen again, the embarrassment will often fade within hours. Great black ominous clouds loom for the parties, however, when the partner is one's new spouse and it's the wedding dance. read more...

What if I have signed a “Guaranty” for someone on the debt or they have signed one for my debt? read more...

What is “waste” and how does a borrower become liable for it? read more...

What is a “deficiency judgment”? read more...

All FAQ listings read more...

What is a “non-judicial foreclosure”? read more...

What happens if I go into foreclosure on my mortgage or trust deed? read more...

What is “judicial foreclosure”? read more...

The Great Arizona Mold and Mildew Battle continues to rage! As the dark forces of fungus amass at the borders of our homes, schools and businesses, menacing our families, our investments and ourselves, the public forces arrayed for our protection have leaped into action, mobilized huge bureaucratic armies, cranked up powerful and heretofore unknown technologies and assembled into formation an imposing lobby of armament. read more...

...(it)can be heard from just about every drafter or “planner” concocting residential construction plans in Arizona when asked to prove that they are, indeed, the architect or engineer they purport to be. They not only have no such scholastic attainment, but, in Arizona, they don’t even have to have a license or registration (let alone talent!) to dictate every engineering and construction aspect as to how your home will be built! That’s what I said. The fact is, under Arizona law, dominated and dumbed-down as few others in this country by an anti-consumer construction lobby and it’s well-greased legislative lackeys, anyone—a child, and illiterate, a felon, a crazy person or someone “who took some drafting in high school!”—can legally design and engineer your home. And if was built after the 70’s, one probably did. read more...

There are two hundred thousand different molds and fungi. They have been present on this planet for 3 billion years, and certainly, many of us love our blue cheese. Most molds are quite harmless, aside from their tendency to induce allergies in those of us who are prone to develop allergies in the first place. read more...

I don't think there is a Residential CC&R, A Subdivider's Declaration, a set of Homeowner's Association Rules or a Landlord's Regulation sheet that doesn't prohibit the homeowner or tenant from installing outside or visible telecommunication antennas, discs, dishes, reception systems, or related structures and wiring at his structure at least some how and in some way. I also don't think there is a law firm in town that doesn't put these "aesthetic" restrictions in when they draft these kind of documents, or a homeowner's architectural committee or a landlord that wouldn't order an offending homeowner or tenant to tear down an offending installation in a heartbeat after the discovery of it. read more...

...it's been a cacophony of horror since 911. Certainly not the kind of climate that would encourage anyone in their right mind to "rebuild" by taking what's left of their money from the safety of their mattress and putting it and their welfare defenselessly at risk in a sociopolitical "calm" that looks more and more like the eye of an economic hurricane. read more...

What happens if I go into foreclosure on my mortgage or trust deed? read more...

Okay. So it's 4:30 p.m. on a Friday and you just learned that the seller is going to renege on what you consider to be an iron-clad Purchase Agreement and is going to sell to someone else this weekend. Visions of how to advise your thoroughly outraged buyer (who will likely blame you if this happens) and, without this really big commission, how to cope with your consequently defaulted alimony payments dance most unpleasantly in your head. Now what? read more...

...most e-commerce in real estate as it is currently conducted is either illegal, unenforceable, or on such "fuzzy"' legal grounds as to be positively spooky! That's what I said! "Going global"--leaving your state of licensure and substantive law--which is precisely what you do in fact when you e-lectrify your real estate practice, carries with it both terrific market promises...and some truly awesome new legal challenges and ramifications. read more...

In August 2001, the Arizona Department if Health Services published a "Fact Sheet" (the "fact sheet") which purported to entirely explain structural molds and how to deal with them. The fact sheet provides a lot of reasonable general information for a rudimentary understanding by the average homeowner. Unfortunately, is misleads them by suggesting that they have the knowledge, training and equipment to properly detect, evaluate and remediate a mold infestation and resultant damage. Molds seem generally to be explained and the threshold range of allergic responses are suggested, but the greater allergenic results of long-term exposure... read more...

It's the damndest, most unsavory secret in the country, but I think it's time to stop the nay-saying and get down to the brass tacks. No, it's not Bush's questionable military service or Kerry's uncolorful anti-war protesting. It's not even Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan's remarkable recent proposal that the nation "save money" by turning the clocks back to 1933 and "wind down Social Security," just as the major depositors to it--the Boomers--are cuing up to draw on their trillion-dollar deposits. read more...

As far as the anthropologists can figure, mankind has been building homes... for just a tad over 250,000 years. read more...

"...By golly, it's just going to be another one of those 'character building days' in real estate..." read more...

The mission of the Arizona Registrar of Contractors is to promote quality construction through a regulatory system designed to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public. read more...

"If you don't heed the adverse circumstances piling up against you, you need not fear them." read more...

CHLOROPYRIFOS COMPOUNDS! read more...

It's like cockroaches! Stomp on one and fifty more scurry about from crevices and crannies. read more...

There is an ugly political fight shaping up lately in the Arizona professional real estate community and it is one that ought to be watched closely and understood thoroughly by the rest of us, since the side which is ultimately designated as "winner" or "loser" in this one is going to have a lot of influence upon how we ply our trade for the next decade or beyond. read more...

What about refinances of a loan that was originally a non-deficiency loan? read more...

Sinking foundations, cracked and buckled walls and uneven floors are serious problems commonly faced annually by millions of homeowners who have homes situated on unstable soils which settle when their foundations are subjected to extreme moisture conditions, read more...

What are "expansive soils"? What damages do "expansive soils" cause when not properly accommodated or remedied before building? How can I tell when this is happening? How severe can the damages be? Will a post-tensioned slab prevent this? What are some of the building solutions with expansive soil? So what is the best scenario to avoid these issues? read more...

ARS 32-1154 (the licensing statute for builders) states that a construction licensee "shall not commit" any of an enumerated series of acts or omissions. One enumerated "act or omissions" is at "1. Abandonment of a contract or refusal to perform after submitting a bid without legal excuse for the abandonment or refusal (see the only legal excuses set forth by statute below). read more...

Can a Builder, after entering into a sale contract by which he agrees to build and deliver a specific home to a Buyer (for which the Buyer is bound by the contract to pay) read more...

Is it true that the builder who builds a new home or remodels or repairs a home only has to stand behind his or her work for only two years in Arizona? read more...

Such warranties run with the property such that direct contractual privity is not required to maintain an action against a builder vendor of a home for a breach of implied warranty of workmanship and habitability in a claim for a defective, latent conditions Richards, id. read more...

Is it a fact that the builder owes warranties to me against construction defects or failure even if these are NOT stated in the contract I have with him? read more...

Are there more defenses for the debtor in debt-collection actions or is the debtor (residential or commercial loan) strictly limited to what is in the foreclosure statutes read more...

Are there other ramifications for a failure to pay a debt? read more...

What if I have signed a “Guaranty” for someone on the debt or they have signed one for my debt? read more...

Is there any other way a creditor could claim against a debtor on a trust deed or mortgage? read more...

This rule will not apply if the debtor has allowed the property to be wasted by such things as his own bad maintenance, read more...

Are there any other rules affecting the creditor or debtor in foreclosure? read more...

For either of the anti-deficiency statutes to apply, the mortgage or deed of trust must be secured by real property that read more...

What loans qualify for non-deficiency treatment? read more...

What is a “deficiency judgment”? read more...

Explain the different remedies for a loan default, please? read more...

What happens if I go into foreclosure on my mortgage or trust deed? read more...

Are there any other rules affecting the creditor or debtor in foreclosure? read more...

What is “waste” and how does a borrower become liable for it? read more...

Trustee’s non-judicial foreclosure require that the creditor file with the county recorder a notice of the breach and foreclosure and election to sell not less than 120 days prior to the scheduled sale date. read more...

What is a “deficiency judgment” and what foreclosures generate them? read more...

What is “judicial foreclosure”? read more...

• doors that stick and squeak • separation of door sills from frames • windows that stick. raise and lower the windows in each room, open and close all doors. do they fit squarely without binding? read more...

So unless the loan meets the above qualifications, a deficiency is possible? read more...