By Christina Sampson | InMaricopa.com
Rep. Steve Smith, R-Maricopa, has sponsored a bill requiring property owners to notify tenants if the property is being foreclosed or sold, one of three bills he sponsored working their way through the Legislature.
“This bill came from many of my constituents,” Smith said during a Feb. 7 committee on reform and human services hearing.
Smith said when Maricopa was hit by the housing crash, many renters abruptly found themselves required to move with little or no notice.
“Lots of times these people would get a letter on their door saying, ‘Non-payment, foreclosed, get out,’ and they had no idea,” Smith said.
A proposed amendment to the bill, written by Rep. Sally Ann Gonzalez, D-Guadalupe, would require notification within five days of receiving notice of foreclosure or trustee sale, a time limit with which Smith agrees.
