On September 4, 2009, Governor Janice Brewer signed into law House Bill 2008, which repealed the previous change (SB 1271) regarding Arizona’s deficiency law.  SB 1271, which was previously signed into law amending A.R.S. § 33-814, permitted a lender to pursue a homeowner for the deficiency after a trustee sale, if the homeowner was unable to demonstrate that they had “utilized” the property for 6 consecutive months.  It was thought that this statute allowed lenders to pursue investors who lost homes to foreclosure.  We received countless emails and telephone calls from our investor clients concerned as to whether they would be subject to suit by their lender for deficiency judgments. 

On September 4, 2009 Governor Brewer signed HB 2008, which repealed SB 1271, thus returning the anti-deficiency statute to its previous language.  The relevant statute no longer has the requirement that the homeowner have “utilized” the property for six months before they can obtain the statutory protection.