A recent Maricopa County Superior Court ruling delivers important clarity for Arizona landlords and property managers navigating eviction actions involving federally backed properties. In recent appellate ruling in Acacia Heights II, LLC v. Faulmann, the Maricopa County Superior Court held that the CARES Act’s 30-day notice requirement for matters relating to non-payment of rent does not apply to rent defaults occurring after the expiration of the CARES Act’s 120-day eviction moratorium period.

Background

The case arose from a tenant’s challenge to an eviction action filed less than 30 days after service of a nonpayment notice. The tenant argued that the CARES Act required landlords of covered properties to wait 30 days before initiating eviction proceedings. The landlord countered that the statute only restricts when a tenant can be required to vacate—not when an eviction action may be filed. In its ruling, the Court focused on the applicability of the CARES Act rather than the limited arguments as to the timing of when a landlord may commence an eviction for a non-payment of rent matter arising at a CARES Act covered property.

The Court’s Analysis

The Court focused on the statutory structure of 15 U.S.C. § 9058, emphasizing that subsection (c)’s 30-day notice provision must be read in conjunction with subsection (b), which established a temporary 120-day moratorium beginning March 27, 2020. Reading the statute as a whole, the court concluded that:

• The CARES Act was intended as temporary emergency legislation, not a permanent overlay on state eviction law.
• The 30-day notice requirement applies only to rent defaults arising during the 120-day moratorium period.
• Extending the requirement beyond that timeframe would improperly convert a temporary federal measure into a lasting intrusion on state landlord-tenant law.

The Court found persuasive authority from other jurisdictions, particularly the Iowa Supreme Court, which had reached the same conclusion. The Court expressly rejected broader interpretations that would apply the 30-day notice requirement indefinitely, an argument that tenant advocates have been arguing for long after the expiration of the eviction moratorium.

Practical Impact

This ruling is significant for landlords and property managers in Maricopa County:

• No mandatory 30-day delay before filing eviction actions for post-moratorium nonpayment cases involving CARES-covered properties.
• Landlords may resume using the regular statutory 5-day non-payment of rent notice as opposed to the CARES Act notice.
• The CARES Act no longer provides a viable defense based solely on timing of eviction filings for modern rent defaults.
• Arizona courts may continue trending toward limiting CARES Act applicability to its original pandemic-era scope.

For eviction actions filed today, the CARES Act’s notice provisions are not a blanket procedural hurdle. Instead, their applicability is narrowly confined to a specific historical window tied to the COVID-19 moratorium. Landlords should still evaluate property status and notice practices carefully, but this decision removes a commonly asserted—and often misunderstood—defense and procedural delay to the execution of the writ of restitution.