Officials work together to ease process of evictions
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There are no winners in an eviction case. It’s really true. ...I try to make them realize that they are going to move on from this and they are going to be OK.”
Serene classical music pours out of the confines of car speakers on a Chevy Impala on a regular Wednesday afternoon.
Outside, the scene can be hectic and dangerous.
Over the Motorola radio, a call comes in that a elderly resident had been hit by a truck in the Fry’s parking lot. A look of uneasiness and stress appears on the face of Mike Branham, presiding constable for Maricopa County.
Branham has heard and seen a lot over his 48-year law enforcement career that began in January 1974 with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.
“(The music) helps me continue to focus on what I’m doing,” Branham said. It helps me relax.”
Now, Branham, who was elected to his Arrowhead constable position in 2018, examines his daily case log as part of his duties to help serve orders that come from the justice courts in the state.
Court orders can range from seizing property to serving arrest warrants.
“No two days are alike,” Branham said. “That’s one of the reasons I was attracted to it. Every day is a different day.”
Some duties include eviction orders — where tenants are told they cannot live in their home anymore and are forced to go elsewhere — typically because they haven’t been current on their rent.
By the numbers
Evictions are an everyday occurrence in Maricopa County, which because of its size often has a rate among the highest in the nation.
Knowledge Exchange for Resilience at Arizona State University released a report saying “Maricopa County leads the nation in evictions, boasting a rate of nearly twice the national average” and said Arizona has among “the highest housing loss rates” in the country, the July 2021 report said.
But Scott Davis, spokesman for Maricopa County Justice Courts, said eviction data included in the report might be incomplete since not all county jurisdictions make its data public.
For 2021, there were 41,466 eviction filings in Maricopa County — much lower than pre-pandemic numbers. There were 68,718 total for 2019. Those numbers are filings only, not actual residents who were evicted.
Local eviction rates have risen since the end of a moratorium issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the final week of August 2021.
According to the CDC, the moratorium was meant to allow “additional time for rent relief to reach renters and to further increase vaccination rates,” the CDC said. “In the context of a pandemic, eviction moratoria — like quarantine, isolation, and social distancing — can be an effective public health measure utilized to prevent the spread of communicable disease.
Eviction moratoria facilitate self-isolation and self-quarantine by people who become ill or who are at risk of transmitting COVID-19 by keeping people out of congregate settings and in their own homes.”
Davis said locally, evictions saw a significant dip after the pandemic began because fewer filings were taking place because of unique circumstances.
“Evictions plummeted because there were various protections in play,” Davis said.
Those eviction numbers have since gone back up.
Behind the process
Still, the eviction process can be tough for those involved. Branham said a few of the Valley’s 26 precincts can see 20 to 30 evictions per day.
On the recent Wednesday morning, Branham headed to an apartment building to assist with an eviction near 44th Avenue and Bethany Home Road.
“We are going to make sure everything is safe down there,” Branham said.
Part of the job, Branham says, is to deescalate any situation.
The process goes from landlords submitting an eviction filing to the court to the tenant’s court date and an eviction decision from a judge.
The second part of the process is the landlord getting a writ of restitution where the constable comes out to the residence and informs the people of the household they must vacate the property.
Sometimes vacating the property involves grabbing up a few possessions and leaving. On some occasions, people can become angry and hostile toward constables who try to carry out the court’s orders.
“It can be very emotional for people to be evicted,” Branham said.
The woman being evicted from the apartment near 44th Avenue and Bethany Home Road told constables that her daughter was supposed to be regularly paying the rent.
Apparently, rent was not being paid.
She showed visible frustration as she walked back and forth taking items to one of the trash cans at the complex. Shortly after, she left and the locks were changed.
“What it does illustrate is the emotion she has,” Branham said. After the property is vacated, plaintiffs have up to 14 days to work with the landlord to collect the rest of the tenant’s property.
Branham had to work a bit harder to coax the next resident out of her home near 71st and Maryland avenues. The woman, who walks with a cane, has some health concerns.
At first, she didn’t want to open the door, Branham said. People can be arrested if they aren’t willing to comply with instructions of constables.
Within 30 minutes, the woman gathered belongings and left the residence cordially with two other family members who were able to give her a ride.
“It started off rocky for a minute,” Branham said on the initial encounter. “But we worked through it all.”
But he said part of his job is to have fluid communication and try to ease the frustrations of those who end up getting evicted.
“There are no winners in an eviction case,” Branham said. “It’s really true. ...I try to make them realize that they are going to move on from this and they are going to be OK.”
Avoiding evictions
Help is out there for those facing potential eviction.
According to the emergency rental assistance website, Maricopa County households “experiencing financial hardship due to the COVID-19 Pandemic"
may be eligible for assistance through the Human Services Department’s Community Services Division.
Qualified households can receive up to 15 months of payments for rental assistance for the months of April 2020 through December 2021, the website said.
The website said qualified households also can receive assistance with utilities such as electric, gas, water, sewer, and/or trash.
Payments can be made for past due, owed or future rent and utility bills, the website said.
Federal guidelines prioritize applications for assistance using the following criteria:
• Households living at or below 50% of the area median income ($35,550 for a household of 3).
• Households with one or more members that have been unemployed for the past 90 days at time of application and living at or below 80% of the Area Median Income Those who need help with rental assistance can go to www.tinyurl.com/AZRentHelp.
In addition to the county, most Valley cities offer some form of help for those having trouble with rent or bills, and an influx of federal dollars through COVID relief efforts have given them more with which to help.
Davis said tenants shouldn’t ignore notices of the court if an eviction process has started, and he recommends people seek help if they are in need of rental assistance.
“(People) don’t know how to look for resources,” Davis said. “But the money is available.”
Davis said assistance can help tenants delay, halt or reverse the eviction process altogether.
“It’s not just a tiny bit of money to pay bills,” Davis said. “There are millions and millions of dollars people are not applying for. ...It’s not like it’s a secret. People for various reasons don’t go looking for it until they are told to.”
Funding related to rental assistance gets funneled to states and cities through the Emergency Rental Assistance Program — a sector of the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
In Glendale, residents facing a financial crisis or hardship can apply for services that include energy assistance, municipal utility assistance, crisis assistance and assistance for residents experiencing homelessness through the Glendale Community Action Program.
The is a state designated Community Action Agency that operates as a centralized resource.
“Residents needing assistance can apply 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at www. glendaleaz.com/CAP,” said Jay Crandall, spokesman for the city of Glendale. “The application portal allows for secure uploading of the documents needed to begin the application process.
Residents needing additional assistance can utilize a computer kiosk located in the Glendale CAP lobby located at 5580 W. Glendale Ave., Suite B-51, Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., excluding holidays.”
In 2021, Glendale received millions in funding through the Emergency Rental Assistance Program. The most recent funding source saw almost $14 million coming from the program.
“The city has received about $13.7 million in funding from Treasury for the Emergency Rent Assistance program which has been fully expended in nine months and served over 2,000 households,” Crandall said. “We have a commitment from Treasury for an additional $7 million, which we are currently processing applications for.”
The Foundation for Senior Living, which contracts with Peoria, Sun City, Sun City West, Waddell, and Youngtown — helps those residents with funding for the Emergency Rental Assistance Program.
The Community Action Program for those municipalities has helped 6,111 households and distributed a little more than $18 million since July 2020.
According to FSL officials, FSL is the only entity with Emergency Rental Utility Funds serving those communities. Roughly 4% was distributed to Sun City and Sun City West with 10% to Waddell and Youngtown, this leaves about 86% that went to Peoria residents.
Branham said it takes officials from multiple departments to help those tenants who face the eviction process.
“It’s not just us,” Branham said. “It’s an army of professionals working together.”
There are no winners in an eviction case. It’s really true. ...I try to make them realize that they are going to move on from this and they are going to be OK.”
Brent Ruffner Lead News Reporter | Phoenix @AzNewsmedia
Brent Ruffner joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2021 where he writes about developments at TSMC and Maricopa County issues, including election topics.
He's written about stories that range from accusations that a Mesa monkey breeding facility is unsafe to what to do if you encounter a rattlesnake in the desert.
Community: He is a supporter of the American Cancer Society.
Education: Bachelor's degree in Journalism and Mass Communication, Arizona State University, May 2007.
Random Fact: He met former San Francisco Giants outfielder Willie Mays at a Phoenix Firebird game after winning a contest for an autographed baseball.
Hobbies: Hiking in the woods and collecting sports memorabilia.
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