RECENT ARTICLES
Flyers No Longer Distributed to Notify Neighbors of Sex Offenders
Question: Our neighbor informed us that the Department of Public Safety (“DPS”) has a website for the location of registered sex offenders (“RSOs”) in Arizona. We went on this website and learned that there are three RSOs living in our north Phoenix community. We have lived in our home for almost 20 years and have never received any flyers or other notification to us of any RSOs in our north Phoenix community. Shouldn’t we have received these flyers? Answer: The history of disclosure of RSOs in a community goes back more than 25 years. Megan Kafka was a 9-year-old girl who was murdered more than 25 years ago by two convicted sex offenders who lived across the street from Megan Kafka. Neither her parents nor anyone in the neighborhood knew of these two sex offenders. In response to Megan Kafka’s death, various forms of Megan’s Law were adopted in the…
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A New House. Some Old Debt. What Takes Priority?
Question: We want to buy a Phoenix home for $800,000 with a $640,000 mortgage loan. During the Covid catastrophe two years ago, however, our art framing business was ruined. The result is that two credit card companies now have judgments against us for more than $50,000. Our mortgage broker told us that we should still be able to qualify for the $640,000 mortgage loan without paying off the two credit card judgments because an Arizona statute (A.R.S. §33-705) says that the $640,000 mortgage loan will have priority over the two earlier $50,000 credit card judgments. The title company, however, is requiring that we pay off the two $50,000 credit card judgments before the title company will insure the $640,000 mortgage loan. If we pay those two $50,000 credit card judgments, we won’t have enough money to pay the $160,000 down payment. Is the title company right? Answer: A.R.S. §33-705 should…
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