Arizona Amends Provisions Regarding Judgment Liens of Real Property and Enacts Provisions Regarding Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act

• May 17, 2016
• Laura Eckstein

Arizona amended its provisions regarding judgment liens on real property. Arizona also enacted provisions regarding its Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act.  These provisions are effective on August 6, 2016 or 91 days following adjournment of the legislative session.

Arizona revised statutes relating to judgment liens on real property
Section 33-961 Filing judgments for payment of money; certified copy of judgment; recording copy to perfect lien against real property; information statement

A certified copy of the judgment of any court in this state may be filed and recorded in the office of the county recorder in each county where the judgment creditor desires the judgment to become a lien on the real property of the judgment debtor. On recording in substantial compliance with both the requirements of this section and the requirements of section 33-967 regarding an information statement, the judgment becomes a lien on the real property of the judgment debtor, including any part of the real property of the judgment debtor as otherwise provided by law.  Failure to substantially comply with this section and section 33-967, results in the judgment not becoming a lien.  The certified copy of the judgment shall set forth the:

1. Title of the court and the action and number of the action.
2. Date of entry of the judgment and the docket record for the judgment.
3. Names of the judgment debtor and judgment creditor.
4. Amount of the judgment.
5. Attorney of record for the judgment creditor.

The clerk shall furnish a certified copy of any judgment of that court on request and payment of the fee prescribed by law. A judgment or decree or any renewal that requires payment of money shall also be accompanied by an information statement as prescribed by section 33-967. Notwithstanding subsections A and C of this section, a civil judgment in favor of this state is exempt from the requirement to record an information statement as prescribed in section 33-967 and becomes a lien on the real property of the judgment debtor when it is recorded in the office of the county recorder.  This subsection applies retroactively to all judgments in favor of this state without regard to when the judgment was recorded.

Section 33-964 Lien of judgment; duration; exemption of homestead; acknowledgement of satisfaction by judgment creditor

Except as provided in sections 33-729 and 33-730, from and after the time of recording as provided in section 33-961, a judgment shall become a lien for a period of five years from the date it is given, on all real property of the judgment debtor except real property exempt from execution, including homestead property, in the county in which the judgment is recorded, whether the property is then owned by the judgment debtor or is later acquired.  A civil judgment lien obtained by this state and a judgment lien for support, as defined in section 25-500, remain in effect until satisfied or lifted.

1. Except as provided in section 33-1103, a recorded judgment shall not become a lien on any homestead property. Any person entitled to a homestead on real property as provided by law holds the homestead property free and clear of the judgment lien.
2. A judgment of the justice court, municipal court, superior court or United States court that has become a lien under this article, immediately on the payment or satisfaction of the judgment, shall be discharged of record by the judgment creditor or the judgment creditor’s attorney by recording a satisfaction of judgment with the county recorder of the county in which the judgment is recorded. The judgment creditor or the judgment creditor’s attorney shall enter a notation of satisfaction on the docket of the clerk of the superior court of each county in which the judgment has been entered or docketed, and in a like manner enter a notation of satisfaction on the docket of the clerk of the United States district court.
3. In a title IV-D case, if the title IV-D agency or its agent is listed as the holder of the lien and the judgment has been satisfied but the obligee is unwilling to sign the release of the lien or, after reasonable efforts, cannot be located to sign the release of the lien, the title IV-D agency or its agent may sign the satisfaction of judgment and release of lien without the signature of the obligee. The title IV-D agency or its agent shall send a copy by first class mail to the last known address of the obligee.

Section 33-967 Money judgment; information statement; amendment to recorded judgment

In addition to the requirements prescribed by section 33-961, any judgment or decree or any renewal that requires the payment of money and that is recorded on or after January 1, 1997, shall not become a lien on real property until a separate information statement is attached to the judgment being recorded.  The separate information statement shall contain the following information:

1. The correct name and last known address of each judgment debtor and the address at which each judgment debtor received the summons by personal service or by mail.
2. The name and address of the judgment creditor.
3. The amount of the judgment or decree as entered or as most recently renewed.
4. If the judgment debtor is a natural person, the judgment debtor’s social security number, date of birth and driver license number.
5. Whether a stay of enforcement has been ordered by the court and the date the stay expires.

Except as provided in this subsection, the separate statement shall contain the information prescribed by subsection A of this section if the information is known to the judgment creditor or available to the judgment creditor from its records, its attorney’s records or the court records in the action in which the judgment was entered. If any of the required information is not known, the judgment creditor shall so state. The judgment debtor’s social security number shall be included in the separate statement only if it has been provided voluntarily to the judgment creditor by the judgment debtor.

1. A judgment or decree or any renewal that requires the payment of money, that is recorded on or after January 1, 1997 and that is not accompanied by the separate statement as prescribed by subsection A of this section does not become a lien on real property until the judgment creditor records a document entitled “amendment to recorded judgment” that contains a separate statement that is in compliance with subsection A of this section.  The amendment to recorded judgment shall state the date of recording and the indexing or document number of the official records of the county recorder for the original recorded judgment or decree of any renewals.
2. Recording an amendment to recorded judgment does not affect the computation of time prescribed by section 33-964.
3. A civil judgment in favor of this state is exempt from this section.  This subsection applies retroactively to all judgments in favor of this state without regard to when the judgment was recorded.

View the full text here.

Arizona revised statutes relating to fiduciary access to electronic records
Arizona amended Title 14 by adding Chapter 13, which relates to fiduciary access to electronic records.

14-13103 Applicability

1. This chapter applies to all of the following:
   1. A fiduciary acting under a will or power of attorney executed before, on or after the effective date of this chapter.
   2. A personal representative acting for a decedent who died before, on or after the effective date of this chapter.
   3. A conservatorship proceeding commenced before, on or after the effective date of this chapter.
   4. A trustee acting under a trust created before, on or after the effective date of this chapter.
   5. This chapter applies to a custodian if the user resides in this state or resided in this state at the time of the user’s death.
   6. This chapter does not apply to a digital asset of an employer used by an employee in the ordinary course of the employer’s business.

 

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