Clinic today will focus on tenant, landlord issues

Whether you own or are a renter, you have rights, and you may have questions about your responsibilities and obligations. The upcoming Landlord Tenant Informational Clinic may be able to provide you with the answers you need.

The clinic, which is free and open to the public, is being held today from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. in the Jury Assembly Room at the Yuma Justice Center, 250 W. 2nd St.

Part of a series of ongoing sessions offered by the Yuma County Law Library, the clinic is designed to assist self-represented litigants with various types of cases. It will be given in English with a Spanish interpreter present, and forms will be distributed at the end of the seminar.

The Yuma County Superior Court developed the clinic in support of the Arizona Supreme Court’s Strategic Agenda to increase access to the courts.

Held in collaboration with Community Legal Services, the clinic is one of a series that covers six rotating topics to provide self-represented litigants with information to help them navigate the legal system.

They are made possible with the collaboration of Conciliation Court Services, Community Legal Services, the Law Library, Yuma Bar Association and others.

James Marshall, a senior counsel for Community Legal Services, will be the presenter at the clinic and will discuss a variety of topics, including the Arizona Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (ARLTA).

Other topics include: leases and rental agreements, responsibilities of landlords, remedies for tenants of landlords who breach their responsibilities, obligations of tenants and remedies for landlords, the eviction process, aftereviction rights, domestic violence in landlord/tenant case, and the Arizona Fair Housing Laws.

General questions will be answered following the clinic, but no specific legal advice will be given.

There is currently a large number of litigants with cases in Yuma County Superior Court who are representing themselves in all types of cases, including landlord-tenant disputes. Court officials say that number is likely to increase in the future due to the rising cost of defending a legal action.

These informational forums provide a valuable service to the court system, according to officials, because self-represented litigants often have difficulty preparing and filing documents and meeting procedural requirements, which causes delays in their cases.