If faced with a foreclosure of your home or rental property, there is some good news. Arizona's antideficiency statute, A.R.S. 33-814 provides some relief. When a real estate loan secured by a deed of trust goes into default, the lender can elect to proceed with a trustee's sale of the property to enforce its lien rights. The trustee's sale of the property is commonly referred to as the "foreclosure sale". If the sale price is less than the current loan balance, a deficiency occurs. However, the lender may not pursue the borrower for this deficiency if all the following criteria are met:

1. the property is residential property with one or two families able to dwell in the property;
2. the property is 2.5 acres or less
3. the property was occupied by the owner or a tenant and
4. the loan was used to purchase or improve the property.

Currently, even if the property is a rental and not your residence, the ant-deficiency statute will apply if the above criteria are met.