Will real estate expert witnesses determine that the "Arizona Homeowners Bill of Rights" is damaging on homeowners and the housing industry? The Tucson Citizen reports on Prop. 201 with analysis by the Arizona Legislative Council:
Current law provides an alternative process for purchasers and contractors or sellers to resolve issues related to the design, construction, condition or sale of a dwelling prior to filing a lawsuit. Proposition 201 makes mandatory changes to the legal procedures for any purchaser dwelling action and for the time to sue on any improvements for real property:
1. Expands existing law to grant "prospective buyers" the rights to sue over a dwelling action.
2. Prohibits sellers or purchasers from agreeing to or allowing any "reasonable alternative dispute resolution" procedures in sales contracts.
3. A purchaser would be required to give 60 days' notice, instead of 90 days, to a seller about the alleged defects before filing a court action against the seller. The notice must currently contain a "detailed and itemized" list of alleged defects. Proposition 201 replaces that standard with a requirement that the notice contain a description in "ordinary, nontechnical terms" of defects that a purchaser of "average experience" would be expected to observe.
