Opinion Letter

Re: One Step Closer, L.L.C.

Dear Ladies and/or Gentlemen:

On September 18, 2003, SB 1291 became law. One Step Closer, L.L.C. qualifies as a Social Service Provider for Transilitional Housing. The One Step Closer Programs are statutorily exempt from the Arizona Residential Landlord and Tenant Act Pursuant to A.R.S. 33-1308(1). Therefore, people who participate in the One Stepn Closer programs do not have the same rights as those tenants who rent under a lease agreement that is governed by the Arizona Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. In fact, since One Step Closer, L.L. C. is a Social Service Provider with their agreements with One Step Closer, such individuals may be locked out of the premises and/or removed by One Step Closer, the property manager and/or police agencies as trespassers without a notice. If locked out of the apartment unit, the former One Step participant has been locked out, it means that the participant was involved in a serious infraction of the agreement with One Step Closer. The former participant has no further rights. The only way the former participant can retrieve belongings from the apartment unit is for a third-party to schedule a time with a One Step representative, or the manager, to access the unit. The former participant will no longer be allowed on the property.

If you have any questions, please feel free to call my office.

Sincerely,

J. Denton Dobbins, Jr.