Attorney General Mayes Sues Palo Verde Mobile Homes in Tucson for Extremely Dangerous Electrical Outages
TUCSON – Today, Attorney General Kris Mayes announced she's filed a consumer fraud lawsuit against the owners and operators of Palo Verde Mobile Home Park in Tucson for failing to inform Park residents that the Park’s electrical system was extremely dangerous, unreliable, and overloaded. Park residents suffered from unacceptable regular electrical outages, leaving them unable to air condition their homes as temperatures in Tucson routinely spike to triple digits. The repeated outages have created dangerous and potentially deadly conditions for residents.
"Arizonans are being placed in repeated extremely dangerous circumstances while their electricity is out and their landlord fails to fix it. It may feel like there's no one to call to help, but my office CAN and WILL intervene to protect consumers when landlords fail to live up to their end of the bargain," said Attorney General Mayes. "A/C and electricity outages in Arizona aren't just dangerous, they're deadly."
The Attorney General's lawsuit alleges that Palo Verde Mobile Home Park, LLC (“Palo Verde”), the owner of Palo Verde Mobile Home Park, Landon Asset Management, LLC (“LAM”), an owner of 18 homes at the Park, and Landon Management Services PC (“Landon Management”), the property management company for the Park, violated the Arizona Consumer Fraud Act (the “ACFA”) by failing to inform Park residents that the Park’s electrical system was outdated and insufficient to power basic appliances and air conditioning systems. The lawsuit further alleges that Palo Verde, LAM, and Landon Management knew the Park’s electrical system was overloaded and dangerous, but failed to notify residents of the issue. As a result, Palo Verde Mobile Home Park residents have been left exposed to risks of electric fires and regularly lose power to air condition their homes for hours at a time during extreme heat spikes.
Mobile homes, compared to brick-and-mortar homes and apartments, face a comparatively greater risk of overheating during the summer months. Mobile homes are typically made of metal, which heats up faster than other building materials and can take more time and energy to cool down. In Pima County, for example, mobile home residents make up 10% of all housing, but account for 30% of heat related deaths. This summer, residents of Palo Verde Mobile Home Park report that the Park’s electrical system began shutting down regularly, sometimes multiple times a day. And at least once for over 24 hours. When power outages are frequent and regular, mobile homes become exponentially more difficult to cool to safe levels, posing an imminent threat of serious injury, hospitalization, or death.
The lack of an adequate electrical system to support minimum cooling requirements for a safe and habitable dwelling is a material fact that owners and operators of mobile home parks must disclose to prospective residents under the ACFA. It is well-known that extreme heat is a health and safety hazard in the state of Arizona. In Pima County, 47 heat related deaths occurred indoors in uncooled environments. Including indoors in mobile homes that were inadequately cooled. Companies that conduct business in Arizona must be aware that they will not be permitted to endanger Arizona consumers and harm the public interest.
If you believe you have been the victim of consumer fraud or unfair practices, you can file a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office at www.azag.gov/consumer. If you need a complaint form sent to you, you can contact the Attorney General’s Office in Phoenix at (602) 542-5763, in Tucson at (520) 628-6648, or outside the Phoenix and Tucson metro areas at (800) 352-8431.
Attorney General Mayes previously sent a demand letter to Palo Verde Mobile Homes Park.
A copy of the complaint is available here.