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Ken Volk, founder of Arizona Tenants Advocates & Association and a well-known tenants' rights advocate, has been assisting Arizona tenants since 1993.
He began by organizing tenants in his own apartment complex when a foreign ASU student knocked on his door seeking assistance with a collapsed ceiling. As part of those efforts, Mr. Volk made contact with legal services, which in turn sought his participation in defeating a landlord bill that was being promoted at the state legislature. The effort was successful, and the momentum carried through to Mr. Volk's creation and management of Arizona Tenants Association from 1994-2020.
Mr. Volk has been referred to as “The renters' spokesman... an agitator... dedicated” by New Times. He has been characterized as a “landlord's worst nightmare.” Yet, in his current endeavor Mr. Volk has received referrals not only from landlords, but also from apartment managers, realtors, apartment placement firms, the Arizona State Bar, the Arizona Department of Housing, and occasionally even attorneys. Mr. Volk has been the beneficiary - and sometimes target - of countless newspaper and other media stories and interviews.
Additionally, Tempe's Rental Housing Code was conceived by Mr. Volk, whose support and contributions were significant to its enactment. Similarly, he participated in crafting Glendale's own rental ordinance, and indeed both of these, in turn, led to the creation of Arizona's Landlord-Tenant Slumlords Statute of 1999 (A.R.S. § 33-1901 through 33-1905).
The Break Lease program has processed over 7,600 cases since its inception. Over the years Mr. Volk has created over 70,000 forms letters for tenants.
As one might expect, it is based on identifying landlords’ violations, and thereby lawfully terminating tenants' residencies. There are several primary approaches: legal technicalities, CIRCUMSTANCES, and physical violations at the premises combined with lease breaches by the landlords.
Who uses the service? Residential tenants who are purchasing a new home, relocating, getting married or divorced, or experiencing changes in income. Actually, the motivations can be myriad. Those interested simply attend a complimentary consultation. Should they sign up, most cases are “out the door” within one month. The program duration is a one-year membership, which allows any aftermath issues to be addressed -- for example, letters and claims received from the former landlords.
The objective of this program is to avoid court battles and judgments against tenants. We even have an optional service to protect TENANTS from unjustified negative credit bureau records. All of this is far more efficient than using an attorney, and cheaper too: the cost of the service ranges from 65%-100% of a month's rent.
You may contact the organization via phone at 480-557-8905.
