A. If a contract provides that the seller may elect to accelerate the unpaid principal balance due to seller on the purchaser’s failure to pay the monies due under the contract, the seller may only enforce the acceleration by foreclosing the contract in the manner provided by law for foreclosure of mortgages upon real property. If a purchaser is in default under the contract for reasons other than failing to pay amounts due under the contract, the seller may only foreclose the contract as a mortgage in the manner provided by law for foreclosure of mortgages upon real property.

Terms Used In Arizona Laws 33-748

  • Action: includes any matter or proceeding in a court, civil or criminal. See Arizona Laws 1-215
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Foreclosure: A legal process in which property that is collateral or security for a loan may be sold to help repay the loan when the loan is in default. Source: OCC
  • Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
  • Process: means a citation, writ or summons issued in the course of judicial proceedings. See Arizona Laws 1-215
  • Property: includes both real and personal property. See Arizona Laws 1-215
  • Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.

B. If an action to foreclose a contract has been filed, a forfeiture, by judicial process as provided by section 33-744 or by notice as provided by section 33-745, shall not thereafter be completed unless the foreclosure action is first dismissed and a notice of election to forfeit is served in the manner and on the persons provided for in section 33-743.