Under Arizona state law, a defective product is one that, when it leaves the control of the manufacturer or the product seller, is defective, unreasonably dangerous, and causes injury, death, or property damage. 

There is no one single statute that provides this definition. Instead, it comes from how Arizona courts define Arizona’s product liability statutes and common law.

You can prove a product liability claim in more than one way. Perhaps the most common way is through strict liability, but other ways include negligence and breach of warranty claims.

Stone Rose Law represents Arizona residents who have product liability claims.
Continue Reading How Do You Prove Product Liability in Arizona?

Just because you have a pre-existing injury does not mean that you cannot have a legal claim for financial recovery after a motor vehicle accident. Still, many insurance companies will fight your claim in settlement negotiations or in civil court in Arizona if they believe that the cause of your symptoms is a pre-existing injury.

A key issue in receiving a fair settlement after a car accident is whether any pre-existing injury you had before the crash has been worsened or aggravated because of the accident in question. In this blog post, Stone Rose Law considers the factors that go…
Continue Reading Car Accident Aggravated Pre-Existing Condition Settlement

Parking lot accidents in Arizona can raise various liability issues depending on how fault is determined and whether injuries result. Fault is dependent on the circumstances of the accident.

In this blog post, the attorneys at Stone Rose Law address personal injury and property damage liability arising from an accident in a parking facility or lot. If you have been the victim of a parking lot accident, call our law firm at (480) 631-3025 or use our online contact form to schedule a free consultation with an experienced Arizona personal injury attorney.

How is Fault Assigned in a Parking…
Continue Reading Who is at Fault in a Parking Lot Accident?

Accidents that occur while merging into traffic are a form of sideswipe accident. These kinds of accidents can happen when a driver is changing lanes or merging onto a freeway.

In Arizona, the general rules of liability that apply to merging accidents are:

• The driver already in a road or freeway lane has the right-of-way.
• A driver changing lanes must yield the right-of-way to a driver already in the lane.
• A driver who is entering a freeway via an onramp or an approach road must yield right-of-way to a vehicle that is traveling on the freeway’s main roadway and

…
Continue Reading A Car Sped Up and Hit Me While Merging: Who is at Fault?

Under Arizona law, by using the state’s bankruptcy exemptions, you can keep some cash and personal property that might otherwise go to the bankruptcy estate. Arizona is an “opt-out” state, meaning that instead of federal exemptions under the United States Bankruptcy Code, bankruptcy filers must use Arizona’s bankruptcy exemptions.

Article 1 of Chapter 8 of Title 33 of the Arizona Revised Statutes (ARS) Sections 33-1101 through 33-1153 contains Arizona’s bankruptcy exemptions. In this blog post, we discuss how much you can claim in cash exemptions in Arizona when you declare Chapter 7 bankruptcy or Chapter 13 bankruptcy.

To learn more…
Continue Reading How Much Cash Can I Keep in Bankruptcy?

Neither Arizona law nor the United States Bankruptcy Code requires married couples to file bankruptcy together when one spouse’s financial situation reaches the point where filing bankruptcy becomes a consideration. You can file for bankruptcy individually.

Often, spouses’ finances are intertwined, which can complicate the decision of whether to file individually or jointly. Arizona is a community property state, which can make this decision even more complex.

Stone Rose Law helps Arizona residents who are dealing with overwhelming debt to weigh their debt relief options, including bankruptcy. In this blog post, we specifically cover the considerations that go into whether…
Continue Reading Can I File Chapter 13 Without My Spouse?

The bankruptcy automatic stay can put at least a temporary halt to many kinds of creditor actions against you, like debt collection efforts and lawsuits. In some cases, if your Arizona landlord is a “creditor” because you are behind on your rent payments, then if you file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, the automatic stay may be temporarily effective in stopping eviction proceedings against you while your bankruptcy case is ongoing.

The automatic stay in Chapter 7 is not a cure-all for evictions, and in some cases, it may have no effect.

Stone Rose Law bankruptcy lawyers can give you…
Continue Reading Can I be Evicted if I File Chapter 7 Bankruptcy?

If you receive an inheritance during your bankruptcy case, a question may arise as to whether you need to include the inheritance in your bankruptcy estate. 

The answer to this question depends in large part on the timing of your inheritance: the general rule (unless an exception applies) is that if you are expecting an inheritance at the time of filing or become entitled to one within 180 days after filing your bankruptcy petition, the inheritance will become part of the bankruptcy estate.

When this happens, you must inform the bankruptcy court and the bankruptcy trustee of the inheritance. This…
Continue Reading Bankruptcy and Inheritance: How it Works

In Arizona, a bank account garnishment is a form of non-earnings garnishment. It allows a creditor to enforce a money judgment award against you by garnishing funds from your bank account.

Here, we examine how these laws apply when a creditor attempts to use legal means to access your bank account through garnishment and what you may be able to do about it.

At Stone Rose Law, we help clients understand their debt relief choices under federal law and Arizona law. 

For a consultation with one of our experienced bankruptcy lawyers, please call (480) 739-2448.

How Does a…
Continue Reading What is Bank Account Garnishment?

In Arizona, if you fall behind on your home mortgage payments for long enough, your mortgage servicer may begin foreclosure proceedings against you. Losing your home to foreclosure is not inevitable. 

Depending on your circumstances, you may be able to use one of multiple paths to get current on your mortgage, work with your home lender on an alternative payment strategy, or use federal bankruptcy protection to help keep your home.

At Stone Rose Law, we help Arizona homeowners understand their options in debt relief and foreclosure. For help from one of our attorneys, call us at (480) 739-2448.
Continue Reading How to Stop a Foreclosure in Arizona

In Arizona, the time it takes to foreclose depends on whether your home loan is mortgage-based or a deed-of-trust loan. The former uses a judicial foreclosure sheriff’s sale, while the latter uses a non-judicial foreclosure trustee sale.

The non-judicial foreclosure process in Arizona requires at least 91 days from the recording of the notice of trustee sale before the foreclosure auction. The entire process, including the 120-day pre-foreclosure delinquency period to the final foreclosure sale, might take 211 or more days, or seven to eight months.

Judicial foreclosures in Arizona usually take longer, up to a year.

If you are…
Continue Reading How Long Does Foreclosure Take in Arizona?

It is recommended to stop using your credit card 90 days before filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

Under the federal bankruptcy system, you can get into trouble if you use your credit card (or pay it off) in a way that creates suspicion, if not a presumption of fraudulent intent.

In this blog post, we consider issues about credit card use leading up to a bankruptcy filing and how they can affect your bankruptcy discharge. In particular, we address whether you should continue using your credit card when considering Chapter 7 bankruptcy and how you should treat your credit card…
Continue Reading When to Stop Using Credit Cards Before Filing Chapter 7

In civil court, a judgment is an order issued by the court after the plaintiff prevails on the merits of its case. Judgments are typically measured in money damages that are measured to compensate the plaintiff for its losses or the harm done to it.

If a creditor sues you in Arizona court for a past-due debt and obtains a judgment, they can use that judgment to collect the amount owed—which, with interest and court costs, often exceeds your original debt balance.

If you do not have funds available to pay the judgment award outright, then the creditor may seek…
Continue Reading Can You File Bankruptcy on a Judgment?