In re Drummond, 543 P.3d 1022 (Ariz. 2024)

In re Drummond, 116 Arizona Cases Digest 19, 543 P.3d 1022, 2024 WL 740253 (Ariz. 2024) Thanks to ASU Legal Extern Isaac Behnke , for this summary.

In a case of first impression, the Arizona Supreme Court decided that motor homes are not mobile homes according to the “plain meaning” of A.R.S. § 33-1101(A) (3-4) and therefore do not qualify under the homestead exemption.

The Drummonds filed for bankruptcy in 2022 and claimed that their motor home, which they then lived in full-time, was subject to the homestead exemption. After arguments, the bankruptcy court certified the question to the Arizona Supreme Court, which agreed to resolve the question since no precedent existed to clarify the matter.

The Supreme Court held that A.R.S. § 33-1101(A) (3-4) are unambiguous and thus should be interpreted by their plain meaning. Those sections of the statute each provide requirements to qualify under the homestead exemption. “3. A mobile home in which the person resides; 4. A mobile home in which the person resides plus the land on which that home is located.” The Supreme Court discussed differing definitions but reflected on precedent, holding that differing definitions alone do not create ambiguity and held that “mobile home” unambiguously refers to trailer homes designed to be permanently or indefinitely fixed to one location, completely excluding motor homes from qualifying for the exemption. Citing DBT Yuma, L.L.C. v. Yuma Cnty. Airport Auth., 238 Ariz. 394, 396 (2015).

“Motor homes” are not legally considered “mobile homes” for the purposes of the Arizona homestead exemption. The court did not give a test or guidelines, but rather, it determined the two things were unambiguously distinct and thus neither the statute nor the common law need further definitions.

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