Four State exam areas meet on this page, 19 of the 60 scored items and the largest Arizona block: consumer protection laws (II), reasonable skill and care (VII), ownership and encumbrances (X), and foreclosure, short sale and deed in lieu (XI). This is where Arizona’s own numbers live: the homestead amount, the acreage limit of the anti-deficiency rule and the deadline for a deficiency suit, each below with its statute.
Updated Oct 24, 2026 · Not affiliated with any state commission or test provider.
19scored items, four areas
20questions on this page
$400,000 base, indexedhomestead exemption
90 daysdeficiency suit deadline
What the four areas cover
From the State outline:
II Consumer protection (5): the 1967 Arizona Consumer Fraud Act, the statute of frauds, Arizona fair housing, homestead.
VII Reasonable skill and care (6): the licensee’s obligation, property taxes and special assessments, Arizona utility and environmental regulation.
X Ownership and encumbrances (5): ownership, liens, deeds, HOAs and restrictions, easements.
XI Foreclosure, short sale, deed in lieu (3): the anti-deficiency statute and the foreclosure process.
Anti-deficiency and the trustee’s sale
Who is protected:property of 2.5 acres or less, limited to and used for one single-family or two-family dwelling (A.R.S. § 33-729, § 33-814).
How:after a trustee’s sale of such property the lender cannot sue for the shortfall (§ 33-814(G)); for a mortgage foreclosure the rule covers purchase-money loans (§ 33-729); for loans made after December 31, 2014 it does not cover a builder’s construction loan, a dwelling never substantially completed, or one never actually used as a dwelling.
Everyone else: a lender that wants a deficiency judgment must sue within 90 days of the trustee’s sale, measured against the higher of fair market value or the sale price. Because of that comparison, a low bid at the sale does not inflate the deficiency.
Homestead
Amount:up to $400,000 of equity in the home you live in, adjusted each January 1 for the cost of living since 2024 (A.R.S. § 33-1101).
Limits:one homestead per person or married couple; it shields the home from attachment, execution and forced sale and follows the cash from a sale for up to 18 months. It is tied to the home you reside in.
20 property and foreclosure questions
0 of 20 answered · 0 correct
Question 1 of 20 · Arizona property law and foreclosure · 19 items
Within what time after an Arizona trustee's sale must a lender sue for a deficiency judgment, where one is allowed?
Answer and explanations
Incorrect: Thirty days is shorter than the statute allows.
Incorrect: Six months is longer than the ninety-day window.
Correct: A.R.S. §33-814(A) allows a deficiency action within ninety days after the trustee's sale; after that it is barred.
Incorrect: A year is far beyond the ninety-day limit.
Question 2 of 20 · Arizona property law and foreclosure · 19 items
Which doctrine governs surface water rights in Arizona?
Answer and explanations
Incorrect: Correlative rights share an aquifer among overlying owners; that is not Arizona's surface-water rule.
Incorrect: Riparian rights tie water to land along a stream; Arizona rejected that doctrine for surface water.
Incorrect: Reasonable use is the rule for groundwater outside Active Management Areas, not for surface water.
Correct: Arizona surface water follows prior appropriation: first in time, first in right, for beneficial use.
Question 3 of 20 · Arizona property law and foreclosure · 19 items
Before lots in a new subdivision inside an Active Management Area can be sold, what water document is required?
Answer and explanations
Correct: Inside an AMA a new subdivision needs a certificate of assured water supply from ADWR (or service from a designated provider), showing a 100-year supply.
Incorrect: A drilling notice concerns one well, not the subdivision's long-term supply.
Incorrect: Water quality matters, but the AMA requirement is the assured supply.
Incorrect: An HOA has no role in certifying a water supply.
Question 4 of 20 · Arizona property law and foreclosure · 19 items
Which property would Arizona's homestead exemption NOT protect?
Answer and explanations
Incorrect: A condo the owner lives in qualifies; the homestead can be a condominium used as the residence.
Incorrect: The owner's house and land it sits on are the classic homestead.
Correct: The homestead covers the owner's residence; a second home the owner only visits does not qualify (A.R.S. §33-1101).
Incorrect: A mobile home the owner lives in is expressly covered by the homestead statute.
Question 5 of 20 · Arizona property law and foreclosure · 19 items
A.R.S. §33-729(A) bars a deficiency on a purchase-money loan secured by what kind of property?
Answer and explanations
Incorrect: Commercial property is not protected regardless of size.
Incorrect: Acreage matters: the protection stops above 2.5 acres.
Incorrect: A four-unit building is more than a two-family dwelling, so the owner living there does not bring it inside the rule.
Correct: The anti-deficiency rule covers property of 2.5 acres or less limited to and used as a single one-family or two-family dwelling.
Question 6 of 20 · Arizona property law and foreclosure · 19 items
Until when may an Arizona borrower reinstate a deed of trust after a notice of trustee's sale has been recorded?
Answer and explanations
Incorrect: The deadline is the close of the prior business day, not the start of bidding.
Incorrect: The statute does not cut reinstatement off a month early.
Incorrect: Recording the notice starts the process; reinstatement stays open long after that.
Correct: A.R.S. §33-813(A) allows reinstatement until 5:00 p.m. mountain standard time on the last day, other than a Saturday or legal holiday, before the sale.
Question 7 of 20 · Arizona property law and foreclosure · 19 items
Which recorded document starts a non-judicial (trustee's sale) foreclosure in Arizona?
Answer and explanations
Incorrect: A lis pendens gives notice of a pending lawsuit, which a trustee's sale does not involve.
Correct: The trustee records the notice of sale (A.R.S. §33-808), which also has to be mailed, posted and published.
Incorrect: The trustee's deed is delivered after the sale; it ends the process.
Incorrect: A complaint starts a judicial foreclosure, not a trustee's sale.
Question 8 of 20 · Arizona property law and foreclosure · 19 items
Under the standard AAR Residential Resale Real Estate Purchase Contract, which deed does the seller use to convey title to the buyer?
Answer and explanations
Incorrect: A sheriff's deed follows a judicial foreclosure sale, not a voluntary resale.
Incorrect: A deed of trust secures the buyer's loan; it does not convey the seller's title.
Incorrect: A personal representative's (executor's) deed sells estate property; it is not the deed the resale form calls for.
Correct: The AAR resale purchase contract has the seller convey title by warranty deed (§3c).
Question 9 of 20 · Arizona property law and foreclosure · 19 items
What happens when real property taxes in Arizona go unpaid?
Answer and explanations
Incorrect: Unpaid taxes are a lien until paid or foreclosed; they are not forgiven.
Incorrect: Delinquency starts a lien and sale process; title does not pass on the due date.
Correct: The county treasurer sells tax liens on delinquent parcels; the buyer of the certificate earns interest and may foreclose only if the taxes are not redeemed in time (A.R.S. Title 42, Ch. 18).
Incorrect: A lender may pay to protect its loan, but it is not required by law to do so.
Question 10 of 20 · Arizona property law and foreclosure · 19 items
Under ADEQ rules, when must a seller of a home on a septic system have a transfer-of-ownership inspection done?
Answer and explanations
Correct: A.A.C. R18-9-A316(B) requires the person transferring the property to have a qualified inspector inspect the on-site system within six months before the transfer.
Incorrect: The rule ties the inspection to the transfer, not to an annual schedule.
Incorrect: The inspection is required at transfer even if the system seems fine.
Incorrect: The inspection comes before the transfer, not after it.
Question 11 of 20 · Arizona property law and foreclosure · 19 items
How long does an Arizona owner have to appeal the assessor's valuation of the property?
Answer and explanations
Incorrect: Forty-five days is not the statutory period.
Incorrect: Ninety days exceeds the sixty-day window.
Correct: A.R.S. §42-16051 gives the owner sixty days after the notice of valuation is mailed to petition the assessor.
Incorrect: Thirty days is half the time allowed.
Question 12 of 20 · Arizona property law and foreclosure · 19 items
What determines the legal class of a parcel for Arizona property tax purposes?
Answer and explanations
Incorrect: Age may affect value but not the legal class.
Correct: Arizona assigns property to classes by use (residential, commercial, agricultural and so on), and each class has its own assessment ratio.
Incorrect: Lot size affects value, not the class.
Incorrect: Owner income does not set the property's class.
Question 13 of 20 · Arizona property law and foreclosure · 19 items
An Arizona surface water right goes unused for five straight years. What can happen to it?
Answer and explanations
Correct: A.R.S. §45-141(C) provides that a right not used for five successive years may be forfeited.
Incorrect: Priority comes from the date of appropriation; non-use never improves it.
Incorrect: Arizona water rights can lapse through non-use.
Incorrect: Forfeiture returns the water to the public for appropriation; it does not transfer the right to the land department.
Question 14 of 20 · Arizona property law and foreclosure · 19 items
Under ADEQ rules, what is the minimum setback between a water well and a new septic (on-site wastewater) system?
Answer and explanations
Correct: The setback table in A.A.C. R18-9-A312 sets 100 feet between a water well and an on-site wastewater treatment facility.
Incorrect: Seventy-five feet is not the well setback.
Incorrect: One hundred fifty feet is more than the rule requires.
Incorrect: Fifty feet appears in the table for other features, not for a well.
Question 15 of 20 · Arizona property law and foreclosure · 19 items
Under A.R.S. §33-810, who may bid at an Arizona trustee's sale?
Answer and explanations
Incorrect: Bidding is open to the public, not limited to parties with an interest.
Incorrect: Residency is not a condition for bidding.
Correct: The statute lets any person bid, including the trustee and beneficiary; bidders other than the beneficiary post a $10,000 deposit.
Incorrect: No license is needed to bid at a trustee's sale.
Question 16 of 20 · Arizona property law and foreclosure · 19 items
By when must the winning bidder at an Arizona trustee's sale (other than the beneficiary's credit bid) pay the price bid?
Answer and explanations
Incorrect: There is a fixed deadline; payment cannot wait on recording.
Correct: A.R.S. §33-811(A) requires payment by 5:00 p.m. mountain standard time on the following day, other than a Saturday or legal holiday.
Incorrect: A week is longer than the next-business-day deadline.
Incorrect: Thirty days is far longer than the statute allows.
Question 17 of 20 · Arizona property law and foreclosure · 19 items
What is the management goal of the Phoenix, Prescott and Tucson Active Management Areas?
Answer and explanations
Incorrect: AMAs exist to restrict pumping, not to allow unlimited use.
Incorrect: Adding wells works against the AMA goal.
Incorrect: Planned depletion is the goal of the Pinal AMA, an agricultural area, not of these three.
Correct: These AMAs aim for safe-yield: long-term balance between groundwater pumped and water recharged, set for 2025 in the 1980 Act.
Question 18 of 20 · Arizona property law and foreclosure · 19 items
Who issues the permit needed to drill a new non-exempt well inside an Arizona Active Management Area?
Answer and explanations
Incorrect: Counties handle zoning and building permits, not groundwater permits.
Incorrect: ADEQ regulates water quality and septic systems, not groundwater withdrawal permits.
Incorrect: The Land Department manages state trust land, not well permits.
Correct: ADWR administers the Groundwater Code and issues well permits inside AMAs.
Question 19 of 20 · Arizona property law and foreclosure · 19 items
An Arizona trustee needs to postpone a scheduled trustee's sale. Under A.R.S. §33-810(B), how is the new date announced?
Answer and explanations
Correct: The person conducting the sale postpones it by public declaration at the time and place last set; no other notice is needed, and the new date must fall within 90 days.
Incorrect: A trustee's sale is non-judicial; no court order is needed to postpone.
Incorrect: Postponement does not require a new notice or a new 90-day period.
Incorrect: The statute says no other notice of a postponed sale is required.
Question 20 of 20 · Arizona property law and foreclosure · 19 items
When a home in an Arizona planned community is sold, which document must the buyer receive from the HOA or the seller under A.R.S. §33-1806?
Answer and explanations
Correct: Section 33-1806(A)(1) lists a copy of the association's current bylaws and rules among the required resale documents.
Incorrect: A membership roster is not a required resale document.
Incorrect: Privileged legal advice is not included; the board's open-meeting minutes are.
Incorrect: Past fines on other homes are not part of the required package.
Answer every question to see your score
Ownership, deeds and HOAs
Co-ownership:a grant to two or more people creates tenancy in common unless the deed expressly says joint tenancy, or community property, with right of survivorship (A.R.S. § 33-431). Either spouse can end a community-property survivorship right by recording an affidavit terminating it (§ 33-431(D)).
Separate property: a married person may convey separate property without the spouse joining in the deed (§ 33-451).
HOA resale:the buyer gets the HOA documents within 10 days, from the seller in a community under 50 homes or from the association at 50 or more (§ 33-1806).
The protection turns on the property, not the borrower: 2.5 acres, 1–2 family home, and the land must be limited to and used for that dwelling. A larger parcel, a property put to another use, or, for loans after 2014, a home never completed or never lived in falls outside, and after a trustee’s sale the lender may sue for the shortfall within 90 days.