I manage some properties for a family member, and in Arizona, when a tenant does not pay rent, a 5-day notice to pay or quit is required, then on the 6th day, you get a forcible detainer and go before a judge to get an eviction. There is one judge in my town that normally handles all evictions, never had an issue with this 5 day notice before. Yesterday another judge was filling in for him and came out guns blazing. She was rude off the bat to my lawyer, stating that because it is a month to month rental agreement, 30 day notice is required. She was very confused and was asking when the law had changed (it hadn't). She was flat out rude to anyone trying to make their case, including 2 very respectful lawyers. We were lucky the tenant agreed to the judgement before hand but those who followed weren't that lucky.

My question is, how do we handle this in the future? There is no arguing with this judge, but this threatens the livelihood of landlords in our area as it makes eviction for non-payment extremely difficult.

I can provide the revised statute if needed.