Ken
Volk's Bio
Founder
of Arizona Tenants Advocates & Association
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Ken Volk,
founder of Arizona Tenants Advocates & Association and a well-known
tenants' rights advocate, has been assisting Arizona tenants since 1993.
He began by organizing tenants in his own apartment complex when a foreign
ASU student knocked on his door seeking assistance with a collapsed ceiling.
As part of those efforts, Mr. Volk made contact with legal services, which
in turn sought his participation in defeating a landlord bill that was
being promoted at the state legislature. The effort was successful, and
the momentum carried through to Mr. Volk's creation and management of
Arizona Tenants Association from 1994-2000.
Mr.
Volk has been referred to as "The renters' spokesman. . . an agitator.
. . dedicated" by New Times. He has been characterized as a "landlord's
worst nightmare." Yet, in his current endeavor Mr. Volk has received referrals
not only from landlords, but also from apartment managers, realtors, apartment
placement firms, and even such well-known landlord attorneys as Scott
Clark and others. Mr. Volk has been the beneficiary - and occasional target
- of countless newspaper and other media stories and interviews.
Additionally, Tempe's Rental Housing Code was conceived by Mr.
Volk, whose support and contributions were significant to its enactment.
Similarly, he participated in crafting Glendale's own rental ordinance,
and indeed both of these, in turn, led to the creation of Arizona's
Landlord-Tenant Slumlords Statute of 1999 (A.R.S. §§ 33-1901 through
33-1905).
Over the years Mr. Volk has penned approximately 24,000 letters for tenants;
he has choreographed around 1,400 "break lease" cases, having a success
rate of 99%. In 2000, Mr. Volk ran into difficulty with a former employee
who hijacked Arizona Tenants Association while he was out of the country
on a family vacation. That matter is in litigation to this day. Since
then, he started Arizona Tenants Advocates & Association, which
he operates out of his Tempe home, along with Tenants Assistance Program,
a sole proprietorship.
While Arizona Tenants Advocates & Association responds to all
queries from residential tenants, Mr. Volk's current focus is the "break
lease" program, mentioned above. How does it work? As one might
expect, it is based on identifying landlords' violations, and thereby
lawfully terminating tenants' residencies. There are two primary approaches:
legal technicalities, and physical violations at the premises combined
with lease breaches by the landlords. Who uses the service? Residential
tenants who are purchasing a new home, relocating, getting married or
divorced, or experiencing changes in income. Actually, the motivations
can be myriad. Those interested simply attend a complimentary consultation.
Should they sign up, most cases are "out the door" within one month. The
program duration is a one-year membership, which allows any aftermath
issues to be addressed -- for example, letters and claims received from
the former landlords. The objective of this program is to avoid court
battles, judgments against tenants, and unjustified negative credit bureau
records. All of this is far more efficient than using an attorney, and
cheaper too: the cost of the service ranges from 65-85% of a month's rent.
You may contact the organization via phone at 480-557-8905.
• Please CONTACT ATA with any suggested site updates, additions or corrections to this website.
© 2003-2012 by Kenneth A. Volk. All rights reserved.
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