HB 2598 Summary

• Amends Arizona's dwelling action statutes to establish that sellers and construction professionals owe a nonwaivable duty of care to purchasers for all repairs made under the notice and repair process.

• Prohibits indemnity provisions in construction contracts except for comparative indemnity, voiding any provision that indemnifies a seller for the seller's own actions or inactions.

• Prevents sellers or construction professionals from directly or indirectly pressuring purchasers to withdraw from legal representation or conditioning repairs on a purchaser's agreement to not retain chosen counsel.

• Modifies attorney fee provisions to limit awards to fees incurred on contested issues and adds consideration of whether the seller leveraged financial strength against the purchaser when determining reasonableness.

• Exempts dwelling actions from the notice and repair process if the sales contract or community documents contain commercially reasonable alternative dispute resolution procedures, and requires such procedures be displayed prominently in bold capital letters on the contract face.