Arizona: Homestead Exemption Amounts
The short answer
Arizona protects up to $400,000 of home equity from an ordinary money judgment, a figure set by voter-approved Proposition 209 in 2022, and one that now rises every January 1 for inflation (the 2026 adjusted figure is widely reported as $437,600, though the state has not published a single official notice confirming that exact number). The exemption is automatic: you don't have to record anything to get it. A married couple or single person gets only one homestead exemption, and a creditor can still force a sale if your equity exceeds the exemption plus any higher-priority liens, you just get paid the exemption amount first out of the proceeds.
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This is the general rule in Arizona. Ezel applies current Arizona law to your specific facts and answers with citations to the statutes.
| Governing law | A.R.S. Title 33, Ch. 8 ("Homestead and Personal Property Exemption"), Sec. 33-1101 through 33-1105: wholly statutory, no constitutional homestead provision. The current $400,000 base figure comes from Proposition 209, a 2022 voter initiative, with further 2025 amendments (SB 1543, SB 1540) broadening what counts as a home and adding bankruptcy-specific rules |
|---|---|
| Exemption amount | $400,000 statutory floor (Sec. 33-1101(A)), adjusted upward every January 1 since 2024 for the CPI-U, rounded up to the nearest $100 (Sec. 33-1101(D)). No single official government notice was found stating the exact current adjusted figure; multiple independent secondary sources (consumer-debt and bankruptcy practitioner sites) consistently report $437,600 as the 2026 adjusted amount: treat that number as well-corroborated but not government-published |
| Size or acreage limit | None: Arizona caps the exemption purely by dollar value. It covers a house on a compact parcel, a condo or co-op unit, or a mobile home, manufactured home, park model trailer, motor home, travel trailer, fifth wheel trailer, or houseboat together with the land it sits on, with no separate acreage limit |
| Automatic, or do you have to file something? | Automatic by operation of law (Sec. 33-1102(A)): no written claim or recording is required to have the exemption. The only time recording matters: if you own more than one property that could qualify, a creditor can send you a certified demand letter requiring you to pick one. You then have 30 days to designate the property, either by recording a homestead declaration with the county recorder or by sending the creditor a certified reply letter; miss that window and you can only claim the exemption afterward by actually recording it |
| Who qualifies, and can spouses double it? | Any Arizona resident at least 18 years old, married or single. Only ONE homestead exemption may be held by a married couple or a single person at a time (Sec. 33-1101(B)): no per-spouse doubling. If a couple who shared one homestead later divorces, the combined exemption for that property still can't exceed $400,000 (as adjusted) between them |
| What it actually protects you from | Shields the home from attachment, execution, and forced sale up to the exemption amount. It is not absolute: under Sec. 33-1105, a judgment creditor CAN force a judicial sale if the debtor's equity exceeds the homestead exemption plus any consensual liens (like a mortgage) with higher priority, but the officer conducting the sale must reject any bid that doesn't cover the homestead amount plus those prior liens plus sale costs, and must pay the debtor the exemption amount out of the proceeds before anyone else gets paid from the remainder |
| Debts that can still reach your home | Sec. 33-1103(A) lists four exceptions where the exemption doesn't block a sale: (1) a consensual lien, including a mortgage, deed of trust, or contract of conveyance; (2) a construction lien for labor or materials under Sec. 33-981; (3) a lien for child support or spousal maintenance arrearages that has been reduced to judgment or otherwise perfected; and (4) any other recorded judgment or nonconsensual lien, but only if the debtor's equity exceeds the homestead exemption amount. A sale that doesn't fall into one of these four categories is invalid and passes no title |
| Protection for sale proceeds | Sale proceeds are automatically exempt up to the homestead amount for 18 months after the sale, or until the person establishes a new homestead with the proceeds, whichever happens first (Sec. 33-1101(C)). This protection does NOT extend to cash taken out through a refinance of the homestead property: only proceeds from an actual sale (voluntary or involuntary) |
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Requirements one by one
Governing law
Arizona's homestead exemption is entirely statutory, found in Title 33, Chapter 8 of the Arizona Revised Statutes ("Homestead and Personal Property Exemption"), centered on Sec. 33-1101. There's no separate constitutional homestead provision. The current $400,000 base amount and its annual inflation adjustment trace to Proposition 209, a 2022 ballot initiative that also cut the wage-garnishment percentage and raised several other debtor exemptions. Two 2025 bills, SB 1543 and SB 1540, both signed and already in effect, added a bankruptcy-specific valuation rule and broadened which kinds of dwellings qualify.
Exemption amount
The statute itself sets a $400,000 floor, but that number isn't frozen: starting January 1, 2024, and every January 1 after, it's adjusted upward by the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index (U.S. city average, all urban consumers), rounded up to the nearest $100. That means the real, current number is always somewhat higher than the bare $400,000 you'll find in the statute's text. Several independent bankruptcy and consumer-debt practitioner sources report the 2026 adjusted figure as $437,600. Arizona doesn't appear to publish one single official notice stating the current number the way some other states do, so treat that figure as well-corroborated by secondary sources rather than confirmed government data, and double-check the current amount before relying on it for a specific case.
Size or acreage limit
None. Arizona's exemption is purely a dollar-value cap, regardless of the size of the lot or the type of dwelling. It reaches a house on a "compact body" of land, a condo or co-op unit, or a mobile home, manufactured home, park model trailer, motor home, travel trailer, fifth wheel trailer, or houseboat, together with the land the shelter sits on (that broader list of shelter types was added by 2025 legislation).
Automatic, or do you have to file something?
Automatic. Arizona law says you hold the exemption "by operation of law", no written claim or recording is required just to have it. The one wrinkle: if you own more than one property that could plausibly qualify as your homestead, a creditor can force the issue by sending you a certified demand letter asking you to pick one. You then have 30 days to respond, either by recording a homestead declaration with the county recorder where the property sits or by sending the creditor a certified reply naming your homestead. If you let that 30-day window pass without responding, you don't lose the exemption outright, but you can only reclaim it afterward by actually recording a declaration.
Who qualifies, and can spouses double it?
Any Arizona resident who is at least 18 years old, married or single. Only one homestead exemption can be held by a married couple or by a single person at any given time, there's no way for spouses to each claim a separate $400,000 exemption on the same property. If a married couple shared one homestead and later divorces, the combined amount either or both of them can claim on that property still can't exceed the exemption cap.
What it actually protects you from
The exemption shields your home from attachment, execution, and forced sale, up to the exemption amount. But it doesn't make the home untouchable: under Sec. 33-1105, a judgment creditor can still force a judicial sale if your equity is worth more than the homestead exemption plus any mortgage or other consensual lien that outranks the judgment. To protect you in that situation, the law requires the sale officer to reject any bid that doesn't cover the homestead amount, the prior liens, and the sale costs, and once a sale does go through, you get paid the homestead amount first, before the remaining proceeds go anywhere else.
Debts that can still reach your home
Four categories can reach the home despite the exemption: (1) a consensual lien you agreed to, like a mortgage, deed of trust, or contract of conveyance; (2) a construction lien for labor or materials used on the property; (3) a lien for child support or spousal maintenance arrearages that's been reduced to judgment or otherwise perfected; and (4) any other recorded judgment or lien, but only to the extent your equity exceeds the homestead exemption amount. Any attempted sale that doesn't fall into one of these four categories is invalid and passes no title to the buyer.
Protection for sale proceeds
If you sell your homestead, the cash proceeds stay exempt automatically, up to the exemption amount, for 18 months after the sale, or until you buy a new home with the money, whichever comes first. That protection is specific to an actual sale; it doesn't cover cash you pull out through a refinance of the same property.
What trips people up
People sometimes assume that because Arizona's exemption is automatic, their home is completely untouchable no matter how much equity they have. It isn't: if your equity clears the exemption amount plus any mortgage balance, a creditor with a judgment can still force a sale, the exemption guarantees you get paid your protected share first, not that the sale can't happen at all. Also don't confuse the flat $400,000 figure printed in the statute with the actual current number, it's adjusted every January for inflation, so the real protection is somewhat higher than what a plain read of the code section shows.
Common questions
Do I need to file anything to get Arizona's homestead exemption? No. It applies automatically the moment you live in a qualifying home. The only time you'd need to record a declaration is if you own more than one property and a creditor formally demands that you designate which one is your homestead.
Can my spouse and I each get a separate $400,000 exemption? No. A married couple gets one combined homestead exemption per residence, not one per spouse.
Can a creditor still force the sale of my house if I have a lot of equity? Yes, if your equity is worth more than the exemption amount plus any mortgage or other senior lien. The sale can only proceed on terms that pay you the exemption amount first, though, so you don't come away empty-handed.
Statutes and sources
- A.R.S. Sec. 33-1101, https://www.azleg.gov/ars/33/01101.htm (accessed 2026-07-09)
- A.R.S. Sec. 33-1102, https://www.azleg.gov/ars/33/01102.htm (accessed 2026-07-09)
- A.R.S. Sec. 33-1103, https://www.azleg.gov/ars/33/01103.htm (accessed 2026-07-09)
- A.R.S. Sec. 33-1104, https://www.azleg.gov/ars/33/01104.htm (accessed 2026-07-09)
- A.R.S. Sec. 33-1105, https://www.azleg.gov/ars/33/01105.htm (accessed 2026-07-09)
- AZ SB 1543 (2025), signed 2025-04-18, https://apps.azleg.gov/BillStatus/BillOverview/82973?SessionId=129 (accessed 2026-07-09)
- AZ SB 1540 (2025), signed 2025-05-02, https://apps.azleg.gov/BillStatus/BillOverview/82978?SessionId=129 (accessed 2026-07-09)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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