Just before Thanksgiving, Sen. Leah Landrum Taylor found out about a constituent who was given five-days' notice to move out of a duplex she and her family had been renting.

It turned out the property owner had let the home slip into foreclosure.

The constituent was caring for an elderly wheelchair-bound family member and a disabled child, and the family had to scramble to find an affordable place to stay that had access for disabled people, said Landrum Taylor, a Phoenix Democrat.

Now the senator has filed a bill to mandate landlords facing foreclosure action to provide tenants with a written notice at least 30 days before the date of a foreclosure sale.

Under S1108, a landowner who knowingly fails to provide a notice could be charged with a Class 1 misdemeanor.

"I've had more than my share of constituent phone calls – of folks just beside themselves because they have only had five days to move out of a property that they had been paying rent on," Landrum Taylor said. "I could not hear about another family going through this."

Landrum Taylor said the misdemeanor charge is a starting point for her legislation and added she is willing to modify it if necessary.

"The only thing that I am really concerned about is making sure that those renters are being protected," she said.

One of the hardest hit states in the nation, Arizona is facing a record number of foreclosures.

According to RealtyTrac, an online marketplace for foreclosure properties, Arizona saw a total of 116,911 properties go into foreclosure during 2008. It was the third highest in the country next to California and Florida.

In fact, foreclosure activity in the state increased 203 percent from 2007, and 655 percent from 2006, RealtyTrac said.

"It's time for a new law to be created and not have these renters just blindsided with what's going on," Landrum Taylor said.