Surprise, Ariz. mayor files for bankruptcy
Surprise Mayor Lyn Truitt has filed for personal bankruptcy, citing more than $464,000 in mortgage, credit card and other debt.
Truitt filed for bankruptcy in federal court on Dec. 22. His filing states he’s currently making about $40,000 per year, $34,000 of which is his taxpayer-funded salary.
The documents show Truitt owes more than $77,000 on 10 different credit cards. He also has two mortgages totaling $371,000 on his home in Surprise’s Coyote Lakes neighborhood.
Truitt said he plans to continue paying his mortgage so he can keep his home, valued at $153,000.
Truitt said he’s been struggling financially since his wife, Donna, died two years after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He said the loss of a second household income and subsequent medical bills has been devastating.
“It’s very humbling,” Truitt said. “It’s a pretty major turn around in my life.”
Truitt, a real estate broker, said his financial troubles were compounded by a downward spiral in the real estate market. His annual income from his business, the brokerage firm L.E. Truitt and Associates, has dropped to about $14,000, compared with almost $138,000 in 2009.
Truitt is seeking reelection this year and already has two challengers looking to face him in the August primary. He said he doesn’t think voters will fault him for his financial troubles.
“There are people across this nation that are in exactly the same situation I am through no fault of their own,” he said. “I think they’re going to realize I’m a regular person and affected by this economy just like everybody else.”
Republic reporter D.S. Woodfill contributed to this report.