New Mexico landlord-tenant law

You may charge an applicant a one-time screening fee of no more than $50 to cover the cost of a credit report, reference check or screening service, and no other fee to process an application. Before charging it, give written or digital notice of the fee, get the applicant's written agreement to pay, and give a receipt once it is paid.

NMSA 1978 § 47-8-19.2 NMSA 1978 § 47-8-19.3

The New Mexico Human Rights Act bars refusing to rent, setting different terms, or advertising or asking questions that show a preference because of race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, pregnancy, childbirth or a related condition, spousal affiliation, physical or mental disability, or military status.

NMSA 1978 § 28-1-7(G)

Required disclosures

Partly read

At or before the start of the residency, disclose in writing the name, address and telephone number of the person who manages the premises and of an owner or agent for service of process and notices, and keep them current. Give each tenant a written rental agreement before occupancy; rules bind the tenant only if copies were given at signing. A published listing must itemize the base rent and every fee or charge the tenant will pay during the residency.

NMSA 1978 § 47-8-19 NMSA 1978 § 47-8-19.1 NMSA 1978 § 47-8-20(G) NMSA 1978 § 47-8-23(F)

The Owner-Resident Relations Act requires no flood disclosure. Other New Mexico law was not checked for one.

NMSA 1978 §§ 47-8-1 to 47-8-52

In writing, at or before the start of the residency, give the tenant the name, address and telephone number of the person authorized to manage the premises, and of an owner or person authorized to accept service of process and notices for the owner. Keep the information current; the duty binds any later owner or manager.

NMSA 1978 § 47-8-19

You may ask for a reasonable deposit to cover damage the tenant causes. Under a rental agreement of less than one year, you may not demand or receive a deposit of more than one month's rent. Under an annual rental agreement a larger deposit is allowed, but a deposit over one month's rent earns the tenant interest each year.

NMSA 1978 § 47-8-18(A)

When the residency ends you may apply the deposit to unpaid rent and to damages from the tenant's breach of the rental agreement or of the tenant's duties, but no deposit may be kept for normal wear and tear. If you keep any part, give the tenant an itemized written list of deductions and the balance, if any, within 30 days after the rental agreement ends or the tenant leaves, whichever is later. Mailing the list and any payment to the tenant's last known address is enough.

NMSA 1978 § 47-8-18(C)

Under an annual rental agreement, if you demand or receive a deposit of more than one month's rent, you pay the tenant interest on the deposit every year. The rate is the passbook interest the federal home loan bank board permitted savings and loan associations in New Mexico; the statute states no figure. The Act does not require a separate or trust account for deposits.

NMSA 1978 § 47-8-18(A)(1) NMSA 1978 §§ 47-8-1 to 47-8-52

The Owner-Resident Relations Act does not require a move-in checklist or inspection report. At move-out the tenant must leave the home as clean as it was at move-in, apart from ordinary wear and tear, and no part of the deposit may be kept for normal wear and tear.

NMSA 1978 §§ 47-8-1 to 47-8-52 NMSA 1978 § 47-8-22(B) NMSA 1978 § 47-8-18(C)

Rent is due without demand at the time and place the rental agreement sets. You may charge a late fee only if the rental agreement provides for one, and it may not exceed 5 percent of the rent for each rental period the tenant is in default. The fee is figured on rent alone, not deposits, other fees or utilities, and to assess it you must give notice of the fee no later than the last day of the next rental period.

NMSA 1978 § 47-8-15(D)

The Owner-Resident Relations Act sets no fee for a returned check or payment. Other New Mexico law on dishonored checks was not read for this page.

NMSA 1978 §§ 47-8-1 to 47-8-52

Rent increase notice

To raise rent in a month-to-month residency, give the tenant written notice at least 30 days before the periodic rental date in the rental agreement. In a fixed-term residency, give it at least 30 days before the term ends. For a periodic residency shorter than a month, give written notice at least one rental period before the first increased payment. New Mexico bars local rent control.

NMSA 1978 § 47-8-15(F) NMSA 1978 § 47-8A-1

Unless you and the tenant agree otherwise, give 24 hours' written notice before entering to inspect, repair, supply services or show the home, stating the purpose, the date and a reasonable estimate of the time frame. You may enter without consent in an emergency, and you must not abuse the right of access.

NMSA 1978 § 47-8-24

You must substantially comply with minimum housing codes that materially affect health and safety, make repairs to keep the premises safe, keep common areas safe, and keep supplied electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilating, air conditioning and other facilities and appliances in good and safe working order. You must also provide trash receptacles and removal, running water, a reasonable amount of hot water at all times, and reasonable heat.

NMSA 1978 § 47-8-20

If you do not meet your repair duties, the tenant gives you written notice. For a material breach of the rental agreement, or a breach of the Act that materially affects health and safety, the tenant may end the rental agreement on a date at least seven days after you receive the notice unless you reasonably try to fix it within seven days. Or the tenant may abate rent: one third of the daily rent from the notice until the repair if you do not fix the condition within seven days, or all of it for each day the home is uninhabitable and the tenant does not live there. The Act gives no right to repair and deduct.

NMSA 1978 § 47-8-27.1 NMSA 1978 § 47-8-27.2

The Owner-Resident Relations Act has no section on locks, rekeying or security devices. Your general duty is to keep the premises safe and follow applicable housing codes; local codes were not read for this page.

NMSA 1978 §§ 47-8-1 to 47-8-52 NMSA 1978 § 47-8-20(A)(1), (2)

The Owner-Resident Relations Act has no section on smoke or carbon monoxide alarms. You must substantially comply with minimum housing codes that affect health and safety; the state and local fire and building codes that set alarm rules were not read for this page.

NMSA 1978 §§ 47-8-1 to 47-8-52 NMSA 1978 § 47-8-20(A)(1)

You may not raise rent, cut services, or bring or threaten an eviction because a tenant who is complying with the rental agreement has, within the previous six months, complained to a housing code agency, joined or organized a tenants' group, exercised rights under the Act in good faith (including a written repair request), made a fair housing complaint, won or has pending a lawsuit against you about the residency, testified for another tenant, or lawfully abated rent.

NMSA 1978 § 47-8-39

Except after abandonment or surrender, you may not lock out or remove a tenant without a court order, whether by fraud, changing or adding locks, blocking an entrance, interrupting utilities or services, removing the tenant's belongings, disabling appliances or fixtures, or making the home inaccessible or uninhabitable.

NMSA 1978 § 47-8-36

Either you or the tenant may end a month-to-month residency with written notice given at least 30 days before the periodic rental date named in the notice. A week-to-week residency ends with written notice at least seven days before the termination date. Without a definite term, a residency is week-to-week when rent is paid weekly and month-to-month otherwise.

NMSA 1978 § 47-8-37(A), (B) NMSA 1978 § 47-8-15(C)

The Owner-Resident Relations Act lets a tenant end a rental agreement early in a few cases: your serious repair breach after a seven-day notice, your failure to deliver possession at the start, unlawful or harassing entry, a lockout or cut service, and fire or casualty that substantially impairs the home. It has no section letting a tenant end a lease for domestic violence or military service; federal military law was not read for this page.

NMSA 1978 § 47-8-27.1(A)(1) NMSA 1978 § 47-8-26(B) NMSA 1978 § 47-8-24(F) NMSA 1978 § 47-8-36(C) NMSA 1978 § 47-8-31

If rent is unpaid when due, give the tenant written notice of the nonpayment and of your intent to end the rental agreement. If the tenant does not pay within three days, you may end the agreement and the tenant must give up possession. If the tenant tenders the full amount due, in the way the notice states, before the three days run out, you may not sue for nonpayment.

NMSA 1978 § 47-8-33(D)

For a first material breach of the rental agreement, or a breach of the tenant's duties that materially affects health and safety, give written notice with the dates and specific facts of the breach, stating that the agreement will end on a date at least seven days after the tenant receives it unless the breach is fixed within seven days. That first notice must also say that a second material breach within six months ends the agreement, and it must be given within 30 days of the breach or of learning of it.

NMSA 1978 § 47-8-33(A) to (C)

After the right notice, file a petition for restitution in the district or magistrate court with the facts, a description of the home and proof of the notice. Trial on your petition is set seven to ten days after the summons is served. If you win, the court issues a writ directing the sheriff to restore possession on a date three to seven days after judgment.

NMSA 1978 § 47-8-42 NMSA 1978 § 47-8-43 NMSA 1978 § 47-8-46

The home is abandoned when the tenant is gone more than seven straight days without notice after rent is delinquent; you may then take possession. After abandonment, store the tenant's property for at least 30 days and serve written notice, by hand or first class mail, of the disposal date at least 30 days out, with a phone number and address for getting it back.

NMSA 1978 § 47-8-3(A) NMSA 1978 § 47-8-34(C) NMSA 1978 § 47-8-34.1

Magistrate courts hear civil cases for up to $10,000, not counting interest and costs, including contract claims such as unpaid rent. Actions for possession under the Act are filed in the district or magistrate court.

NMSA 1978 § 35-3-3(A) NMSA 1978 § 47-8-10(A) NMSA 1978 § 47-8-42

No city, county or other political subdivision may adopt an ordinance that controls rents on privately owned property. The ban does not reach housing that receives government benefits or funding under contract to provide reduced rents for low- or moderate-income tenants.

NMSA 1978 § 47-8A-1