Note (Feb 1): Unfortunately, NAR only allows up to 400 messages to the elected official if you are not a constituent. I apologize for the inconvenience. You can always have your members contact Andrea Romero directly, the sponsor of this bill, at andrea@andrearomero.com (505) 986-4243 (505) 490-6155 and use NMAR's talking points below.
HB65:
provides substantial protections for non-paying tenants:
reduces the amount of late fees an owner may charge a non-paying tenant;
increases the amount of time a non-paying tenant has to pay the rent once served with a notice of non-payment of rent (from 3 to 11 days) - if rent is not paid, owner cannot move forward with eviction proceedings until after the 11 days has expired;
requires the owner to first secure a judgment before being granted a writ of restitution (the "eviction" writ)
increases the time frame for a court to set a trial on an action for the non-payment of rent (from 7 to 14 days) and prohibits a judge from ordering an eviction less than 15-days after the judgment is entered;
prevents evictions of non-paying tenants during an emergency or disaster that requires quarantines, isolation, or social distancing measures;
adds protected activity in which the tenant may engage without retaliation but provides for an “order of proof” that does not require the tenant to prove retaliation.
NMAR opposes these changes to the Uniform Owner Resident Relations Act for the following reasons:
the extended timeframes and changes in procedure will take an already laborious process for evictions and make it even more difficult and time consuming for property owners to evict tenants for nonpayment of rent
tenants will not have to prove retaliation to bring a claim for retaliation against owners
the prohibition of evictions for nonpayment of rent during declared emergencies could last long periods of time, creating a severe financial burden on property owners.
Please consider the following:
Not all owners of rental property are large corporate apartment owners. Many are individuals having purchased single family residents or small multi-family rental properties.
These owners rely on the income from the rent paid by tenants to pay their bills, buy groceries and maintain the property.
The NM Supreme Court Moratorium on evictions that lasted nearly 2 years and allowed non-paying tenants to occupy property without owner recourse showed us what a tremendous economic hardship these tenant-favored laws/orders have on these individual property owners.
As a result of ignoring these small rental property owners, who cannot afford to rent out their properties when non-paying tenants are afforded such latitude,
many of these properties will be removed from the rental market, resulting in a shortage of rental units.; and
existing rents will increase as the remaining rental property owners attempt to correct for these inequities in the law.
Click the link below to log in and send your message:
https://www.voter... (closed on Feb1 - see note above.)