New Mexico Landlord-Tenant Laws
Local rent regulation in New Mexico
New Mexico law bars any political subdivision, including home-rule municipalities, from adopting ordinances that control rents for privately owned property, with exceptions for government-owned property and government-subsidized affordable housing.
Cited to NMSA 1978 § 47-8A-1 (official compiled code) · Verified August 12, 2026 · Full New Mexico rent-increase rules →
New Mexico landlord-tenant laws by topic
New Mexico security deposits
New Mexico caps security deposits at one month's rent for any rental agreement shorter than one year — including month-to-month tenancies — while annual leases have no numeric cap but trigger a rare interest rule: if an annual-lease deposit exceeds one month's rent, the landlord must pay the tenant interest on it every year.
New Mexico rent increase notice
New Mexico is one of the few states with an express rent-increase statute: a landlord raising the rent on a month-to-month tenancy must give written notice at least 30 days before the periodic rental date specified in the rental agreement — that is, 30 days before the rent due date on which the increase takes effect, not merely 30 days before some effective date.
New Mexico late fees
New Mexico caps residential late fees at 5% of the rent for each rental period the tenant is in default — cut from 10% by a 2025 law effective June 20, 2025 — and the fee may be charged only if the rental agreement provides for it.
New Mexico entry notice
New Mexico landlords must give 24 hours' written notice before entering a rental unit, and the notice must state the purpose, the date, and a reasonable estimate of the time frame of the entry — an unusually specific content requirement.
New Mexico eviction process
To evict a residential tenant in New Mexico the owner serves one written notice - three days for unpaid rent, or seven days to cure any other material breach - under NMSA 1978, Section 47-8-33, and then files a petition for restitution in the magistrate, metropolitan or district court, where trial must be set not less than seven nor more than ten days after the summons is served.
New Mexico application & screening fees
New Mexico caps the rental screening fee at $50 and makes it the only charge an owner may impose to process an application, a rule that took effect on June 20, 2025.
New Mexico deposit interest
New Mexico requires a landlord to pay annual interest on a security deposit, but only under an annual rental agreement where the deposit is greater than one month's rent — and the rate the statute names stopped existing in 1986.
New Mexico habitability & repairs
New Mexico's standard is a safe condition rather than fit and habitable: the owner must substantially comply with the applicable minimum housing codes materially affecting health and safety, put and keep the premises in a safe condition, keep common areas safe, maintain the electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilating and air conditioning facilities and appliances in good and safe working order, handle waste receptacles and removal, and supply running water, a reasonable amount of hot water at all times, and reasonable heat.
New Mexico lease termination
In New Mexico either the owner or the resident may end a month-to-month residency with 30 days' written notice, and no reason is required.
New Mexico mobile home park laws
New Mexico's Mobile Home Park Act, NMSA 1978 §§ 47-10-1 to 47-10-23, governs the tenancy of a resident who owns the home and rents the lot beneath it in a park of twelve or more occupied mobile homes: a written lease is required before a tenancy can begin, a lot-rent increase takes sixty days' written notice, and a tenancy may be ended only for the reasons the act lists, each through a notice to quit in the statutory form.
New Mexico Fair Market Rents (FY 2027) — HUD's benchmark rents for every New Mexico metro area and county.
Changes since last full verification
The Verified date above (July 11, 2026) marks the last time every figure on this page was verified end-to-end against official state sources. The changes below were published since then, each verified against the official source it names (what these dates mean).
- Correction, August 29, 2026 — Deposit-interest prose corrections from a primary-source re-read of every state's law: IA unsupported after-five-years inference removed (Iowa Code 562A.12 stops at the five-year landlord allocation) and the anti-commingling rule narrowed to the landlord's personal funds; FL commingling bar scoped to the two account options in 83.49(1)(a)-(b); IL local line names Chicago only and the Department announces the qualifying bank's rate; NJ 46:8-19's ten-unit tier stated as a mandatory vehicle rule (money-market fund or variable-rate account); MN unverified pre-2003 5.5% figure removed and 504B.178 subd. 7's bad-faith presumption with its two-week-after-suit cure window added; NM 47-8-18's rate reference records the 1986 federal ceiling expiry alongside the 1989 agency abolition; VA repeal pinned to July 1, 2014 (accrual duty) and January 1, 2015 (rate schedule) under 2014 Acts c. 651 enactment clause 4; MO 99.040 carve-out stated in the statute's own scope words; AZ mobile-home-park deposit cell gains A.R.S. 33-1431(B)'s five-percent-minimum annual interest duty (paid or compounded annually) with the 33-1431(D) doubling remedy.
How this record was verified: Verbatim reads of two independent official documents, each downloaded and read in full: (1) the NM Regulation & Licensing Department's official UORRA compilation PDF (rld.nm.gov, 2019 edition) for sections 47-8-15 (pre-2025 baseline), 47-8-18, 47-8-24, 47-8-37 and full-chapter negative sweeps (no escrow/interest-account rule, no grace period, no pet-deposit statute, no frequency limit); and (2) the final (enrolled, SJC substitute) version of 2025 SB 267 on nmlegis.gov (Laws 2025, ch. 122, signed 2025-04-08, effective 2025-06-20) for the current text of 47-8-15 (5% late fee), new sections 47-8-19.1 to 47-8-19.4, and amended 47-8-48. Every critical figure reconciled against FindLaw (mirror stamped current 2024-01-01) and Justia 2025-edition amendment notes; the two officials agree with each other and the mirrors on the 1-month deposit cap for sub-annual agreements, annual-lease interest trigger, 30-day return, $250 bad-faith penalty, 5% late fee and its notice-to-assess mechanic, 30-days-before-the-rental-date increase rule, and 24-hour written entry notice. Section 47-8A-1 (rent control preemption) initially verified on two mirrors reconciled verbatim (Justia + FindLaw) because the official host nmonesource.com does not offer stable section links; a same-day (2026-07-11) direct read of the official compiled code on nmonesource.com (NMSA Unannotated, Chapter 47) then sight-verified 47-8A-1 verbatim (subsections A-C, History: Laws 1991, ch. 23, § 1), the compiled 47-8-15 text including the 5% subsection (D) and the 2025 ch. 122 history line, the compiled section numbers 47-8-19.1 through 47-8-19.4, and the unamended history lines of 47-8-18 (1975/1985/1989) and 47-8-24 (1975/1995) — all matching the figures shown here. Pending-bill sweep 2026-07-11: 2026 regular session (30-day) adjourned sine die 2026-02-19; SB 138 (repeal rent control prohibition) died in committee (Action Postponed Indefinitely, confirmed on the official nmlegis.gov bill page); no UORRA bill touching the four topics passed. September 5, 2026 addendum: the decisive figures touched by the 2025-2026 enactments reviewed that day were re-read on the official host — §§ 47-8-15 and 47-8-19.2 through 47-8-19.4 on nmonesource.com and the enrolled 2025 SB 267 on nmlegis.gov; the earlier reads stand as recorded.