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 October 1, 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 an 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 has 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.
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 lease disclosures
New Mexico is one of the few states that compel a written lease: the owner must provide a written rental agreement to each resident before occupancy begins, whatever the term and whatever the size of the building.
New Mexico pets & assistance animals
New Mexico has no pet law at all: no pet-deposit statute, no pet-rent or pet-fee statute, no breed rule for rentals, and no state assistance-animal rule that reaches housing.
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.
Editable New Mexico deposit kit · Editable New Mexico disclosure packet — editable documents built on the verified New Mexico rules on this page, in Word, fillable PDF and Excel.
Changes since last full verification
The Verified date above (October 1, 2026) marks the last time every figure on this page was verified end-to-end against official sources. The changes below were published since then, each verified against the official source it names (what these dates mean).
- Correction, October 2, 2026 — Albuquerque (correction): the cooling requirement was added by Ordinance O-2024-047 and took effect in January 2025, five days after publication; the page had said July 1, 2025. It applies to every dwelling unit (the heating requirement also reaches guest rooms). A note that none of the six housing-code sections addresses pests now points to the structural section's requirement that wood be protected against termite damage.
How this record was verified: Read on the New Mexico Compilation Commission's site (nmonesource.com), the official publisher of the New Mexico Statutes Annotated 1978: Chapter 47 in the compilation current through the 2026 session, for the Uniform Owner-Resident Relations Act (sections 47-8-1 to 47-8-52), section 47-8A-1 on rent control and the Mobile Home Park Act (sections 47-10-1 to 47-10-23), with chapters 12, 14, 34, 35 and 39 and the court rules (Rule Sets 1, 2, 3, 4 and 12 NMRA) for the eviction answers. The final version of 2025 Senate Bill 267 (Laws 2025, ch. 122, signed April 8, 2025, effective June 20, 2025) was read on nmlegis.gov for the current text of section 47-8-15 (the 5% late fee), new sections 47-8-19.1 to 47-8-19.4 and amended section 47-8-48. The 2026 regular session adjourned on February 19, 2026; Senate Bill 138 (repeal of the rent control prohibition) died in committee, and no act of that session amended the Uniform Owner-Resident Relations Act. Every section the security deposit, rent increase, late fee, entry and eviction answers rest on was last read on October 1, 2026. The codes of Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Las Cruces, Farmington, Roswell, Bernalillo County, Sandoval County and Los Alamos County were searched the same day for local eviction ordinances.