Housing (Renters)

This memorial (HM 54) requests New Mexico's Public Regulation Commission to form a working group focused on improving utility access for mobile home park tenants. It directly affects the PRC, mobile home park owners, tenants, and utility providers by seeking recommendations for consistent rules governing water, electricity, gas, and sewer services. The working group must include diverse stakeholders - like tenant and owner associations, utility representatives, and low-income advocates - and report by November 2026. The memorial does not create new laws but aims to develop a regulatory framework addressing frequent utility disruptions faced by tenants, who often rent land while owning their mobile homes.

HB 192 prohibits foreign corporations (including in-state subsidiaries) from purchasing single-family homes in New Mexico as investment rental properties before July 1, 2036. The bill directly affects foreign-owned real estate investment entities seeking to buy homes for rental purposes within the state. Key provisions ban these transactions for single-family residential properties, defining "foreign corporation" as one organized under the laws of another state or country. The law aims to limit foreign corporate ownership of residential rental housing, effective July 1, 2036.

SB 138 repeals a state law that has prohibited New Mexico cities and towns from enacting rent control on privately owned housing. This bill directly affects local governments, removing a legal barrier that has prevented them from creating rent control policies since 1991. The key mechanism is the repeal of Section 47-8A-1 NMSA 1978, which previously banned municipalities from passing such ordinances. If passed, this would allow cities and towns to develop their own rent control rules for private rental properties.