Fiscal impact reports (FIRs) are prepared by the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) for standing finance
committees of the Legislature. LFC does not assume responsibility for the accuracy of these reports if they
are used for other purposes.
F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR Trujillo
LAST UPDATED
ORIGINAL DATE 2/13/25
SHORT TITLE Self-Service Storage Rental Changes
BILL
NUMBER Senate Bill 180
ANALYST Chavez
ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT*
(dollars in thousands)
Agency/Program
FY25 FY26 FY27
3 Year
Total Cost
Recurring or
Nonrecurring
Fund
Affected
NMAG
Indeterminate
but minimal
Indeterminate
but minimal
Indeterminate
but minimal
Indeterminate
but minimal
Recurring General Fund
Parentheses ( ) indicate expenditure decreases.
*Amounts reflect most recent analysis of this legislation.
Sources of Information
LFC Files
Agency Analysis Received From
New Mexico Attorney General (NMAG)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Senate Bill 180
Senate Bill 180 (SB180) would amend sections within the Self-Service Storage Lien Act
(Section 48-11-3 NMSA 1978), specifically the sections governing rental agreements, the
establishment of liens, enforcement of liens, and language changes to required notice postings.
SB180 replaces “tenant” with “occupant” in the original section of the statute. The bill then adds
two subsections: The first subsection calls for a rental agreement, for self-storage rentals, to
include space for the occupant to designate an alternative contact. The alternative contact would
also receive a notice of intent to enforce a lien. The subsection outlines that if the occupant fails
or refuses to appoint an alternative contact, the owner of the storage facility will not be affected
regarding the protections in the Self-Service Storage Lien Act. Also described is that the
alternative contact will not have the right to access the storage space, or the personal property
stored unless expressly stated in the rental agreement. The second subsection calls for self-
service storage owners to send notice to occupants with rental agreements entered before 2025
informing them of the option to designate an alternative contact and the owner must create a
form that the occupant can fill out and return to designate the alternative contact.
SB180 would also amend Section 48-11-5 NMSA 1978 related to establishing a lien. The bill
would add language providing that any lien on a self-storage unit encompasses the late fees
associated to any rental payments in default.
Senate Bill 180 – Page 2
In addition, SB180 would amend Section 48-11-7 NMSA 1978 related to the enforcement of
liens to include notification of the alternative contact, along with the occupant, of the intent to
enforce a lien, with the notice being sent to the last known address of both parties within five
days of the owner entering the unit. SB180 would provide that an owner can take action to sell
the property in the self-service storage unit once the occupant has been in default for 45 days,
rather than the current 90 days. The bill goes on to make amendments to include the alternative
contact and their contact information rather than just the occupant of the self-service storage unit.
The Self-Service Storage Lien Act, in its current form, calls for an owner to advertise the sale of
property gained from enforcing a lien. The bill amends this section requiring that the time, place,
and manner of a sale be provided in the advertisement if the sale is to take place at least 15 days
after the publication of the advertisement. SB180 also adds to this section that if a rental
agreement specifies a limit on the value of personal property that may be stored in the occupant’s
unit, that limit would be deemed the maximum value of the stored property. The final addition to
this section would allow an owner to charge and collect a late fee of no more than $20 or 20
percent of the monthly rent, whichever is greater, for each month the occupant is in default.
Finally, SB180 amends Section 48-11-8 NMSA 1978 related to required posting to require the
posting to reflect the period in which the occupant must default continuously before the owner
takes action to sell any property is 45 days.
This bill does not contain an effective date and, as a result, would go into effect 90 days after the
Legislature adjourns if enacted, or June 20, 2025.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
Private sector entities would be the most affected by SB180. Self-service storage facility owners
would now be allowed to recuperate some losses from their defaulting occupants through the
fees they are allowed to impose monthly, as well as the lien expansion to include late fees
associated with any rental payments in default.
The Self-Service Storage Lien Act only allows the New Mexico Attorney General (NMAG) to
enforce the act through imposing a criminal liability of a petty misdemeanor for occupants who
do not disclose that what they are storing has a lien. This enforcement mechanism does not apply
to the amendments made in SB180 but could have an indeterminate, but minimal fiscal impact
because the bill adds alternative contacts which can be used to investigate occupants who violate
the lien disclosure requisite.
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
Expanding communications to include an alternative contact could result in fewer occupants
losing their property because the owner was unable to reach them. Alternative contacts might
also work to help individuals gain access to a self-storage facilities if owners view them like co-
signers on loans. Although SB180 does not put financial or credit obligations on the alternative
contact, it could still increase the credibility of the prospective occupant.
Allowing owners to impose monthly fees on defaulting occupants could further the financial
burden already imposed on the defaulting party. However, the bill also allows owners to
recuperate additional losses from renting to a defaulting party. Senate Bill 180 – Page 3
TECHNICAL ISSUES
The NMAG provides the following:
The section amending the required publication of an advertisement of any sale of
property seized by the owner in enforcement of a lien makes things somewhat unclear.
With underlined text being the text added by the bill, the text of the statute would read
that the advertisement must include “the time, place and manner of the sale or other
disposition; provided that the sale or disposition shall take place [not sooner than] at least
fifteen days after the first publication.” This could read as making the time, place and
manner requirement in the advertisement contingent on the sale taking place at least 15
days after publication.
FC/hj/hg