NM
New Mexico Senate Bill SB359

New Mexico 2025 Regular Session

New Mexico Senate Bill SB359 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.
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2828 SENATE BILL 359
2929 57
3030 TH LEGISLATURE
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3333 STATE
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3535 OF
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4242 FIRST SESSION
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4545 2025
4646 INTRODUCED BY
4747 Craig W. Brandt
4848 AN ACT
4949 RELATING TO PROPERTY CRIME; PROVIDING A PROCESS FOR REMOVING
5050 UNLAWFUL OCCUPANTS OF REAL PROPERTY FROM THAT PROPERTY;
5151 PROVIDING A FORM TO REQUEST THE REMOVAL OF AN UNLAWFUL OCCUPANT
5252 FROM REAL PROPERTY; PROVIDING PROCEDURES FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT TO
5353 REMOVE UNLAWFUL OCCUPANTS FROM REAL PROPERTY; PRESCRIBING
5454 PROCEDURES FOR NOTICE; CREATING A CAUSE OF ACTION FOR PERSONS
5555 WHO WERE WRONGFULLY REMOVED FROM REAL PROPERTY; AMENDING THE
5656 CLASSIFICATION OF THE CRIMES OF CRIMINAL DAMAGE TO PROPERTY AND
5757 FRAUD.
5858 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
5959 SECTION 1. A new section of Chapter 31 NMSA 1978 is
6060 enacted to read:
6161 "[NEW MATERIAL] REMOVAL OF UNLAWFUL OCCUPANTS--FORM.--
6262 A. As used in this section, "unlawfully occupying"
6363 .228731.1 underscored material = new
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9090 means a crime constituting trespassing pursuant to Chapter 30,
9191 Article 14 NMSA 1978.
9292 B. A property owner or the property owner's
9393 authorized agent may request from the sheriff of a county in
9494 which the real property is located the immediate removal of a
9595 person or persons unlawfully occupying real property owned by
9696 that property owner; provided that:
9797 (1) the requester is the property owner or
9898 authorized agent of the property owner;
9999 (2) the real property that is being occupied
100100 includes a residential dwelling;
101101 (3) the purported unlawful occupant or
102102 occupants entered without permission from the property owner or
103103 the authorized agent of the property owner and continuously
104104 reside on the real property in question;
105105 (4) the real property was not open to members
106106 of the public at the time the unlawful occupant or occupants
107107 entered;
108108 (5) the property owner or authorized agent of
109109 the property owner has directed the unlawful occupant or
110110 occupants to leave the real property;
111111 (6) the unlawful occupant or occupants are not
112112 current or former residents of the real property at issue
113113 pursuant to a written or oral rental agreement pursuant to the
114114 Uniform Owner-Resident Relations Act;
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143143 (7) the unlawful occupant or occupants are not
144144 immediate family members of the property owner; and
145145 (8) there is no pending litigation related to
146146 the real property between the property owner and any known
147147 unlawful occupant or occupants.
148148 C. To request the immediate removal of an unlawful
149149 occupant of real property, the property owner or the property
150150 owner's authorized agent shall submit a complaint by presenting
151151 a completed and verified complaint to remove unlawful occupants
152152 of real property to the sheriff of the county in which the real
153153 property is located. The submitted complaint shall be in the
154154 following form:
155155 "COMPLAINT TO REMOVE UNLAWFUL OCCUPANTS OF REAL PROPERTY
156156 I, ____________________________________________________,
157157 (Property owner or property owner's authorized
158158 agent's name)
159159 the owner of the real property located at
160160 ____________________________________________________, declare
161161 under the penalty of perjury that:
162162 (1) I am the owner of the real property or the
163163 authorized agent of the owner of the real property;
164164 (2) the real property is a residential
165165 dwelling;
166166 (3) an unlawful occupant trespassed, pursuant
167167 to Chapter 30, Article 14 NMSA 1978, and is residing unlawfully
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196196 on the real property;
197197 (4) the real property was not open to members
198198 of the public at the time the unlawful occupant or occupants
199199 entered;
200200 (5) I have directed the unlawful occupant or
201201 occupants to leave the real property, but the unlawful occupant
202202 or occupants refuse to do so;
203203 (6) the unlawful occupant or occupants are not
204204 immediate family members of the property owner;
205205 (7) the unlawful occupant or occupants are not
206206 current or former tenants constituting holdover tenants
207207 pursuant to a rental agreement between the property owner and
208208 that tenant pursuant to the Uniform Owner-Resident Relations
209209 Act;
210210 (8) the unlawful occupant or occupants sought
211211 to be removed are not owners or co-owners of the property and
212212 are not lawfully listed on the title to the property;
213213 (9) there is no pending litigation involving
214214 the real property between the property owner and any person
215215 sought to be removed;
216216 (10) I understand that the unlawful occupant
217217 or occupants that I seek to remove from the real property
218218 pursuant to this procedure may bring a cause of action against
219219 me for any false statements made in this complaint, or for
220220 wrongfully using this procedure, and that as a result of such
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249249 action, I may be held liable for actual damages, penalties,
250250 costs and reasonable attorney fees;
251251 (11) I am requesting the sheriff to
252252 immediately remove the unlawful occupant or occupants from my
253253 property; and
254254 (12) a copy of my valid, government-issued
255255 identification is attached to this form or, as an agent of the
256256 property owner, documents evidencing my authority to act on the
257257 property owner's behalf are attached.
258258 I have read the statements contained in this petition and
259259 each statement is true and correct. I understand that the
260260 statements made in this petition are being made under penalty
261261 of perjury, punishable as provided in Section 30-25-1 NMSA
262262 1978.
263263 _________________________________________________
264264 (Signature of the Property Owner or the Authorized Agent)"."
265265 SECTION 2. A new section of Chapter 31 NMSA 1978 is
266266 enacted to read:
267267 "[NEW MATERIAL] REMOVAL OF UNLAWFUL OCCUPANTS--LAW
268268 ENFORCEMENT PROCEDURES--NOTICE.--
269269 A. Upon the receipt of a form provided pursuant to
270270 Section 1 of this 2025 act, the sheriff of the county in which
271271 the real property at issue is located shall verify that the
272272 person submitting the form is the record owner of the real
273273 property or the authorized agent of the owner and appears
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302302 otherwise entitled to relief pursuant to this 2025 act. If
303303 verified, the sheriff shall serve a notice to immediately
304304 vacate on all unlawful occupants and shall put the person
305305 submitting the form in actual possession of the real property.
306306 The sheriff shall also attempt to verify the identities of all
307307 persons unlawfully occupying the real property and note those
308308 identities on the return of service, as provided pursuant to
309309 Subsection B of this section. If appropriate, the sheriff may
310310 arrest any person found on the real property for trespass,
311311 outstanding warrants or any other legal cause, where warranted.
312312 B. Pursuant to Subsection A of this section,
313313 service may be accomplished by:
314314 (1) hand delivery of notice to the alleged
315315 unlawful occupant; or
316316 (2) posting the notice on the front door or
317317 entrance of the real property at issue.
318318 C. After the sheriff serves the notice to
319319 immediately vacate, the property owner or authorized agent may
320320 request that the sheriff stand by to keep the peace while the
321321 property owner or authorized agent of the property owner
322322 changes the locks and removes the personal property of the
323323 unlawful occupants from the premises to or near the property
324324 line. When such a request is made, the law enforcement agency
325325 that employs the sheriff may charge a reasonable fee, and the
326326 person requesting the sheriff to stand by is responsible for
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355355 paying the fee. The property owner or the property owner's
356356 authorized agent is not liable to an unlawful occupant or any
357357 other party for the loss, destruction or damage to the personal
358358 property unless the removal was wrongful.
359359 D. Nothing in this section shall limit the rights
360360 of a property owner or limit the authority of a law enforcement
361361 officer to arrest an unlawful occupant for trespassing,
362362 vandalism, theft or other crimes."
363363 SECTION 3. Section 30-15-1 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1963,
364364 Chapter 303, Section 15-1) is amended to read:
365365 "30-15-1. CRIMINAL DAMAGE TO PROPERTY.--Criminal damage
366366 to property consists of intentionally damaging any real or
367367 personal property of another without the consent of the owner
368368 of the property.
369369 Whoever commits criminal damage to property is guilty of a
370370 petty misdemeanor, except that when the damage to the property
371371 amounts to more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), [he ] the
372372 person is guilty of a [fourth ] second degree felony."
373373 SECTION 4. Section 30-16-6 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1963,
374374 Chapter 303, Section 16-6, as amended) is amended to read:
375375 "30-16-6. FRAUD.--
376376 A. Fraud consists of the intentional
377377 misappropriation or taking of anything of value that belongs to
378378 another by means of fraudulent conduct, practices or
379379 representations.
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408408 B. Whoever commits fraud when the value of the
409409 property misappropriated or taken is two hundred fifty dollars
410410 ($250) or less is guilty of a petty misdemeanor.
411411 C. Whoever commits fraud when the value of the
412412 property misappropriated or taken is over two hundred fifty
413413 dollars ($250) but not more than five hundred dollars ($500) is
414414 guilty of a misdemeanor.
415415 D. Whoever commits fraud when the value of the
416416 property misappropriated or taken is over five hundred dollars
417417 ($500) but not more than two thousand five hundred dollars
418418 ($2,500) is guilty of a fourth degree felony.
419419 E. Whoever commits fraud when the value of the
420420 property misappropriated or taken is over two thousand five
421421 hundred dollars ($2,500) but not more than twenty thousand
422422 dollars ($20,000) is guilty of a third degree felony.
423423 F. Whoever commits fraud when the value of the
424424 property misappropriated or taken exceeds twenty thousand
425425 dollars ($20,000) is guilty of a [second ] first degree felony.
426426 G. Whoever commits fraud when the property
427427 misappropriated or taken is a firearm that is valued at less
428428 than two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) is guilty of a
429429 fourth degree felony."
430430 SECTION 5. A new section of Chapter 42, Article 4 NMSA
431431 1978 is enacted to read:
432432 "[NEW MATERIAL] CAUSE OF ACTION--EJECTMENT--ACTION FOR
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461461 UNLAWFUL REMOVAL FROM REAL PROPERTY.--A person removed pursuant
462462 to Section 1 of this 2025 act may bring a civil cause of action
463463 for ejectment to seek to restore possession of the real
464464 property at issue. A person entitled to possession of the real
465465 property pursuant to this section may recover actual costs and
466466 damages incurred and statutory damages. The court shall
467467 advance the cause on the calendar."
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