Landlord Won't Make Repairs in Albuquerque: What Can I Do?

What your landlord has to fix

1. 1

   In New Mexico, your landlord must substantially follow the minimum housing codes that seriously affect health and safety. Your landlord must make repairs needed to keep your home safe. Your landlord must keep the electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems and appliances in good and safe working order. This covers the ones your landlord supplies or must supply.

   Source:

   1. § 47-8-20(A), New Mexico Statutes Annotated 1978 (NMSA). Law.
   Tip.

   Take photos of each problem, with the date. Take more if it gets worse.

2. 2

   In New Mexico, your landlord must supply running water, a reasonable amount of hot water at all times, and reasonable heat. The duty does not cover a building the law does not require to have heat or hot water. It does not cover heat or hot water made by equipment only you control and supplied by a direct public utility connection.

   Source:

   1. § 47-8-20(A), New Mexico Statutes Annotated 1978 (NMSA). Law.

Ask in writing

3. 3

   If your landlord does not meet the state repair duties, write to your landlord about the conditions that need repair. If your landlord does not fix them within 7 days of your notice, state law lets you lower your rent. Broken amenities (extras whose absence would not seriously affect your health, safety or whether the home is fit to live in) do not count. Your landlord may disagree and try to evict you.

   Sources:

   1. Our editorial rules.
   2. § 47-8-27.2(A), New Mexico Statutes Annotated 1978 (NMSA). Law.
   Your landlord can take you to court.

   If you hold back rent, pay less, or take repair costs out of your rent, your landlord can file an eviction case for unpaid rent. If the judge rules for your landlord, you can owe the rent and court costs and have to move out. Your proof matters. Even a case you win can show up when you apply for a new place. Get legal help first.

   Tip.

   Keep a copy of every letter you give your landlord, and keep your mail receipt. Save the texts and emails you send your landlord, and any replies.

Get your home inspected

4. 4

   You can report housing code problems to the City of Albuquerque. Call 311 (505-768-2000) or report online. The 311 service sends your complaint to the right department to investigate.

   Sources:

   1. Our editorial rules.
   2. Report a Violation, City of Albuquerque. A government guide.
   Think before you call an inspector.

   You or a neighbor can ask the city to send a code inspector. Be careful: if the home is in very bad shape, the inspector can condemn it (say no one may live there). Then everyone must move out, you too, sometimes on short notice. Think about where you would go before you call.

   Tip.

   If you can pay for it, a private home inspector can check the problems. Their written report and photos help show the conditions.

If it is still not fixed

5. 5

   Under New Mexico law, you cannot end your lease or lower your rent over a repair problem you caused. This covers a problem caused on purpose or through carelessness. It covers you, a member of your family, or someone else there with your consent.

   Source:

   1. § 47-8-27.1(B), New Mexico Statutes Annotated 1978 (NMSA). Law.
6. 6

   If your landlord does not fix a repair problem within 7 days of your written notice, you can lower your rent. This is called abating (lowering) rent. You take off one third of your daily rent for each day, counted from the day you gave notice until the repair. If your daily rent is $30, you take off $10 a day. Broken amenities (extras whose absence would not seriously affect health, safety or fitness to live in) do not count.

   Sources:

   1. Our editorial rules.
   2. § 47-8-27.2(A), New Mexico Statutes Annotated 1978 (NMSA). Law.
7. 7

   Say your landlord does not fix a repair problem within 7 days of your written notice. Your home may then be unfit to live in (uninhabitable (not fit to live in)), and you are not living there because of it. If so, you owe no rent for each day from your notice until the fix. Broken amenities (extras whose absence would not seriously affect health, safety or fitness to live in) do not count. If your landlord disagrees, you could owe that rent.

   Sources:

   1. Our editorial rules.
   2. § 47-8-27.2(A), New Mexico Statutes Annotated 1978 (NMSA). Law.
   Your landlord can sue you for the rent.

   If you move out early because of repairs, your landlord can sue you for the rent up to the end of your lease. If the judge rules for your landlord, you can owe that rent. Your proof matters. Get legal help first.

8. 8

   For one repair problem in one rental period, you can either end your lease or lower your rent, not both. For a new problem, or the same problem in a later rental period, you can choose the other option.

   Sources:

   1. Our editorial rules.
   2. § 47-8-27.1(D), New Mexico Statutes Annotated 1978 (NMSA). Law.
9. 9

   If you follow your lease and the state renter law, your landlord cannot punish you for a written repair request made in good faith. Your landlord cannot raise your rent, cut your services, or bring or threaten an eviction case because of it. This protection covers requests you made in the past 6 months.

   Source:

   1. § 47-8-39(A), New Mexico Statutes Annotated 1978 (NMSA). Law.

Moving out

10. 10

    If your landlord fails the state repair duties, you may be able to end your lease. This applies if your landlord seriously breaks your lease, or breaks state renter law in a way that seriously affects health and safety. Give your landlord a written notice describing the problem. It must say your lease ends at least 7 days after your landlord gets it if no reasonable attempt to fix it is made.

    Sources:

    1. Our editorial rules.
    2. § 47-8-27.1(A), New Mexico Statutes Annotated 1978 (NMSA). Law.