The Las Cruces City Council voted to support state legislation aimed at increasing housing protections during Monday’s council meeting.
New Mexico House Bill 111 seeks to expand protections for those facing housing discrimination or eviction. A resolution to support the legislation was adopted by the council, with Councilor Johana Bencomo emphasizing that the city must take a central role in the fight against housing discrimination.
“I really believe that the city of Las Cruces also must really commit to figuring out how we also hear these concerns here locally, and not just letting folks know, ‘Well go to the state or whatever,’” Bencomo said. “It's important that we also figure out a way to centralize some of that.”
City Policy Analyst Christopher Dunn outlined how the bill will help to protect against a surge in homelessness after pandemic housing protections expire.
“When those protections end, there's a large concern that many tenants will be evicted and join the population of homeless in the state of New Mexico,” Dunn said. “This is largely because tenants in many areas, including and especially in rural areas of the state, are currently unable to abide by their rental agreement, owing to their unemployment status that's resulting from the pandemic.”
Dunn says House Bill 111 will lengthen the eviction process significantly, giving time for residents to make payments or find replacement housing. Currently, state law allows landlords to start eviction proceedings three days after a tenant misses their payment date, something that would be amended under House Bill 111.
“In the event that they're late on their rent, they would have four days before a landlord or property owner could actually go and give them a status of nonpayment of rent,” Dunn said. “Following that receipt of a status of nonpayment of rent, the landlord or property owner would have to wait ten days before they could initiate that eviction proceeding.”
New Mexico state law does not currently protect from tenant discrimination based on the legal source of income, such as those using housing vouchers or unemployment assistance. It’s something City Housing and Neighborhood Services Manager Natalie Green says the city is committed to fighting, regardless of whether the protection passes under House Bill 111.
“Staff is monitoring this bill very closely. One of the things that we're looking at in particular is the discrimination against income, as we know that continues to be a problem within city limits,” Green said. “So many of our most vulnerable tenants in the city have a voucher, and our landlords aren't taking those vouchers, so that is a particular priority area. And even if this bill does not pass, it is an item that Housing and Neighborhood Services will be tackling in the coming five years.”
Councilor Kasandra Gandara says House Bill 111 is just the jumping-off point, and that that the city of Las Cruces will continue to explore how best to serve residents.
“Just making known what’s happening in the Southwest quadrant of the state related to housing issues,” Gandara said. “We have a lot of major concern, particularly because of COVID, with evictions and sort of discriminatory practices throughout the state, and specifically obviously here with the city of Las Cruces. So, I know this isn't everything that they would have liked to see in this bill but enough to start something.”
