N.M. Stat. Ann. § 47-8-3

47-8-3. Definitions.
   As used in the Uniform Owner-Resident Relations Act:
    A. “abandonment" means absence of the resident from the dwelling, without notice
to the owner, in excess of seven continuous days; providing such absence occurs only
after rent for the dwelling unit is delinquent;

   B. “action" includes recoupment, counterclaim, set-off, suit in equity and any other
proceeding in which rights are determined, including an action for possession;

   C. “amenity" means a facility appurtenance or area supplied by the owner and the
absence of which would not materially affect the health and safety of the resident or the
habitability of the dwelling unit;

   D. “applicant" means a person who submits an application to rent a dwelling unit to
the owner or who agrees to act as a guarantor or cosigner on a rental agreement;

    E. “codes" includes building codes, housing codes, health and safety codes,
sanitation codes and any law, ordinance or governmental regulation concerning fitness
for habitation or the construction, maintenance, operation, occupancy or use of a
dwelling unit;

   F. “deposit" means an amount of currency or instrument delivered to the owner by
the resident as a pledge to abide by terms and conditions of the rental agreement;

    G. “dwelling unit" means a structure, mobile home or the part of a structure,
including a hotel or motel, that is used as a home, residence or sleeping place by one
person who maintains a household or by two or more persons who maintain a common
household and includes a parcel of land leased by its owner for use as a site for the
parking of a mobile home;

  H. “eviction" means any action initiated by the owner to regain possession of a
dwelling unit and use of the premises pursuant to the terms of the Uniform Owner-
Resident Relations Act;

  I. “fair rental value" is that value that is comparable to the value established in the
market place;

   J. “good faith" means honesty in fact in the conduct of the transaction concerned as
evidenced by all surrounding circumstances;

    K. “normal wear and tear" means deterioration that occurs based upon the use for
which the rental unit is intended, without negligence, carelessness, accident, abuse or
intentional damage of the premises, equipment or chattels of the owner by the residents
or by any other person in the dwelling unit or on the premises with the resident's
consent; however, uncleanliness does not constitute normal wear and tear;
   L. “organization" includes a corporation, government, governmental subdivision or
agency thereof, business trust, estate, trust, partnership or association, two or more
persons having a joint or common interest or any other legal or commercial entity;

   M. “owner" means one or more persons, jointly or severally, in whom is vested:

       (1)     all or part of the legal title to property, but shall not include the limited
partner in an association regulated pursuant to the Uniform Limited Partnership Act
[repealed]; or

      (2)    all or part of the beneficial ownership and a right to present use and
enjoyment of the premises and agents thereof and includes a mortgagee in possession
and the lessors, but shall not include a person or persons, jointly or severally, who as
owner leases the entire premises to a lessee of vacant land for apartment use;

   N. “person" includes an individual, corporation, entity or organization;

    O. “premises" means facilities, facilities and appurtenances, areas and other
facilities held out for use of the resident or whose use is promised to the resident
coincidental with occupancy of a dwelling unit;

   P. “rent" means payments in currency or in-kind pursuant to terms and conditions of
the rental agreement for use of a dwelling unit or premises, to be made to the owner by
the resident, but does not include deposits;

    Q. “rental agreement" means all agreements between an owner and resident and
valid rules and regulations adopted under Section 47-8-23 NMSA 1978 embodying the
terms and conditions concerning the use and occupancy of a dwelling unit or premises;

   R. “resident" means a person entitled pursuant to a rental agreement to occupy a
dwelling unit in peaceful possession to the exclusion of others and includes the owner of
a mobile home renting premises, other than a lot or parcel in a mobile home park, for
use as a site for the location of the mobile home;

    S. “roomer" means a person occupying a dwelling unit that lacks a major bathroom
or kitchen facility in a structure where one or more major facilities are used in common
by occupants of the dwelling units. As referred to in this subsection, "major facility", in
the case of a bathroom, means toilet and either a bath or shower and, in the case of a
kitchen, means refrigerator, stove or sink;

   T. “screening fee" means a one-time charge that is charged to an applicant by an
owner to recoup the owner's cost of purchasing a consumer credit report or reference
check or the assistance of a screening service to validate, review or otherwise process
an application for renting a dwelling unit;
   U. “single family residence" means a structure maintained and used as a single
dwelling unit. Notwithstanding that a dwelling unit shares one or more walls with another
dwelling unit, it is a single family residence if it has direct access to a street or
thoroughfare and shares neither heating facilities, hot water equipment nor any other
essential facility or service with any other dwelling unit;

    V. “substantial violation" means a violation of the rental agreement or rules and
regulations by the resident or occurring with the resident's consent that occurs in the
dwelling unit, on the premises or within three hundred feet of the premises and that
includes the following conduct, which shall be the sole grounds for a substantial
violation:

      (1)    possession, use, sale, distribution or manufacture of a controlled
substance, excluding misdemeanor possession and use;

       (2)    unlawful use of a deadly weapon;

       (3)    unlawful action causing serious physical harm to another person;

       (4)    sexual assault or sexual molestation of another person;

      (5)    entry into the dwelling unit or vehicle of another person without that
person's permission and with intent to commit theft or assault;

       (6)   theft or attempted theft of the property of another person by use or
threatened use of force; or

       (7)    intentional or reckless damage to property in excess of one thousand
dollars ($1,000);

   W. “term" is the period of occupancy specified in the rental agreement; and

   X. “transient occupancy" means occupancy of a dwelling unit for which rent is paid
on less than a weekly basis or where the resident has not manifested an intent to make
the dwelling unit a residence or household.

History: 1953 Comp., § 70-7-3, enacted by Laws 1975, ch. 38, § 3; 1977, ch. 55, § 1;
1983, ch. 122, § 18; 1985, ch. 146, § 1; 1989, ch. 340, § 1; 1995, ch. 195, § 2; 1997, ch.
39, § 1; 1999, ch. 91, § 1; 2025, ch. 122, § 1.