How to Evict a Roommate in New Mexico (and Other Household Situations)
What New Mexico law says about roommates who are not on the lease, guests who won't leave, family members, renting a room in your own home, and tenancies at will — each with the statute or official source.
Short answer: New Mexico's Uniform Owner-Resident Relations Act calls tenants 'residents'. A resident is a person entitled under a rental agreement to occupy a dwelling unit in peaceful possession to the exclusion of others; a rental agreement is any agreement between an owner and a resident, and an 'owner' includes lessors. An occupant who has no agreement with the owner (or with a tenant acting as lessor) is not a resident under the Act. NMSA 1978, § 47-8-3(M), (Q), (R)
| Roommate not on the lease | New Mexico's Uniform Owner-Resident Relations Act calls tenants 'residents'. A resident is a person entitled under a rental agreement to occupy a dwelling unit in peaceful possession to the exclusion of others; a rental agreement is any agreement between an owner and a resident, and an 'owner' includes lessors. An occupant who has no agreement with the owner (or with a tenant acting as lessor) is not a resident under the Act. Residents are responsible for conduct and damage by other persons on the premises with their consent (see § 47-8-3(K), (V)). Source: NMSA 1978, § 47-8-3(M), (Q), (R) |
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| Removing a roommate or subtenant | No roommate-specific statute. Because 'owner' includes lessors, a tenant who sublets can end a month-to-month residency with written notice at least 30 days before the periodic rental date named in the notice (7 days for week-to-week). If the occupant stays without consent after the termination, the owner may bring a court action for possession. |
| Guests who won't leave | No statute sets when a guest becomes a resident; status depends on a rental agreement with the owner. An owner may not charge a resident a fee for a reasonable number of guests staying a reasonable length of time (charges for guests' use of other facilities are allowed). How to remove a guest who refuses to leave (court action or criminal trespass) is not addressed in the Act. |
| Renting a room in your own home (lodgers) | No separate lodger statute. The Act's exemptions (institutions, contract-of-sale buyers, fraternal or social organizations, transient hotel or motel stays, employer housing under a written agreement, and agricultural premises) do not include renting a room in an owner's home. The Act defines a 'roomer' as a person in a unit lacking a major bathroom or kitchen facility that shares those facilities with other occupants. Source: NMSA 1978, §§ 47-8-3(S), 47-8-9 |
| Tenancy at will | The Act does not use the term 'tenancy at will'. Unless the rental agreement fixes a definite term, the residency is week-to-week for a person paying weekly rent and month-to-month in all other cases. Either side ends a week-to-week residency with at least 7 days' written notice and a month-to-month residency with written notice at least 30 days before the periodic rental date named in the notice. For mobile home parks, any tenancy or other estate at will may be ended for nonpayment with not less than 3 days' written notice to pay or remove the home (§ 47-10-6). |
| Hotel and extended-stay guests | Transient occupancy in a hotel or motel is exempt from the Uniform Owner-Resident Relations Act, unless the arrangement was created to avoid the Act. The Act's definition of 'dwelling unit' expressly includes a hotel or motel used as a home or residence, so a non-transient hotel resident can be covered. No statute sets a specific number of days. |
Never remove someone by changing the locks or taking their belongings: if the person has become a tenant, only a court can order them out. If there is violence or a threat, call 911 and ask about a protective order.
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New Mexico eviction laws · Free legal help in New Mexico · Roommate rules in other states
General legal information, not legal advice. Laws change and local rules can differ; check the linked official source or talk to a lawyer about your situation.