Senate Bill 180, a bill updating New Mexico’s self‑storage lien procedures and notice requirements, advanced from the Senate Judiciary Committee as a committee substitute after extended testimony, multiple proposed amendments and negotiations with industry witnesses.

Sponsor Senator Trujillo described the bill’s principal goals: allow occupants to designate a third party to receive notice, shorten the time before sale on default from the existing 90 days to a shorter period, establish a valuation limit and permit an owner to charge a late fee. She said the proposals were intended to modernize an older statute that requires dated notice practices (for example, paper publication) and to provide clarity for electronic contact methods.

Industry witnesses, including Randy Treanor of the Self Storage Association and Joe Doherty (expert on Zoom), explained operational practices and the rationale for shorter timeframes. Treanor said New Mexico’s 90‑day minimum was the longest in the nation and that a 45‑day minimum would put the state in the middle of the pack. Committee members pressed for specifics about notice timing; Treanor and Doherty explained the timeline in practical terms: 5 days after a missed payment the enforcement notices start, followed by two publication steps (two consecutive 15‑day publications) totaling 30 days of public notices; the earliest sale under the proposed text would be day 45 after the initial notice. They also clarified that if a sale generates proceeds exceeding fees owed, statutory unclaimed‑property rules apply and excess funds would ultimately be returned to the occupant or handled as unclaimed property if not claimed.

Debate in committee focused on the consumer impact of a shortened period and the appropriate late‑fee level. Several members raised concerns the change could disproportionately affect lower‑income people who temporarily fall behind. Senator O’Malley and others said a 20%‑of‑rent late fee is excessive; an amendment was adopted to limit the late fee to a fixed cap of no more than $20 per month (removing the 20% alternative). Another amendment to restore a longer notice period was proposed (to 60 or 90 days); the committee rejected restoring 90 and retained the shorter period in the substitute. The bill also was amended on page 9 to strike a subsection that would have automatically applied an agreed‑value cap in contracts; that subsection was removed after member concern that it could unintentionally harm renters.

After amendments were negotiated, the committee agreed to report a committee substitute. The sponsor and industry representatives indicated the substitute would incorporate the negotiated edits, and the committee voted to advance the committee substitute with a due‑pass recommendation.

What’s next: The measure advances as a committee substitute. The substitute will reflect the adopted amendments (third‑party contact option, 45‑day earliest sale period as retained in the substitute, requirement to notify existing renters to add third‑party contacts, and an owner late‑fee capped at $20 per month as amended).