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Senate approves changes to storage-unit lien law, shortens sale window to 60 days
Summary
The New Mexico Senate approved a rewrite of state law governing storage-unit liens, requiring owners to collect alternate contact details, capping monthly late fees and shortening the timeline before a unit can be sold after nonpayment; the measure passed after three floor amendments and a 21–16 final vote.
The New Mexico Senate voted to revise state law on self-storage liens, adopting changes that require rental contracts to include phone and electronic contact information, allow tenants to designate an alternate contact, cap late fees and shorten the period before a storage operator may dispose of stored property.
The measure — Senate Judiciary Committee substitute for Senate Bill 180, sponsored on the floor by Senator Linda Trujillo — drew extended debate Thursday over the appropriate notification window and protections for people who fall behind on payments. "This substitute does 4 things. It requires that the rental agreement for a storage unit also include the phone number and electronic address of the occupant. It adds a provision for the rental agreement to include a space for the occupant to designate an alternate contact," Trujillo said on the Senate floor.
The bill adds the alternate-contact option and requires owners to attempt to notify that alternate contact if the tenant cannot be reached; it also caps late fees at $20 per month and shortens the time before sale or other enforcement from the statutory 90 days to a shorter period set by the amendment debate.
Debate centered on how much time to allow tenants to retrieve property and avoid forced sale. Senator Cielo (Cedillo) Lopez argued for more time, pointing to people experiencing homelessness and those who need weeks to arrange recovery of possessions. "A lot of them have their whole lives in a rental unit, and they are struggling very hard," she said during debate.
Owners and operators told the Senate that long statutory timeframes force them to shoulder months of unpaid accounts and that, in many cases, auctioned units contain little of value. Senator Paul, a storage operator who testified in the chamber, said managers typically try many contact methods before resorting to sale and that auctions commonly lose money for owners, who then cannot rent the space to paying customers.
Floor debate produced several amendments. Senate floor amendment 1 (a technical title amendment) was added. Floor amendment 3, offered by Senator Debbie O’Malley, replaced the substitute’s 45-day enforcement trigger with a 60-day trigger; that amendment initially failed on a voice vote, was challenged and then adopted following a roll-call, and it was folded into the bill. The Senate adopted the final bill as twice amended on a 21–16 roll-call vote.
The bill’s supporters said the alternate-contact requirement will increase the chance owners can reach tenants. Opponents said shortening the statutory window risks dispossessing vulnerable people who need more time to retrieve possessions or arrange storage alternatives.
Senate action now sends the revised statute on for any further processing required by legislative procedure. The enacted language will also require owners to notify existing tenants of the new option to designate an alternate contact and will permit a monthly late fee no greater than $20.
The principal changes adopted in the chamber were: adding a designated alternate contact field in rental agreements; requiring owners to attempt notice to that alternate contact; capping owner late fees at $20 per month; and replacing the substitute’s 45-day enforcement trigger with 60 days via a floor amendment.
Votes and next steps: the Senate passed the measure 21–16. The bill as amended will continue through the legislative process.
