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Committee reports substitute to seal certain eviction records; debate centers on tenant access and landlord needs
Summary
The committee reported a substitute for House Bill 253 that would automatically seal eviction court records on filing and create a process for unsealing in limited circumstances. Supporters argued sealing improves housing access; opponents including property managers said landlords rely on eviction records to screen tenants.
The House Judiciary Committee reported a substitute to House Bill 253 after extensive testimony and debate over how eviction records affect housing access in New Mexico.
Representative Romero, the sponsor, said the bill is intended to reduce barriers to rehousing people and to prevent tenant-screening companies from treating an eviction filing as a conclusive eviction before a judge has determined an outcome. Senior experts from UNM Law’s housing clinic and from the New Mexico Center for Housing Law described technical changes in the substitute designed to reduce administrative burdens on court staff. Those changes include limiting when a court would unseal a record to a written request from the owner and replacing terminology of “petition” with “motion” so courts would not be required to open new cases to process an unsealing.
Property managers and representatives of landlord groups testified in opposition, saying that eviction records are a valuable screening tool to identify prior nonpayment, damage, or lease violations. Supporters including homelessness service providers, faith-based advocates and landlords who support sealing told the committee that unlimited public access to eviction dockets operates as a long-term barrier to housing and recommended sealing after three years.
Committee members asked detailed questions about how sealed records would be discovered and unsealed. Sponsors explained a bifurcated approach: records would be automatically sealed at filing; if the landlord wins (a judgment of possession), the record would be unsealed and could remain public for the duration specified by the statute; if the tenant wins the case, the record would remain sealed. The substitute adds a process by which a party — typically the owner — would submit a written request to the Administrative Office of the Courts to unseal.
After debate the committee recorded a split recommendation: a “do not pass” on the original bill and a “do pass” on the house judiciary committee substitute for HB 253. The committee chair announced both recommendations and the substitute will move forward.
