Landlord and Tenant Lawyers in Roswell

Find the right Tenant attorney in Roswell, NM

Tenant Law in New Mexico

Relationships between landlords and tenants in Roswell, New Mexico can get combative. It's difficult to be a tenant or a landlord. If one or both parties are not aware of their legal rights and obligations, conflicts can arise.

Landlords and tenants have to navigate a web of legal rights and commitments. It's essential that the parties to a landlord/tenant relationship know what obligations they have to one another.

Landlord's Rights in Roswell, NM

First and foremost, landlords have a right to timely payment of rent from their tenants, at the agreed-upon rate. This, of course, imposes on tenants a duty to pay their rent in whole, in a timely manner.

Additionally, landlords can bill the tenant for any damage they cause to the unit, whether it was intentional or negligent. The costs of repairs for such damage can be deducted from a tenant's security deposit, but it should be noted that tenants aren't accountable for normal wear and tear, over which they have little control.

Tenant's Rights in Roswell, NM

Tenants, most essentially, have a right to a habitable apartment. After all, this is what they're paying for. Roswell, New Mexico landlords are obligated to see that the units they rent to tenants are fit to be lived in by people. Many various defects might render an apartment uninhabitable, such as serious infestations and other problems with sanitation, lack of running water or electricity, or failure to provide adequate protection from the outside elements.

Tenants also have a right to ensure that the common areas of their apartment building are reasonably safe. Landlords are required to make sure that the common areas of their buildings meet Roswell, New Mexico's building codes, and that there are no conditions that create unnecessary safety hazards. They are obligated to make, at their own expense, the required repairs.

Under federal and New Mexico law, tenants are also entitled to protection against discrimination in housing based on race, color, religion, marital status, or gender. Such discrimination can lead to grave civil penalties against the landlord. Landlords further cannot discriminate against tenants based on physical disability, and have to make reasonable accommodations for physically disabled tenants. For instance, they have to allow disabled tenants to make minor physical alterations to the unit (at the tenant's expense) to make it more accessible. Now, they don't need to allow the tenants to have the building remodeled. We're just talking about things like installing handrails in the bathroom, and similar things. The landlord can, however, require tenants to restore the apartment to its original condition, at the tenant's expense, once the tenant leaves.

Lastly, tenants are legally protected from arbitrary eviction. Landlords typically must have a very good reason to evict a tenant before the lease agreement reaches the end of its term (at this point, they are of course allowed to decline to renew the lease). Of course, if the tenant breaches the lease agreement (such as by failing to pay rent, damaging the property, or violating other reasonable rules the landlord has put in the lease), the landlord, like a party to any other contract, is free to terminate the agreement and evict the breaching tenant.

Can a Roswell, New Mexico Landlord/Tenant Lawyer Help?

Landlords and tenants generally want to avoid conflict with one another. Nonetheless, conflicts are sometimes unavoidable. If you end up in a major dispute with a landlord or a tenant, a seasoned Roswell, New Mexico landlord/tenant attorney can help.

Talk to a Real Estate Law Attorney now!

Life in Roswell

Roswell, New Mexico is a city in Chaves County, New Mexico. It is the county seat of Chaves County. It has a population of about 46,000 people, as of the 2000 Census.

The first European-American settlers of the area arrived in 1865, and were from Missouri. However, they abandoned their settlement a few years later for lack of water. In 1869, two businessmen partnered up and built two adobe structures in what would become Roswell. They served as the general store and post office.

Roswell is perhaps best known for the 1947 "UFO event" that occurred about 75 miles outside the city. An object crash-landed in the desert, which many people believe (or like to believe) was an alien spacecraft. The far more likely explanation, however, is that the object was a package of experimental military equipment carried aloft by a balloon, and it was simply a test gone wrong.

Nonetheless, the legend persists, and many businesses in Roswell cater to the many UFO enthusiasts who visit the city.

The vast majority of Roswell's residents, however, have ordinary jobs and lead ordinary lives. Because the average person is more likely than not to need to hire a lawyer at some point in their lives, Roswell has a significant legal community. If you live in the Roswell area and have a legal problem, a Roswell, New Mexico lawyer is the person to call.

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