Updated October 8, 2026.
If you find a pet in your New Mexico rental, check the lease and talk to the tenant. Find out who owns the animal and whether it lives there. Then decide what needs to change. A pet with no approval, damage to the home, and an animal that helps a tenant with a disability are different problems.
This guide helps you check the facts, review pet charges, and choose the right notice. It covers rented homes and apartments, plus local animal rules in Albuquerque. Mobile home parks and homes with special program rules need a separate check.
This is general information, not legal advice. Ask a New Mexico attorney to review disputed charges, accommodation decisions, and termination notices.
Start with the rule the tenant agreed to
Start with the signed pet policy, not the rule you wish it contained. The New Mexico Courts landlord-tenant guide tells tenants to read their lease rules, including pet conduct. Check the policy’s wording and any later written changes before you act. A no-pets clause also needs a separate disability review when the tenant asks for an exception.
A pet policy can say whether pets are allowed, how many, and which types. Include the conduct rules and how to request approval or replace an approved pet. Our explanation of a lease versus a rental agreement helps distinguish fixed and rolling terms.
Read the signed lease and its attachments, including any rule for visiting pets. A bowl on a patio or a neighbor’s report does not prove every fact you need. Record what you saw, when you learned of it, and the tenant’s account.
If you need to inspect, arrange lawful access first. The court guide explains that landlords must notify tenants before entering. Put the proposed visit in writing and keep the reply. Do not use a report of a pet as a reason to walk in without checking the entry rules.
Review the full deposit before collecting pet money
Do not collect extra security just because you have found an animal. First, confirm whether the lease provides for the charge and whether the animal needs a disability-related exception. Gather the lease term, rent amount, money already held, and the purpose of each payment. Have the proposed total reviewed before asking for more.
Keep payments easy to trace. Your rent ledger should distinguish rent paid in advance from money held against future damage. Keep the receipt and agreed refund terms with the pet policy. This makes a later damage claim easier to explain without treating every payment as interchangeable.
Check the current deposit ceiling and any interest duty for the actual lease before you collect money. This guide does not give a ceiling, interest formula, or current rate. A lease’s length matters to that review; do not assume that a monthly, annual, or multi-year agreement has the same terms.
Check the purpose of a charge before calling it a fee
Monthly pet rent, a deposit, and a one-time charge serve different purposes. New Mexico’s Uniform Owner-Resident Relations Act defines rent as agreed payments for use of the home or premises, excluding deposits. It defines a deposit as money or an instrument pledged to abide by the rental terms. A charge’s name alone does not settle its treatment.
Do not assume “nonrefundable pet fee” settles whether you can keep the money. Explain what the payment buys or protects, then have its purpose and timing reviewed. A pet charge also cannot bypass a required disability accommodation, or exception to your rules.
The enacted 2025 Senate Bill 267 requires plain-language disclosure of base rent and fees in the published listing. It also addresses fees outside the rental agreement and restricts applicant charges. Disclosure alone does not make every applicant fee lawful.
Section 5 of the enacted law requires at least 60 days’ written notice to raise a fee provided by the lease. Give notice before the applicable rental date or fixed-term end. For a rolling tenancy shorter than a month, give at least one rental period’s notice. This rule does not let you add a surprise charge during a fixed term. Do not choose a rent or fee label to get a shorter notice period.
Review service and support animals separately
A service animal and an emotional support animal are different categories. New Mexico’s Service Animal Act defines qualified service dogs and miniature horses that are trained or being trained to assist a person with a disability. Its definition excludes emotional support animals. Its public-access provisions are not a complete rulebook for private rental housing.
For covered housing, 24 CFR 100.204 requires reasonable accommodations when needed for equal use and enjoyment of a home. It gives the example of a blind applicant’s seeing-eye dog in a no-pets building. Your size, breed, and approval rules may need to change as part of that review.
What HUD changed on May 22, 2026
HUD’s May 22, 2026 enforcement memorandum changes how its fair-housing office handles animal complaints. The office will find reasonable cause and recommend charges only in cases involving trained disability-related assistance. The memo permanently rescinds the 2020 animal notice and confirms the earlier rescission of the 2013 and 2020 notices. HUD no longer expects owners to automatically extend trained-animal accommodations to untrained emotional support animals.
The memo preserves private court actions. It does not address Section 504 or ADA complaints or replace the housing regulation. Get legal advice on the individual request before you deny it, withdraw an approval, or add pet charges.
New Mexico also has housing-discrimination protections, enforced by the Human Rights Bureau. Federal enforcement policy alone does not settle the resident’s state-law rights or establish automatic approval of every support animal.
Handle the request and the animal’s conduct separately
Ask what exception the tenant needs and how it relates to a disability. The DOJ/HUD joint statement on reasonable accommodations explains that requests need no special wording or required form. If the disability and need are clear, do not demand proof of facts already known. If they are not, seek only what you need to assess the request, rather than detailed medical records.
The joint statement says you cannot make a required exception depend on extra fees or deposits. You can charge for actual animal-caused damage under the same practice used for other tenants. Do not assume the withdrawn 2020 animal notice still settles every disputed emotional-support-animal fee.
A safety decision needs reliable proof about the specific risk and ways to reduce it. Record what happened and consider an effective alternative before deciding that an animal cannot stay. A fear about a breed is not proof about that animal.
Use New Mexico’s notice and cure procedure
The court guide identifies a seven-day notice for lease violations. Form 4-902 supplies the first-notice wording: fix the noncompliance within seven days from delivery or face termination and a court filing. Describe the conduct and its date in detail. Have the notice reviewed against the signed rule and the tenant’s response.
Make the cure fit the breach. Missing paperwork may be resolved through approval and a lawful lease change. A pet banned by an enforceable rule may need removal. Review a disability-related request separately. A material breach means a serious violation; a vague complaint about an animal is not a complete case file.
- Form 4-902’s first notice warns that a second material breach within six months of the first can lead to termination, even after a cure.
- The form’s second-notice option provides for termination seven days from delivery after material noncompliance twice or more within that six-month period.
- Use the actual first breach, prior notice, and second conduct to assess that option. Do not assume every complaint calls for a no-cure notice.
- Get the deadline and service method checked before filing. Keep the dated notice, service evidence, tenant’s reply, and any proof that the problem was fixed.
Serve the notice and use the court process
Posting alone is not enough for this non-rent notice. In Gurley Properties v. Mustafa, November 3, 2025, the Court of Appeals quoted Section 47-8-13(D). Posting must also be accompanied by first-class mailing or hand delivery. The court rejected the argument that the tenant’s actual knowledge excused proper service. Keep the delivery and mailing records; a conversation alone is not a substitute.
An unauthorized pet does not automatically qualify for the separate three-day “substantial violation” procedure. The enacted law defines that category by specific conduct, not simply missing pet approval. If the problem remains after a valid notice expires, seek possession through court. Form 4-902 says the tenant cannot be evicted without a court order and can challenge termination at the hearing.
Do not change the locks or try to force a tenant out yourself. The current court guide makes clear that a landlord must go to court to evict. Use the legal process rather than trying to win the dispute through control of access, utilities, or belongings.
Check Albuquerque’s animal rules at the property’s address
Lease approval and animal-control rules are separate questions. Albuquerque’s HEART ordinance information says residents no longer need a general City Pet license. Dogs and cats still need vaccines, microchips, and spay/neuter compliance, with permit rules and exceptions. Do not ask for the old city license as proof of approval.
The city’s August 12, 2026 animal-control reminder addresses loose pets and control when off the owner’s property. For an Albuquerque rental, review shared gates, yard fences, and handling in common areas with the tenant. Keep that discussion separate from pet charges and lease notices. Check which local rules apply to an address outside Albuquerque.
Document damage and close out the deposit correctly
Compare move-in records with the condition at departure. Keep photos, repair records, and itemized costs. A pet’s presence alone does not establish damage.
The current court guide explains that tenants are not responsible for normal wear and tear. Separate ordinary aging from damage you can connect to the animal. Plan an itemized account with supporting records and any refund due. Confirm the current accounting deadline and required recipient addresses before move-out, rather than relying on an old lease checklist.
For help with leases and home checks, contact Utopia’s Albuquerque property management team. Bring the signed lease, pet approval records, and any notices so the next decision starts with the actual file.
Frequently asked questions
Should I collect a pet deposit as soon as I find the animal?
No. First check the lease, the money already held, and whether the animal needs a disability-related exception. Have any proposed charge reviewed for that lease before collecting it. Do not assume that calling a payment a pet fee makes it lawful or lets you keep it.
Can I tape an unauthorized-pet notice to the door?
Posting alone is not enough for this non-rent notice. The Court of Appeals’ 2025 Gurley Properties decision quotes the requirement for first-class mailing or hand delivery as well. Keep the service records and have the dates checked before filing. Actual knowledge does not excuse proper service.
Does the 2026 HUD memo let me reject every emotional support animal?
No. The memo narrows HUD’s approach to animal complaints, but preserves private court actions and does not address Section 504 or ADA complaints. The housing accommodation rule remains in place. Have a lawyer assess the request and New Mexico protections before you deny it or add charges.
Sources
Sources checked 2026-10-08. Precise notice and fee statements above come from the court’s current guide and form, a full court decision, and enacted legislation. Current consolidated state-code text could not be retrieved. Deposit ceilings, interest formulas, entry deadlines, and additional notice details are therefore omitted rather than carried forward from an older compilation.
- New Mexico Court of Appeals: Gurley Properties v. Mustafa, November 3, 2025, notice service. Checked 2026-10-08.
- New Mexico Legislature: enacted Senate Bill 267, 2025, deposit/rent definitions and fee rules. Checked 2026-10-08.
- New Mexico Legislative Council Service: final 2026 Table of Changes, statutory amendment check. Checked 2026-10-08.
- New Mexico Courts: Form 4-902, seven-day noncompliance notice. Checked 2026-10-08.
- New Mexico Courts: landlord-tenant procedure. Checked 2026-10-08.
- New Mexico Commission for the Blind: Service Animal Act text. Checked 2026-10-08.
- New Mexico Human Rights Bureau: housing-discrimination protections. Checked 2026-10-08.
- 24 CFR 100.204: reasonable accommodations. Checked 2026-10-08.
- HUD: May 22, 2026 animal-accommodation enforcement memorandum. Checked 2026-10-08.
- DOJ/HUD: joint statement on reasonable accommodations, 2004. Checked 2026-10-08.
- City of Albuquerque: HEART ordinance information. Checked 2026-10-08.
- City of Albuquerque: August 12, 2026 leash and animal-control reminder. Checked 2026-10-08.
