Fair housing in New Mexico
Every home on this site is offered without discrimination. Below is what the law actually protects when you buy, rent or finance a home in New Mexico, and exactly what to do if you believe someone broke it. If any of it happens while you are working with us, tell Manny Patino directly at (575) 520-7604.
Who is protected
Two laws stack here. The federal Fair Housing Act applies everywhere in the country. The New Mexico Human Rights Act adds more on top of it. Where the two overlap you get the stronger of the two.
| Protected | Federal Fair Housing Act | New Mexico Human Rights Act |
|---|---|---|
| Race or color | Covered | Covered |
| National origin or ancestry | Covered | Covered |
| Religion | Covered | Covered |
| Sex | Covered | Covered |
| Sexual orientation | Covered | Covered |
| Gender identity | Covered | Covered |
| Familial status (children in the home) | Covered | — |
| Disability | Covered | Covered |
| Serious medical condition | — | Covered |
| Spousal affiliation | — | Covered |
| Age | — | Covered |
The Fair Housing Act does not name sexual orientation or gender identity in its own text. HUD has read the Act's ban on sex discrimination to include both since February 2021, and enforces it that way. New Mexico names them outright, so in this state the protection does not depend on that reading.
What the protection covers
Housing
Nobody may refuse to sell or rent to you, quote you different terms or prices, steer you toward or away from a neighborhood, lie to you about whether a home is available, or evict you, because of anything in the table above. That applies to the seller, the landlord, the property manager, and to us.
Lending and insurance
The same list applies to a mortgage: whether you are approved, the rate and terms you are quoted, how your home is appraised, and whether you can get homeowner's insurance.
Public accommodations
The New Mexico Human Rights Act separately bars discrimination at any business open to the public, which includes a brokerage office, an open house and a title company's closing table.
Disability, specifically
You may make reasonable modifications to a home at your own expense so you can use it, and a landlord or HOA must make reasonable exceptions to its rules where that is what it takes for you to have equal use of the place. A service or assistance animal is not a pet, and a no-pets rule does not reach it.
If it happens to you
- HUD, the federal agency: file at hud.gov/fairhousing or call 1-800-669-9777. You have one year from the incident.
- New Mexico Human Rights Bureau, part of the state Workforce Solutions Department: (505) 827-6838. The state deadline is shorter than the federal one, so do not wait on it.
- New Mexico Real Estate Commission, if the person involved is a licensed broker: (505) 476-4622.
Filing is free. You do not need a lawyer to start, and nobody may retaliate against you for filing.
What we do about it
We do business in accordance with the letter and the spirit of United States policy for fair housing. Practically: we show you every home that fits what you told us you want and can afford, we do not answer questions about the racial or religious make-up of a neighborhood because answering them is steering, and we point you at published school, crime and census data so you can draw your own conclusions from the same numbers everyone else has.
See every home for sale →Sources: Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 3601–3619. HUD memorandum of 11 February 2021 on the Act's application to sexual orientation and gender identity. New Mexico Human Rights Act, NMSA 1978 §§ 28-1-1 to 28-1-15. This page is a plain-language summary for buyers and sellers, not legal advice; the statutes themselves control.
Patino Real Estate · Manny Patino, Qualifying Broker · (575) 520-7604 · Equal Housing Opportunity.