House Bill 426 (HB 426) enacts a new section of the Mobile Home Park Act to require notice before the sale of a mobile home park and creates an opportunity to purchase.  

 House Bill 426 (HB 426) enacts a new section of the Mobile Home Park Act to require notice before the sale of a mobile home park and creates an opportunity to purchase. 

All such notices must: (1) be in writing; (2) be sent by first-class certified mail with tracking and return receipt requested; (3) be posted on the front door of each resident household in the mobile home park;  (4) include the material terms, conditions and amount of the offer; and (5) include notice of the residents' rights as provided in this section. 

Before a mobile home park may be sold, the owner must notify each resident household of the mobile home park and the Executive Director of the New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority of any bona fide offer for a sale that the owner intends to accept. The residents are to have the opportunity to purchase the mobile home park before the owner can accept the bona fide third-party offer to purchase if at least fifty-one percent of the residents: 

(1) submit to the owner documentation to verify that the residents have approved the purchase of the mobile home park, including a proposed purchase and sale agreement on substantially equivalent terms and conditions of the bona fide third-party offer, within ninety days of receipt of notice of the offer sent to residents; 
(2) obtain a binding commitment for any necessary financing or guarantees within an additional ninety days after execution of the purchase and sale agreement; and 
(3) close on the purchase within an additional ninety days after the end of the ninety-day period. 

An owner may not refuse to enter into or delay the execution or closing on a purchase and sale agreement with residents who have made a bona fide offer to meet the price and substantially equivalent terms and conditions of the third-party offer. 

The residents and the owner may extend any of the time periods provided in this section by agreement. 

If the residents submit a proposed purchase and sale agreement that the owner does not consider to be substantially equivalent in price or in the terms and conditions of the third-party offer, the owner is to negotiate with the residents in good faith to determine if an agreement can be made that would allow the residents to purchase the mobile home park. The duty of good faith includes a duty to make the same information available to residents that the owner has provided or would have provided to the third-party offeror or another prospective purchaser. If the owner rejects the residents' proposed purchase agreement, the owner must provide a good faith reason in writing to the residents within three days of the date of rejection. 

It is evidence of bad faith if an owner attempts to, or does, require the residents to waive any of their rights. 

Nothing in this section may be construed to require an owner to provide financing to residents, except to the extent that financing would be provided to the third-party offeror. 
The residents who have the opportunity to purchase the mobile home park as provided in this section may assign that opportunity to purchase. 

No opportunity to purchase may interfere with a government acquisition through eminent domain or negotiated purchase. 

An owner who has accepted a bona fide purchase and sale agreement must record an affidavit with the county clerk certifying compliance with the requirements of this section. 

An owner who sells a mobile home park and who has not complied with the provisions of this section will be liable to the residents who possessed the opportunity to purchase. The liability of the owner shall be in the amount of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000), or twenty percent of the appraised value of the mobile home park, whichever is greater. The liability owed to the residents by the owner will be a lien on the property and will take priority over a third-party buyer's interest. 

For the purposes of this subsection, residents who possessed the opportunity to purchase are to select a licensed real estate appraiser, and the owner will be liable for the reasonable cost of the appraisal. 

An action to enforce the provisions of this section may be brought by (1) the attorney general; (2) a resident or residents who possess the opportunity to purchase; or (3) a person who has been assigned the opportunity to purchase. Residents who prevail in an action brought to enforce this section will be entitled to receive reasonable attorney fees and court costs from the owner.




 

 Currently, New Mexico law encourages mobile home park owners to give residents the opportunity to purchase the community. In Albuquerque, the Manufactured Home Community Stability and Empowerment Ordinance requires owners to consider purchase offers from residents. 

 Committee Substitute March 10, 2025 in HCEDC

HCEDCcs/HB 426: The House Commerce and Economic Development Committee Substitute for House Bill 426 makes the following changes:

The terms under which residents may have the opportunity to purchase a mobile home park before the offer to purchase are changed to include:

•	If documentation is submitted to the owner to verify that at least fifty-one percent of the residents have approved the proposed purchase, within seventy-five days of receipt of notice of the offer sent to residents; and
•	Residents close on the purchase within a reasonable amount of time specified by the purchase and sale agreement.

The following phrase is removed: “No opportunity to purchase shall interfere with a government taking by eminent domain or negotiated purchase.”

Section L is changed from terms for enforcement rights to language detailing exceptions regarding residents’ right to purchase.

Section M is replaced with language describing the contributions under which an owner may accept a third-party offer.

New sections N and O are included to replace the previous Section L, regarding allowable actions to enforce the terms of the Act.