SENATE BILL 333

55th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2021

INTRODUCED BY

Gerald Ortiz y Pino and Patricia Roybal Caballero

AN ACT

MAKING AN APPROPRIATION TO THE ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE OF THE COURTS TO CONTRACT WITH A NONPROFIT COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION TO STUDY CERTAIN HOUSING ISSUES WITHIN THE STATE.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     SECTION 1. APPROPRIATION.--

          A. Fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) is appropriated from the general fund to the administrative office of the courts for expenditure in fiscal year 2022 and subsequent fiscal years to contract with a nonprofit community development corporation that provides housing counseling and foreclosure legal defense statewide for the purpose of:

                (1) studying the foreclosure process in New Mexico; 

                (2) providing policy recommendations that will protect neighborhood and community stability, prevent unnecessary and improper foreclosure and preserve due process rights;

                (3) developing plans for the education and training of homeowners, lenders, loan servicers and the judiciary on methods of removing impediments to meaningful loss mitigation;

                (4) ensuring that judicial processes are enhanced and supported for foreclosures and evictions and that governmental resources available to those at risk of foreclosure or eviction are clearly identified;

                (5) providing policy recommendations regarding efforts to support owner-occupancy; and

                (6) studying the effects of alternative lending options, including land banking, land trusts and state-owned banking institutions.

          B. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of a fiscal year shall not revert to the general fund.

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