[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of County Commissioners of
Otero County 1-29-1996 by Ord. No. 95-09. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Civil rights — See Ch. 12.
STATE LAW REFERENCES
Human Rights Act — See NMSA 1978, § 28-1-1
et seq.
It is the policy of the County of Otero to provide, within constitutional
limitations, for fair housing throughout the County, and to achieve
a condition in which individuals with similar financial resources
and interests in the same housing market area have a like range of
housing choices available to them regardless of their race, color,
religion, sex, national origin, ancestry or physical or mental handicap.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
The New Mexico Human Rights Commission.
Those prohibited practices and acts specified in § 125-3 of this chapter.
Any building, or portion of building, or portion of building
constructed or to be constructed, for use as the residence or sleeping
place of any individual; and any lands, leaseholds or commercial or
industrial buildings, whether constructed or to be constructed, offered
for sale or rent for use as the residence or sleeping place of any
individual.
Includes one or more individuals, corporations, partnerships,
associations, legal representatives, mutual companies, joint stock
companies, trusts, unincorporated organizations, trustees and fiduciaries.
A.Â
No person shall:
(1)Â
Refuse to sell, rent, assign, lease or sublease or offer for sale,
rental, lease, assignment or sublease any dwelling to any person,
or refuse to negotiate for the sale, rental, lease, assignment or
sublease of any dwelling to any person because of race, color, religion,
sex, national origin, ancestry, or physical or mental handicap.
(2)Â
Discriminate against any person in the terms, conditions or privileges
of the sale or rental of a dwelling or in the provision of services
or facilities in connection therewith because of race, color, religion,
sex, national origin, ancestry, or physical or mental handicap.
(3)Â
Print, circulate, display or mail or cause to be printed, circulated,
displayed or mailed any notice, statement or advertisement, publication
or sign or use any form of application for the purchase, rental, lease,
assignment or sublease of any dwelling or to make any record or inquiry
regarding the prospective purchase, rental, lease, assignment or sublease
of any dwelling that indicates any preference, limitation, or discrimination
based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry or
physical or mental handicap, or an intention to make any such preference,
limitation or discrimination.
(4)Â
Represent to any person because of race, color, religion, sex, national
origin, ancestry or physical or mental handicap that any dwelling
is not available for inspection, sale or rental when such dwelling
is, in fact, so available.
B.Â
No person to whom application is made for financial assistance for
the acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, repair or maintenance
of any dwelling shall:
(1)Â
Consider the race, religion, color, sex, national origin, ancestry
or physical or mental handicap of any individual in the granting,
withholding, extending, modifying or renewing or in the fixing of
the rates, terms, conditions or provisions of any financial assistance
or in the extension of services in connection with the request for
financial assistance.
(2)Â
Use any form or application for financial assistance or make any
record or inquiry in connection with applications for financial assistance
or make any record or inquiry in connection with applications for
financial assistance which expresses, directly, any limitation, specification
or discrimination as to race, color, religion, sex, national origin,
ancestry or physical or mental handicap.
C.Â
No person shall:
(1)Â
Aid, abet, incite, compel or coerce the doing of a discriminatory
housing practice, or attempt to do so;
(2)Â
Engage in any form or threats, reprisal or discrimination against
any person who has opposed any discriminatory housing practice or
who has filed complaint, testified or participated in any proceeding
under this chapter; or
(3)Â
Willfully obstruct or prevent any person from complying with the
provisions of this chapter.
Nothing contained in this chapter shall:
A.Â
Apply to any single-family dwelling sold, leased, subleased or rented
by an owner without the making of any notice; statement or advertisement
with respect to the sale, lease, sublease or rental of the dwelling
unit that indicates any preference, limitation or discrimination based
on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry or physical
or mental handicap. Any exemption is subject to the following further
reservations:
(1)Â
To qualify for the exemption the seller must not be an owner of or
own or have an interest in more than three single-family dwellings;
and
(2)Â
If the seller does not presently live in the dwelling or he was not
the most recent occupant, the exemption granted in this subsection
will only apply to one sale in 24 months;
B.Â
Bar any religious or denominational institution or organization which
is operated or supervised or controlled by, or is operated in connection
with, a religious or denominational organization from limiting admission
to or giving preference to persons of the same religion or denomination
or from making selections of buyers, lessees or tenants as the organization
or denomination may consider necessary to promote religious or denominational
principles for which it is established or maintained unless membership
in the religious or denominational organization is restricted on account
of race, color, sex, national origin, ancestry or physical or mental
handicap; and
C.Â
Apply to rooms or dwellings contained in living quarters occupied
or intended to be occupied by no more than four families living independently
of each other, if the owner actually maintains and occupies one of
the living quarters as his residence.
Any person who claims to have been injured by a discriminatory
housing practice or who has reason to believe that discrimination
has occurred may file a complaint with the Otero County Administrator.
The complaint shall be in writing and it shall contain such information
and be in such form as may be required by the New Mexico Human Rights
Commission. Upon receipt of any complaint alleging discriminatory
housing practice, the Otero County Administrator shall promptly forward
it to the New Mexico Human Rights Commission at Santa Fe, New Mexico,
for such action as may be deemed appropriate by the New Mexico Human
Rights Commission under NMSA 1953, §§ 4-33-1 through
4-33-13;[1] and a copy of such complaint shall, at the same time,
be forwarded to the Equal Opportunity Division of the Regional Office
of the Department of Housing and Urban Development in Dallas, Texas,
it being recognized that the New Mexico Human Rights Commission and/or
the Department of Housing and Urban Development have primary jurisdiction
over complaints of discrimination in housing, and that such agencies
have the facilities for investigation and processing of such complaints
and appropriate sanctions and penalties for denial of equal housing
opportunities. The only enforcement action to be taken by the County
hereunder shall be the forwarding of complaints to said agencies,
and no other action toward enforcement or penalty is imposed upon
Otero County with respect to any alleged discriminatory housing practice.
[1]
Editor's Note: See now Human Rights Act, NMSA 1978, § 28-1-1
et seq.
