N.M. Stat. § 42-3-2 (2026)

   As used in the Relocation Assistance Act:

   A. "agency" means any department, agency or instrumentality of:

       (1)    the federal government;

       (2)    the state;

       (3)    a political subdivision of the state; or

       (4)    any combination of the federal government, the state or a political
subdivision of the state;

    B. "appraisal" means a written statement independently and impartially prepared by
a qualified appraiser setting forth an opinion of defined value of an adequately
described real property as of a specific date, supported by the presentation and analysis
of relevant market information;

   C. "business" means any lawful activity, except a farm operation, conducted
primarily:

      (1)    for the purchase, sale, lease or rental of personal and real property or for
the manufacture, processing or marketing of products, commodities or any other
personal property;

       (2)    for the sale of services to the public;

       (3)    by a nonprofit organization; or

       (4)     solely for the purposes of Subsection A of Section 42-3-5 NMSA 1978, for
assisting in the purchase, sale, resale, manufacture, processing or marketing of
products, commodities, personal property or services by the erection and maintenance
of an outdoor advertising display, whether or not the display is located on the premises
on which any of the above activities are conducted;

   D. "displacing agency" means any agency or person carrying out a program or
project which causes a person to be a displaced person;

   E. "displaced person":

      (1)    means any person who moves from real property or moves his personal
property from real property as a direct result of:

          (a) a written notice of intent to acquire or the acquisition of the real property in
whole or in part for a program or project undertaken by the displacing agency on which
the person is a residential tenant or conducts a farm operation or a business as defined
in Subsection C of Section 42-3-2 NMSA 1978; or

          (b) rehabilitation, demolition or other displacing activity as the displacing
agency may prescribe, under a program or project undertaken by the displacing agency
in any case in which the head of the displacing agency determines that the
displacement is permanent; and

      (2)    means solely for the purposes of Section 42-3-11 NMSA 1978 and
Subsections A and B of Section 42-3-5 NMSA 1978, any person who moves from real
property or moves his personal property from real property as a direct result of:

          (a) a written notice of intent to acquire or the acquisition of other real property,
in whole or in part, on which the person conducts a business or farm operation, for a
program or project undertaken by the displacing agency; or

          (b) rehabilitation, demolition or other displacing activity as the displacing
agency may prescribe, of other real property on which the person conducts a business
or farm operation, under a program or project undertaken by the displacing agency
where the head of the displacing agency determines that the displacement is
permanent;

       (3)    does not include:

          (a) any person that has been determined, according to criteria established by
the head of the displacing agency, to be either in unlawful occupancy of the
displacement dwelling or to have occupied the displacement dwelling for the purpose of
obtaining assistance under the Relocation Assistance Act; and

          (b) any person that is occupying the property on a rental basis for a short term
or period once the displacing agency has acquired the property as set forth in that act,
other than the person that was an occupant of the property at the time the property was
acquired.

  F. "family" means two or more individuals living together in the same dwelling unit
who are related to each other by blood, marriage, adoption or legal guardianship;

   G. "farm operation" means any activity conducted solely or primarily for the
production of one or more agricultural products or commodities, including timber, for
sale or home use and customarily producing such products or commodities in sufficient
quantity capable of contributing materially to the operator's support;

   H. "mortgage" means such classes of liens as are commonly given to secure
advances on, or the unpaid purchase price of, real property under the laws of New
Mexico, together with the credit instruments, if any, secured by them; and
   I. "person", unless a contrary intention appears, means an individual, estate, trust,
receiver, association, club, corporation, partnership, joint venture, syndicate or other
entity.

History: 1953 Comp., § 22-9A-2, enacted by Laws 1972, ch. 41, § 2; 1989, ch. 121, §
2.

                                    ANNOTATIONS

The 1989 amendment, effective March 30, 1989, substituted the present language of
Subsection A for " 'agency' means any department, agency or instrumentality of the
state or a political subdivision of the state or any combination of these"; added present
Subsection B; redesignated former Subsection B as present Subsection C and made
minor stylistic changes in Paragraph (4) thereof; deleted former Subsection C, which
defined "displaced person"; added present Subsections D and E; redesignated former
Subsections D through G as present Subsections F through I; and substituted "by them"
for "thereby" in Subsection H.