New Mexico Statutes Chapter 47. Property Law § 47-7D-12. Conversion buildings

A. A declarant of a condominium containing conversion buildings and any person in the business of selling real estate for his own account who intends to offer units in such a condominium shall give each of the residential tenants and residential subtenants in possession of a portion of a conversion building notice of the conversion and provide those persons with the disclosure statement no later than sixty days before the tenants and subtenants in possession are required to vacate. The notice shall set forth generally the rights of tenants and subtenants under this section and shall be hand-delivered to the unit or mailed by prepaid United States mail to the tenant and subtenant at the address of the unit or any other mailing address provided by a tenant. If mailed, the notice will be deemed received on the earlier of actual receipt or thirty days after mailing. No tenant or subtenant shall be required to vacate upon shorter notice than that required by the Uniform Owner-Resident Relations Act, Section 47-8-1 NMSA 1978 et seq. Failure to give notice as required by this section is a defense to an action for possession.

B. For sixty days after receipt of the notice described in Subsection A of this section, the person required to give the notice shall offer to convey each unit or proposed unit occupied for residential use to the tenant who leases that unit. If a tenant fails to purchase the unit during the sixty-day period, the offeror may not offer to dispose of an interest in that unit during the following sixty days at a price more favorable to the offeree than the price offered to the tenant. This subsection does not apply to any unit in a conversion building if that unit will be restricted exclusively to nonresidential use or the boundaries of the converted unit do not substantially conform to the dimensions of the residential unit before conversion.

C. If a seller, in violation of Subsection B of this section, conveys a unit to a purchaser for value who has no knowledge of the violation, recordation of the deed conveying the unit extinguishes any right a tenant may have under Subsection B of this section to purchase that unit but does not affect the right of a tenant to recover damages from the seller for a violation of Subsection B of this section.

D. From the date on which the tenant or subtenant accepts the offer pursuant to Subsection B of this section, there shall be no increase in the rental rate applicable to the portion of the conversion building of which the tenant or subtenant is in possession. If the tenant fails or refuses to consummate the purchase, the rent may thereafter be increased.

E. Nothing in this section permits termination of a lease by a declarant in violation of its terms. Any provision in a lease which would permit termination or cancellation of the lease by a declarant prior to its stated term solely because the declarant seeks to convert the real estate to a condominium is unenforceable.