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In New Mexico, in the USA, it is common for property owners to include terms in a lease requiring that tenants replace filters in HVAC systems or perform certain other maintenance tasks.

However, NM Stat ยง 47-8-20 (2023) states:

A. The owner shall: [...] (4) maintain in good and safe working order and condition electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilating, air conditioning and other facilities and appliances, including elevators, if any, supplied or required to be supplied by him;

That would seem to suggest that any issues with heating or air conditioning appliances not working properly, whether because of their filters or anything else, must be fixed by the owner.

Can landlords require this sort of HVAC maintenance? Or are they required to fix an HVAC issue regardless of the cause?

Obie 2.0
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1 Answers1

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That would seem to suggest that any issues with heating or air conditioning appliances not working properly, whether because of their filters or anything else, must be fixed by the owner.

That is correct.

Can landlords require this sort of HVAC maintenance? Or are they required to fix an HVAC issue regardless of the cause?

Both are correct. The landlords can require this sort of maintenance, and they're required to fix breakages regardless of cause.

Your confusion stems from the misunderstanding of the concepts of "using" and "maintaining in working order". HVAC can be "in working order" with a variety of different filters, in different conditions, or with no filters at all. But to get the best use out of it, manufacturers suggest using filters, replacing them regularly, and provide different options for such filters. Landlords are not required to do any of that since it's not fixing a broken thing.

littleadv
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