New Mexico tenants are organizing in the face of substandard housing conditions

Serge Martinez was quoted in this article  in Searchlight New Mexico about tenant organizing in the face of substandard housing.

“Code enforcement is overworked, underfunded, under-resourced and just doesn’t really have the ability to enforce a lot of these rules,” Martinez said. 

Tenants do have legal options. If their housing is unfit for occupancy, for one, they’re allowed to withhold a portion of their rent. But “as a practical matter,” Martinez said, “it’s really perilous for a tenant to try and do that.” 

The article by Jeremiah Rhodes is extensively reported and gives great insights into what tenants can do in the face of unresponsive landlords and life-threatening heat