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.

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.