Section 47-10-10 - Entry fees prohibited; entry fee defined; security deposit; court costs.
47-10-10. Entry fees prohibited; entry fee defined; security deposit; court costs.
A. The owner of a mobile home park or the agent of such owner shall neither pay to nor receive from an owner or a seller of a mobile home an entry fee of any type as a condition of tenancy in a mobile home park.
B. As used in this section, "entry fee" means any fee paid to or received by an owner of a mobile home park or his agent, except for:
(1) rent;
(2) a security deposit against actual damages to the premises or to secure rental payments, which deposit shall not be greater than the amount allowed under Section 9 [8] [47-10-8 NMSA 1978] of the Mobile Home Park Act. Security deposits shall remain the property of the tenant, and they shall be deposited into a separate trust account by the landlord to be administered by the landlord as a private trustee. For the purpose of preserving the corpus, the landlord shall not commingle the trust funds with other money, but he is permitted to keep the interest and profits thereon as his compensation for administering the trust;
(3) a fee charged by any state, municipal or county governmental agency;
(4) utilities; or
(5) incidental charges for services actually performed by the mobile home park owner or his agent or agreed to in writing by the tenant.
C. The trial judge may award court costs and reasonable attorney fees in any court action brought pursuant to the Mobile Home Park Act to the prevailing party upon a finding that the prevailing party undertook the court action and legal representation for a legally sufficient reason and not for a dilatory or unfounded cause.
D. The management or the resident may bring a civil action for violation of the rental agreement or any violation of the Mobile Home Park Act in the appropriate court of the county in which the mobile home park is located. Either party may recover actual damages, or, the court may in its discretion award such equitable relief as it deems necessary, including the enjoining of either party from further violations.