Protecting Your Property Rights

We are a group of Short Term Rental owners, Property Owners and Realtors in the County and City of Santa Fe, New Mexico.  We come from all backgrounds, all economic levels.  We are multi-generational local families, new locals who have lived here for years and new transplants.  We all believe that when we all do better, we all prosper.   That's why we have come together as a multi-cultural and economic group of homeowners, advocating to keep our local government from violating our rights.   

The main issues the lawsuit will impact are:

• The successful outcome of this lawsuit will be the deciding factor in how STRs are regulated and taxed in Santa Fe.

• The Santa Fe County STR Lawsuit will stop the Santa Fe Tax Assessor's ability to change your property tax "use" classification from "residential" to "non-residential" aka "commercial".  Don't be fooled  - they are reclassifying our residential properties to commerical properties, simply because we rent our homes for a short period of time.   A major challenge within the SFC STR lawsuit is the fact that NM Appellate Court has ruled in 2013 that STRs are residential in "use". This is important because the Tax Assessor's sole foundation for changing STR property valuations is based upon his interpretation of the property's "use". The NM Appellate Court ruled: "STRs are primarily residential, no different than primary, vacation, or long term rental homes." In addition, 23 Appellate and State Supreme Courts across the country have ruled the same - STRs are RESIDENTIAL in USE, not commercial. The successful outcome of the SFC Lawsuit will prevent your property taxes from being increased 30% in one year and prevent high, compounded annual increases in the years to come. It will preserve and protect your property's market value. This is the single most important action taken to protect property rights in Santa Fe in decades.

• The SFC Lawsuit will eliminate the risk of your mortgage being recalled because it will now be considered "non-residential" with the Tax Assessor's "use" re-classification. The Santa Fe Association of Realtors (SFAR) has expressed a grave concern that if the SF Tax Assessor isn't stopped, the re-classification of mortgages is a real possibility. How will you obtain a commercial mortgage for your home after your residential one is recalled?

• The SFC Lawsuit will prevent property insurance costs from skyrocketing - your property will not be re-classified as a commercial property.

• If the re-classification is not stopped, property sales in Santa Fe will be negatively impacted. The Santa Fe Association fo Realtors has communicated to the Assessor that his tax change will impact sales, as it will limit a property's use, as well as decreasing its market value. Properties will have to be disclosed as "commercial" and disclose the significantly higher property taxes on the MLS. Who is going to want to buy a home that is classified as commercial and subject to high commercial rates? How will a prospective buyer obtain a mortgage or insurance for a home classified as commercial in a residentially zoned area? It's a nightmare.

• Airbnb is providing us with valuable advocacy support and is  our case closely.  They know how important this lawsuit is to protect property rights for ALL owners in the state of New Mexico.  

Go to our GoFundMe campaign to get all the details of how the ordinance impacts the rights of All New Mexico STR Owners rights:   https://gofund.me/8168f30a

You can sign up for our newsletters/alerts or reach us at:  strfellowshipsfc@outlook.com

We have STR owners and homeowners from all walks of life contributing to our efforts.  We have long time locals and new "locals" with skill-sets in valuable backgrounds such as law, government, marketing, investigation, politics, media and technology.

All of our team members use their skills to review and verify information to the best of our ability, so you can have information based upon facts and law, not what our local officials "want" us to know.

We have the support of local realtor associations, hosting platforms and lobbyists.

This effort is truly unique.  There is no other short term rental advocacy group in New Mexico fighting for the rights of all STR owners with the resources, connections and engaged stakeholders as The STR Fellowship of Santa Fe County.

We are the group who has taken significant action to protect the rights of short term rental owners.  

What once was just about Santa Fe is now about the rights of all New Mexico STR Owners.  

The first step is to win the lawsuit.  It will change the law and will protect our rights.  

Donate to fight for your rights:  https://gofund.me/8168f30a


Ultimately......
We are aiming to empower STR Owners, homeowners and future homeowners so that we can change how Santa Fe officials treat property owners. For too long they have gotten away with intimidating people, providing mis-information or out right lying to homeowners when they have had to interact with the county or city.
It's illegal. And it's hurting everyone in our community.
It's a myth that most homeowners here have "lots of money".
People are doing the best we can with what we have.

When our locals official attack our property rights -they hurt everyone. They make it harder for everyone to own a home and/or maintain our homes.

They prevent the young adults of our multi-generational families to inherit and own their ancestral homes.
They drive housing costs up with their bad zoning laws and processes.
They have done nothing to build affordable housing for DECADES and now they blame others for their failures.

We need to know where all the money is going? 2022 was the biggest tourism year every - our governor announced that we took in over $8 Billion!
Oil/Gas money is at an all time high.
Why aren't we seeing quality streets, wifi for all, trash service, crime reductions, better healthcare, better education, better jobs and of course more affordable - quality - housing? We can't see or feel how our tax dollars are being spent.

We all feel the problems we have in Santa Fe.
We all know our officials' policies are horrible and do not help our community.
We all know our officials stoke the fires of blame and bigotry towards so-called "outsiders".
All of this, tears us all down.

So you ask again - what is our goal?
To build a stronger, better informed community where all property owners rights are protected and where all people have a pathway to homeownership and prosperity.

A big goal, right?  Yes.   Because when we all have facts and are informed, our local government can't abuse our rights.