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A group of about 50 people gathered in front of a quiet, single-story apartment building on a quiet Las Cruces street Saturday morning. Many of them held signs bearing messages written by hand: “Affordable housing now,” “Stop no cause evictions” and “Keep Sandy housed.”
Sandy BarMcQ, 82, a retired schoolteacher, local community activist of 39 years and a leukemia patient, was seated on her walker near the entrance to the small apartment on Fairway Drive where she has lived since 2018.
Last month, she received a notice from her property manager informing her she needed to move out by the end of December.
While she was subsequently granted an extension allowing her to vacate the apartment by the end of February, BarMcQ said finding housing she can afford, living mainly on Social Security income, has proven difficult.
“I’ve been really active in this community for 39 years,” she told the Las Cruces Bulletin. “I love Las Cruces.”
BarMcQ said she did not plan a legal fight with the property owner, Purple Mountain Real Estate and Investments, acknowledging that the company was acting legally in ending her lease. She said one of her neighbors had received a similar notice, also with no cause given. BarMcQ said she had stayed current on her rent and did not know why she had been asked to leave.
Property manager Betty Zwilling told the Bulletin in an interview that BarMcQ had been on a month-to-month lease for four years, under an arrangement that originated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Zwilling did not provide a reason for ending the lease, saying it was confidential, and confirmed she had not provided an explanation to the tenant, either.
“Whenever I give a notice to anyone that I am not renewing them, I never discuss it with them,” she said, “because they always have a reason, they always have an excuse, and they want to argue, and I don't want to argue with anyone.”
Zwilling said she regretted the timing of her initial notice, which would have required BarMcQ to find new housing and complete her move during the December holidays, and confirmed an extension allowing her to stay until Feb. 28. Zwilling stressed that the law permitted termination of her lease with as little as 30 days’ notice and that ending her lease was legal.
“New Mexico law is pretty fair to both. It tells the owners and the landlords what they have to do, and they tell the tenants what they have to do, and we each have to abide by what it says,” Zwilling said.
She said she was confident new housing options were within reach.
Unlike many tenants, BarMcQ has a network of friends and supporters who mobilized the Dec. 21 rally, pointing to her story as an illustration of the city’s lack of affordable housing or options for tenants who, like BarMcQ, may have their leases terminated without cause and given as little as a month to find a new place in a crowded housing market.
Attendees of the rally said the stress of forcing BarMcQ to move, considering her age and delicate health, could be life-threatening.
Speaking into a microphone, Rev. Carol Wilkins evoked the timing of the property owners’ action close to the Christmas holiday and said, “I call forth right now that all of you here focus on compassion, and I speak to the landlords in this city: There’s nothing wrong with making money but there’s something wrong with not being compassionate, not having humanity as the first thought … If this were your mother, would you treat her the same way?”
Zwilling said she had received email messages and phone calls on BarMcQ’s behalf, but that the decision was final.
Turning to housing in the city, Wilkins argued that new development focused on single-family housing. Other speakers linked Sandy BarMcQ’s situation to broad trends, including cost-cutting and profit-seeking by companies owning and managing apartment buildings, displacement of low- and middle-income residents, broken neighborhoods and homelessness.
“So many people in power say that this is a private problem,” Sarah Silva, a community organizer, consultant and recently elected state legislator, said when she took the microphone. “Actually, this is a very public problem. It has public solutions.”
Silva, one of the event’s organizers, called on the city to consider an ordinance limiting no-cause lease terminations, and said she would propose solutions at the state level aiming to keep people housed when she begins her term in Santa Fe. Silva, a Las Cruces Democrat, was elected in November as the state House representative for District 53, which overlaps Doña Ana and Otero counties.
State Rep. Angelica Rubio, D-Las Cruces, also attended the rally and told the Bulletin a number of proposed new protections for low-income tenants and borrowers were planned for the legislative session opening in January.
During 2024, the city of Las Cruces and Doña Ana County broke ground on multiple affordable housing projects, the largest of which was the 144-unit Peachtree Canyon Apartments on the city’s east side. On Dec. 16, the Las Cruces City Council approved $1.35 million toward a $22 million, 218-unit development in the El Paseo corridor, including living space designated for veterans and senior citizens. The efforts to build more housing comes as, by the city’s estimate, Las Cruces is 5,600 units short of meeting demand.
Two city councilors, Becky Corran and Cassie McClure, attended the event but did not speak.
“Sandy’s situation is upsetting, compelling and too common in Las Cruces,” Corran told the Bulletin on Monday. “We are committed to addressing housing at every level, with hundreds of new affordable apartments coming on line in the next months and years, zoning reform and working with our legislators and housing advocates.”
McClure said the council had been alerted to BarMcQ’s situation earlier this month, but the city’s housing and legal departments had advised there was little that could be done.
“It adds to feeling impotent when more could be done in tandem with state and city leadership examining routes forward, especially on fast-tracking the creation of more housing,” McClure said.
She expressed hope that sweeping zoning changes the council will vote on in February will add options, such as permitting more homeowners to build small dwelling units like casitas.
As friends, at least one neighbor, church members and other community members offered her good wishes and pledged to help her, BarMcQ was visibly touched by the outpouring of support, but she added, firmly: “This shouldn’t happen to anybody. It isn’t about me, it’s about our community.”