City councilor wants to require landlords in Albuquerque to provide cooling units in all rentals

It may be November, with wintery conditions setting in, but one city councilor’s mind is on mandating cooling units across the city of Albuquerque.

Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn is introducing a bill to amend the city’s uniform housing code, which would require landlords to provide adequate cooling to all units.

“This is a really simple bill. We’re just adding cooling to the list of basic necessities in a rental structure,” Fiebelkorn said on Friday. “We want to make sure that everybody in our community has certain basic amenities in the house or the apartment that they’re living in, and we did not have cooling on that list, and we need to add it.”

The proposed amendments would require every unit to have cooling facilities that maintain a room temperature of 80 degrees Fahrenheit or lower.

New Mexico’s tenant rights require landlords to provide heating but do not explicitly require landlords to provide cooling.

This isn’t the first time Fiebelkorn has taken on landlords.

In 2022, she introduced the “Residential Tenant Protection Ordinance,” which would have terminated fees for tenants deemed unreasonable. It failed on a 5-4 vote.

She’s optimistic this new legislation won’t receive pushback.

“This is a very narrow bill that does not do anything besides add a requirement for cooling of 80 degrees or less for rental units. And it’s hard for me to imagine how anyone can oppose that,” Fiebelkorn said.

While empathizing with the need for cooling, Alan LaSeck, the executive director of the Albuquerque-based Apartment Association of New Mexico, took some issue with the bill.

“While we fully recognize the intent behind the proposed ordinance, its implementation will present significant challenges for Albuquerque. The city’s unique climate and infrastructure sets it apart from neighboring cities and states, particularly due to the widespread use of evaporative coolers,” LaSeck said. “More than 43% of Albuquerque’s apartment buildings were constructed before 1980, and many of these units have not been retrofitted with central air conditioning.”

He also said the mandate would complicate things for landlords during the non-summer months.

“While we agree that cooling is essential during the hot summer months, transitioning between seasons — particularly in spring and fall — would also be difficult for properties relying on evaporative coolers under this mandate,” LaSeck said. “The ordinance stipulates that it would take effect just five days after publication by title, which is an impractical timeline for completing the necessary renovations that could take months or years.”

Fiebelkorn said the bill is being introduced because summers are getting hotter and longer. She also said she was putting the bill forward now so if it passes, landlords will have an adequate amount of time to install cooling units before warmer temperatures set in.

“Albuquerque’s summers have become increasingly hotter and longer, with rising temperatures and prolonged heatwaves, creating an emerging need for cooling systems to be required in all rental units,” the bill states.

Data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows in Albuquerque there were 17 days where the temperature hit 100 degrees or higher in 2023 — the highest number in 35 years. In 2024, there were at least five days where the temperature hit 100 degrees or higher.

The bill says “extreme heat can cause serious health issues, including heat exhaustion, heat stroke, and other heat-related illnesses, especially affecting vulnerable populations such as the elderly, children, and individuals with underlying health concerns.”

In an email Friday morning to constituents announcing the bill, Fiebelkorn’s office said, “The impacts of climate change are becoming more and more pronounced in the summer with higher temperatures, urban heat island impacts that raise nighttime temperatures, and higher temperatures continuing late into the fall season.”

The bill will be added to the letter of introduction on Monday.