Grant’s Tuesday Evening Forecast

The recent wet weather will be winding down across parts of New Mexico, but spotty afternoon storm chances will continue in the eastern part of the state into the end of this week.

Isolated showers and thunderstorms have developed across New Mexico Tuesday afternoon, bringing another round of rainfall to parts of the state. Storms brought another round of heavier rainfall to the Albuquerque Metro this afternoon. Storms will continue pushing east through this evening before ending late tonight.

Drier air moves into western New Mexico Wednesday, kicking off a warming trend statewide. Higher moisture will linger along and east of the central mountain chain, where isolated to scattered afternoon showers and thunderstorms will still be possible. The best chances for storms will stretch from the Sangre de Cristo Mountains into northeast New Mexico. A similar pattern sets up again Thursday as temperatures continue climbing statewide.

Southwest flow will pull additional moisture back into New Mexico Friday. For now, the best chances for rain still look to stay across northern New Mexico and along and east of the central mountain chain. The added moisture will also bring more cloud cover statewide.

This weekend is trending hotter and drier statewide. Storm chances will begin increasing again early next week as a dry line develops in eastern New Mexico.

When Eddie and Eva Bloor purchased their Cowlitz County, Wash., home in 2004, they had no idea the house had been used for methamphetamine production. Neither the sellers nor the real estate brokers disclosed to the Bloors that toxic chemicals had been found at the residence.

The newly minted homeowners were shocked when the local health department caught wind that the property was contaminated and deemed it unfit for occupancy. The Bloors were ordered to immediately vacate the residence and not remove any of their personal belongings due to the risk of cross contamination. They left with only the clothes on their backs and had to spend tens of thousands of dollars to relocate and replace virtually everything they owned.

Due the high cost of moving and replacement of clothing, furniture, electronics, appliances, toothbrushes and who knows what else, the property went into foreclosure. Shortly thereafter, the Bloors filed suit against the agents and former owners. Almost four years passed before the case finally made its way through the judicial process. In the end, the displaced homeowners were compensated for their losses and awarded punitive damages.

While the sellers and brokers were obligated to disclose the existence of the meth lab prior to the sale, the State of Washington had no law on the books that required law enforcement to disclose the existence of toxic chemicals to any persons or agencies. The same was true in New Mexico until Jan. 1, 2008, when a new law took effect requiring law enforcement agencies that bust meth labs to immediately post a warning on the property and notify the owners and/or renters that toxic chemicals were found on the premises.

The law also makes it mandatory for law enforcement agencies to notify the New Mexico Environmental Department’s (NMED’s) Hazardous Waste Bureau, which posts the addresses of the contaminated properties on its website https://www.env.nm.gov/hazardous-waste/clandestine-drug-laboratories/ until they’ve been cleaned up to the standards outlined in the law. Addresses of properties that were the subject of federal enforcement actions are also listed on the site.

Until full remediation of the problem has been completed and approved by NMED, owners cannot sell, rent or otherwise occupy the property. When the property is ready for the open market, owners are required to disclose in writing to buyers or renters that a meth lab was found on the premises and that full remediation was completed in accordance with the law. Violation of the statute is a criminal misdemeanor and can also result in a civil fine of up to $10,000 per day.

This is not the only housing-related disclosure law on the books. New Mexico law (NMSA 1978 § 47-13-2) says your real estate broker and/or the seller of the home you’re considering purchasing or leasing “shall not be liable for failure to disclose and shall not have a duty to disclose to any person who buys or leases a property that the property was the site of a natural death, a homicide, suicide, assault or sexual assault; that the home was occupied by a person with AIDS or who is HIV positive or that a crime punishable as a felony was committed on the premises”. Such properties are often referred to as “stigmatized”.

Federal law goes even further, making it a crime to disclose that a current or former occupant of a home, mobile home or apartment has or had AIDS or was or is HIV positive.

What about ghosts, you ask? According to a 2013 Harris Poll, 42 percent of us believe that such disembodied spirits exist. Unfortunately, we’ll probably never know if any of them inhabit a particular residence unless they themselves decide to tell us.

The State of New Mexico has additional resources that prospective homeowners and tenants can tap to evaluate a property or neighborhood. Soon-to-be occupants can check the New Mexico Sex Offender Registry athttps://sheriffalerts.com/cap_office_disclaimer.php?office=55290&fwd=aHR0cDovL2NvbW11bml0eW5vdGlmaWNhdGlvbi5jb20vY2FwX21haW4ucGhwP29mZmljZT01NTI5MA==  to determine if any registered offenders live in the area.

Think a neighbor may be a felon or has been arrested in the past? Homebuyers and renters can determine if such persons live nearby by looking up names of interest on the state’s Judiciary and Court website athttps://caselookup.nmcourts.gov/caselookup/.

Another method of assessing the character of a neighborhood or street is do what the cops do on occasion – stake it out. Drive through the area or park for a while on the street where you intend to reside. Evenings and weekends provide the best opportunity to get a sense of the amount of vehicular traffic, number of toddlers, teenagers, and general personality of the area. It’s also a good idea to speak with a few of the neighbors, some of whom will undoubtedly gossip ‘til your ears begin to melt. Want to dig a bit deeper? Log into the Las Cruces Police Department’s Community Crime Map https://communitycrimemap.com/.

ROSWELL, N.M. – Roswell police are investigating a double homicide after two people were found shot to death inside a car near Alice Reischman Smith Park.

The Roswell Police Department said officers responded Sunday night to reports of shots fired near G Street and East Wells Street.

Police said they found 19-year-old Joseph Romero and 20-year-old Robbie Adams dead inside a Chrysler 300 parked next to the park.

The department said the car had been hit by multiple gunshots and both men had multiple gunshot wounds.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Roswell Police Department at 575-624-6770.