SENATE MEMORIAL 57

53rd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2017

INTRODUCED BY

Elizabeth "Liz" Stefanics

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF INSURANCE TO STUDY AND REPORT ON METHODS TO MITIGATE THE CREATION OF HIGH-RISK TITLE INSURANCE ZONES THAT RESULT FROM INTERGOVERNMENTAL CONFLICTS.

     WHEREAS, New Mexico's history of land possession and ownership has created a mosaic of sometimes overlapping title claims and governmental jurisdictions derived from distinct bodies of law; and

     WHEREAS, within its boundaries, New Mexico contains all or part of the lands of twenty-four federally recognized Indian nations, tribes and pueblos; and

     WHEREAS, the boundaries of many of the Indian nations, tribes and pueblos are based on individual treaties, acts of the United States congress and judicial rulings interpreting those treaties and congressional acts; and

     WHEREAS, the boundaries of many of the Indian pueblos are based on a combination of aboriginal territorial claims, community grants of land awarded by the governments of Spain and Mexico and recognized under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and judicial rulings delineating their land rights based on aboriginal territory and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo; and

     WHEREAS, land ownership and title within the boundaries of some of the federally recognized Indian nations, tribes and pueblos in New Mexico were complicated by the mid-twentieth-century federal policy of awarding allotments of reservation lands, similar to titles in fee simple, to individual members of Indian nations, tribes and pueblos; and

     WHEREAS, many Hispanic and genizaro communities in New Mexico were also awarded community grants of land by the governments of Spain and Mexico that were recognized by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, but the titles to these grants are often traced through congressional acts and judicial rulings different from those governing the awards of community lands to Indian pueblos; and

     WHEREAS, the combination of sometimes overlapping claims to land and the multiple jurisdictions of federally recognized Indian nations, tribes and pueblos, and the state and its political subdivisions occasionally gives rise to intergovernmental conflicts; and

     WHEREAS, intergovernmental conflicts regarding jurisdiction or land ownership have created geographic zones that are designated as "high risk" by title insurance companies; and

     WHEREAS, through no fault of their own, property owners in a "high risk" zone must pay extremely high insurance rates and sometimes cannot find available title insurance at any price; and

     WHEREAS, the title insurance market in "high risk" zones disrupts housing and housing loan markets and negatively impacts local economies;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the office of superintendent of insurance be requested to study methods of lowering "high risk" title insurance designations and of mitigating the impacts of "high risk" zone designations on property owners, housing and housing loan markets and on local economies; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the office of superintendent of insurance be requested to present a report of its findings to the appropriate interim legislative committee by November 1, 2017; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution be transmitted to the office of superintendent of insurance and the governor.

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