Judgment of restitution of possession of premises does not constitute a court
order to end water services. — Where plaintiffs brought a petition for restitution of
possession of premises against resident based on unpaid rent and property damage,
and where the magistrate court entered a judgment for restitution in favor of plaintiffs
and issued a corresponding writ of restitution, ordering the sheriff to remove resident
within seven days of entry of the judgment, and where, prior to the execution of the writ
of restitution, plaintiffs had resident’s water shut off for unpaid water charges, and
where, on appeal to the district court, resident filed a counterclaim for unlawful
diminution of services and seeking abatement of rent for the days resident was without
water service, the district court erred in denying resident’s claim for unlawful diminution
of services, because 47-8-36(A) NMSA 1978, prohibits an owner from acting to recover
possession of a dwelling unit that a resident has not surrendered or abandoned, such
as directing a utility to shut off water to the premises, unless a "court order" authorizes
the owner to take such action, and the plain language of Subsection A of this section
indicates that the legislature did not intend that a judgment for restitution, for which a
writ of restitution has been issued, constitutes a "court order". Roser v. Hufstedler,
2023-NMCA-040.