Welcome to a new column on landlord-tenant issues, "A Good Lease on Life."

I've been the executive director of the New Mexico Landlord Tenant Hotline for 15 years and respond to some 3,000 calls a year.

In the course of this column, we will address questions and concerns from landlords and tenants in regular residential real estate and in mobile home parks. So let's go. I'm hoping you'll look forward to reading A Good Lease on Life with questions from readers like you, every other week in The New Mexican. You can submit your questions to my email address.

Question:Things are really getting bad for me and my family. I lost my job and I'm a single mom with two wonderful kids. I have no income, and can't possibly pay the rent. The landlord's been calling our home every day since the first and we don't answer the phone. I don't know what to say to him.

Answer: Times are tough right now, and you're not alone. The landlord might be having a tough time, too. Who knows? He might have a big mortgage to pay on the property. If you can't pay the rent, you'll have to move. Here's how the law works:

The landlord needs to give you a "3-Day Notice of Non-Payment of Rent." That form gives you three days to either pay or leave. If you don't pay or leave within three days from the time and date on the document, the next step for the landlord is to file for an eviction in court: Only the court can force the tenant from the property. The sheriff will not come to lock you out without a court order.

If the landlord locks you out, cuts off any necessary utilities to the property, blocks your access to the house, or throws out your personal items, you can sue him for twice the monthly rent. He cannot take the law into his own hands. Once you are in court, the judge has the jurisdiction to evict in not less than three, nor more than seven days.

The landlord is only obligated to make your personal property available to you for three days following the execution of the eviction. After three days, he can dispose of all of your personal property with no further notice or liability.

Susan Turetsky is executive director of the New Mexico Landlord Tenant Hotline, 664 Alta Vista Suite A, Santa Fe, N.M. 87505. Contact her at 983-8447 or nmhotline@aol.com.