Key Findings

• No numeric cap exists in New Mexico. Unlike California's Cal. Civ. Code § 5605, which caps regular increases at 20 percent and special assessments at 5 percent without a member vote, New Mexico statutes contain no percentage limit for condominiums or HOAs.¹
• Condominium control is procedural, not numeric. The check on increases runs through the § 47-7C-3(C) ratification process, under which a budget stands unless a majority of all owners reject it.²
• The "six-month priority" assumption does not hold for New Mexico's enacted text. The compiler's note to § 47-7C-16 states that UCA § 3-116(b) — the lien-priority subsection — "is not incorporated by this section of the state Condominium Act." The six-month language survives only in the uniform act's Commissioners' Comment.³
• HOAs are declaration-driven. The Homeowner Association Act is a disclosure and governance statute — not an assessment-cap or budget-ratification statute.⁴
• No dedicated regulator. The New Mexico Secretary of State handles corporate status; assessment disputes run through the District Courts, the Court of Appeals, and discretionary review by the Supreme Court.⁵

Details

Section 1 — Overview

New Mexico draws no line at how much a condominium board can raise assessments. The board proposes a budget, sends unit owners a summary, and that budget takes effect unless a majority of all unit owners vote it down. Non-condominium homeowner associations look to the recorded declaration — not state law — for whatever limits they have.²

The framework for condominiums is the New Mexico Condominium Act (N.M. Stat. §§ 47-7A-1 to 47-7D-20), modeled on the 1980 Uniform Condominium Act, with the budget mechanism in N.M. Stat. § 47-7C-3(C).⁶

Regular increases work through ratification by rejection: the executive board adopts the budget, sends owners a summary, holds a ratification meeting, and the budget takes effect unless owners reject it — with no numeric limit on the size of the increase.² The declaration and the same budget and assessment provisions authorize special assessments, and any unpaid assessment becomes a lien on the unit that the association may foreclose like a mortgage.³

On the national assessment-limit spectrum, New Mexico sits with the ratification-mechanism states — where owners hold a veto over an adopted budget — rather than with statutory-cap states such as California, and its non-condominium HOAs sit with the declaration-driven states.¹ The sections below walk through the authority to levy, the limits on increases, the lien, the procedures in practice, recent legislative and judicial activity, and where New Mexico fits nationally.

1. Cal. Civ. Code § 5605(b) (20 percent regular assessment / 5 percent special assessment caps without member approval) ↩
2. N.M. Stat. § 47-7C-3(C), Executive board members and officers (budget ratification mechanics) ↩
3. N.M. Stat. § 47-7C-16, Lien for assessments (subsections A–H and compiler's note re UCA § 3-116(b) not incorporated) ↩
4. N.M. Stat. §§ 47-16-1 to 47-16-18, Homeowner Association Act (disclosure and transparency statute) ↩
5. RunHOA, New Mexico State Laws (no dedicated HOA regulator; enforcement through notices and courts) ↩
6. Homeowners Protection Bureau, New Mexico Condominium Act §§ 47-7A-1 to 47-7D-20 (based on 1980 Uniform Condominium Act) ↩
7. N.M. Stat. § 47-7C-2, Powers of unit owners' association (adopt budgets; collect assessments) ↩
8. N.M. Stat. § 47-7C-15, Assessments for common expenses (allocation per declaration; 18 percent interest cap on past-due assessments) ↩
9. N.M. Stat. §§ 53-8-1 to 53-8-99, Nonprofit Corporation Act ↩
10. N.M. Stat. § 47-16-7, Board members and officers; duties; budget (annual budget adoption and circulation) ↩
11. N.M. Stat. § 47-16-6, Duties of a homeowner association (parallel HOA assessment lien; recordable statement within ten business days) ↩
12. Senate Bill 7, 57th Legislature, 1st Session (2025), enrolled text, Laws 2025, ch. 52 (municipal storm water utilities; NMSA 1978, § 3-23-1; effective June 20, 2025), New Mexico Legislature ↩
13. Bernalillo County, “Short-term rental reclassification leads to creation of housing guidelines” (Mar. 31, 2026) ↩
14. HM 52 Short-Term Rental Work Group, report to the Economic and Rural Development and Policy Committee (Dec. 8, 2025), New Mexico Legislature ↩
15. N.M. Legislature, SB 72 (2025) Fiscal Impact Report (Condominium and Nonprofit Corporation Act remote-business amendments; effective June 20, 2025); LegiScan vote record ↩
16. N.M. Legislature, HB 440 (2025) Fiscal Impact Report (HOA lien-foreclosure thresholds; amends § 47-16-6; action postponed indefinitely) ↩
17. CAI, 2025 New Mexico Legislative Session Report (SB 72, HB 440, HB 232, SB 239) ↩
18. Ross v. Villa Del Rio Homeowners Association, Inc., No. A-1-CA-42101 (N.M. Ct. App. July 3, 2025) (summary affirmance; subject not stated) ↩