New Mexico HOA Board Elections

Key Findings

• New Mexico runs board elections on two tracks. Condominiums follow the New Mexico Condominium Act (NMSA 1978, § 47-7A-1 et seq.), which borrows from the Uniform Condominium Act. Planned communities follow the Homeowner Association Act (NMSA 1978, § 47-16-1 et seq.). The declaration, the bylaws, and the New Mexico Nonprofit Corporation Act (NMSA 1978, § 53-8-1 et seq.) fill in the rest.
• Don't mistake the Homeowner Association Act for a disclosure statute that stays out of elections. Its current text sets the schedule for ending declarant control (§ 47-16-8), the rules for removing directors (§ 47-16-8.1), the voting methods and ballot counting (§ 47-16-9), and the timing for the annual meeting and notice (§ 47-16-17). It leaves the rest to the bylaws: board size above a three-member floor, terms, nominations, and quorum.
• New Mexico has not adopted the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act. It has no dedicated HOA regulator and does not license community association managers. The appellate courts have not yet construed these election provisions, so the most useful authority on the books is New Mexico Attorney General Opinion No. 2024-13, which addresses the transition out of declarant control.

Section 1: Overview, how board elections are governed in New Mexico

Start with the question that decides everything else: what kind of community is holding the election? In New Mexico, condominiums answer to the New Mexico Condominium Act (NMSA 1978, § 47-7A-1 et seq.),¹ a statute built on the 1980 Uniform Condominium Act that governs condominiums created on or after May 19, 1982 and sets the rules for the executive board, declarant control, voting, and removal. Planned communities answer to the Homeowner Association Act, as amended. When either statute goes silent, the declaration, the bylaws, and the New Mexico Nonprofit Corporation Act take over. A condominium created before May 19, 1982 may stay under the older New Mexico Building Unit Ownership Act (NMSA 1978, § 47-7-1 et seq.)² unless a majority of unit owners adopt and record a resolution choosing the Condominium Act.

The Homeowner Association Act (NMSA 1978, § 47-16-1 et seq.), enacted by Laws 2013, ch. 122 and effective July 1, 2013, often gets filed away as a disclosure-and-registration law. It does handle document recording and resale disclosures.³ But read the current text and you'll find it does more: it sets the core election machinery for planned communities — the schedule for ending declarant control, the threshold for owner-elected directors, director removal, permitted voting methods, ballot counting, and the timing of meeting notice. The mechanics the Act leaves open — board size above a three-member floor, terms, term limits, nominations, and quorum — run on the declaration, the bylaws, and the Nonprofit Corporation Act (NMSA 1978, § 53-8-1 et seq.).⁴ New Mexico has not adopted the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act. That puts the state in a middle category: a statute that reaches several election mechanics head-on while leaving the remainder to the governing documents and corporate law. The sections below lay out the framework and the mechanics in operational detail.

Section 2: The election framework

2A. The New Mexico Condominium Act and condominium board elections

The New Mexico Condominium Act (NMSA 1978, § 47-7A-1 et seq.) draws on the 1980 Uniform Condominium Act and applies to condominiums created on or after its effective date of May 19, 1982. Its management article places board elections under § 47-7C-3. That section lets the executive board act on behalf of the association but bars the board from electing its own members or setting their qualifications, powers, or terms — though the board does fill vacancies for the unexpired portion of a term.⁵ When declarant control ends, the unit owners must elect an executive board of at least three members, a majority of them unit owners, and the board then elects its officers.

The declarant-control period runs as the declaration provides, but it ends no later than the earliest of three events: 180 days after 90 percent of the units that may be created have been conveyed to owners other than a declarant; two years after all declarants stop offering units in the ordinary course of business; or five years after anyone last exercised a development right to add units. Before that, once 50 percent of the units have been conveyed to owners other than a declarant, the declarant must fill at least one seat, and no less than 25 percent of the board, from among the unit owners. Section 47-7C-3 tracks Section 3-103 of the Uniform Condominium Act, with New Mexico swapping in the 90 percent and 180-day figures for the uniform act's 75 percent and 60 days.

A condominium created before May 19, 1982 may remain under the New Mexico Building Unit Ownership Act (NMSA 1978, § 47-7-1 et seq.), which sets its election rules through the bylaws (§§ 47-7-19, 47-7-20) rather than a detailed statutory transition.² A pre-Act condominium comes under the Condominium Act only if a majority of unit owners approve and record a resolution to that effect (§ 47-7A-2). So the governing statute turns on two things: the creation date and any recorded election. This is a Uniform Condominium Act statute — distinct from the broader Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act and from California's prescriptive election code.

2B. The Homeowner Association Act and planned-community elections

The Homeowner Association Act (NMSA 1978, § 47-16-1 et seq.) was enacted by Laws 2013, ch. 122, effective July 1, 2013, and amended by Laws 2019, ch. 30. It carries the registration and disclosure provisions it's best known for — recording a homeowner association notice, giving lot owners access to records, and issuing resale disclosure certificates. It does not stop there. Several sections set planned-community election mechanics outright.

Section 47-16-8 governs declarant control of the board. Once 25 percent of the lots have been conveyed to owners other than a declarant, lot owners must elect at least one member and no less than 25 percent of the board; at the 50 percent threshold, that share rises to no less than 33 percent; and at termination of declarant control, lot owners elect a board of at least three members, a majority of them lot owners.³ Section 47-16-8.1 supplies a default method for removing directors.⁶ Section 47-16-9 sets the permitted voting methods and the ballot-counting safeguards.⁷ And Section 47-16-17 sets the timing for the annual meeting and its notice.⁸ One nuance matters: under Section 47-16-15, the voting, audit, and certain other sections do not apply to associations created before July 1, 2013 — though the declarant-control section does reach existing associations, and any amendment to community documents must comply.⁹

Where the Homeowner Association Act stays silent — board size above the three-member floor, terms, nominations, quorum, and vote thresholds — the declaration and bylaws control, and the New Mexico Nonprofit Corporation Act (NMSA 1978, § 53-8-1 et seq.) supplies the director gap-fillers for an incorporated association. The corporate floor is no less than three directors (§ 53-8-18), with a one-year default term unless the articles or bylaws say otherwise.⁴

2C. Corporate law, the bylaws, and order of precedence

For a condominium, precedence runs in order: the Condominium Act (or the Building Unit Ownership Act for a pre-Act condominium), then the declaration, then the bylaws, then the Nonprofit Corporation Act gap-fillers for an incorporated association, then the board's own rules. For a planned community, the Homeowner Association Act controls the mechanics it addresses — declarant-control transition, removal, voting methods, ballot counting, and meeting notice — while the declaration and bylaws control the mechanics it does not, and the Nonprofit Corporation Act supplies the corporate director defaults wherever the documents stay quiet.

When the statutes and the governing documents are both silent, common-law contract and property doctrine fills the gap, because a declaration is a set of covenants running with the land and reads as a contract among the owners. Here's the operational takeaway for a planned-community election: check the Homeowner Association Act first for the declarant-control schedule, the removal threshold, the voting methods, and the notice window; then turn to the declaration and bylaws for board size, terms, nominations, quorum, and vote thresholds; and then to the Nonprofit Corporation Act for any corporate default that's left.

Section 3: Election mechanics

A. Eligibility and nominations

In a condominium, at least a majority of the executive board must be unit owners once the owners elect the board at turnover (CONDOMINIUMS, § 47-7C-3(F)). In a planned community, a majority of the board must be lot owners at termination of declarant control, and each board member must certify in writing, within 90 days of taking office, that the member will uphold the community documents (PLANNED COMMUNITIES, §§ 47-16-8(G), 47-16-7(B)). For an incorporated association, directors need not be residents or members unless the articles or bylaws require it (BOTH, § 53-8-17, corporate). Neither property statute addresses nomination procedures, so the bylaws set them for both community types.

B. Notice, annual meeting, and quorum

A condominium association must meet at least once a year, with notice sent not less than 10 nor more than 60 days in advance (CONDOMINIUMS, § 47-7C-8). A planned-community association must hold an annual meeting at least once every 13 months, with written notice not less than 10 nor more than 50 days before the meeting (PLANNED COMMUNITIES, § 47-16-17). The condominium quorum is 20 percent of the votes entitled to be cast for board election, in person or by proxy, unless the bylaws set a different figure (CONDOMINIUMS, § 47-7C-9). The Homeowner Association Act sets no member quorum, so the bylaws supply the figure for planned communities, with a 10 percent corporate default for incorporated associations (PLANNED COMMUNITIES, § 53-8-16, corporate).

C. Voting methods, proxies, and ballots

A condominium may vote in person and by proxy, and after Senate Bill 72 (2025) it may conduct remote electronic participation and voting (CONDOMINIUMS, §§ 47-7C-8, 47-7C-9). A planned-community association must provide for votes in person, by absentee ballot, or by proxy, and may allow other delivery methods; proxies must be dated, signed, revocable, and valid only for the meeting at which they are cast, and no one may be paid to collect them (PLANNED COMMUNITIES, § 47-16-9). Where members elect the directors, planned-community bylaws may provide for elections by mail (PLANNED COMMUNITIES, § 47-16-9(D)). When a planned community uses ballots, a neutral third party — or volunteers who are not board members and, in a contested election, not candidates — must count them (PLANNED COMMUNITIES, § 47-16-9(F)). Neither property statute specifies the vote threshold to elect, so the bylaws set it, with a majority-of-votes-cast corporate default (BOTH, § 53-8-16, corporate).

D. Terms, vacancies, removal, and recall

Neither property statute addresses director term length, term limits, or staggering, so the bylaws set them for both community types, with a one-year corporate default term absent a contrary provision (BOTH, § 53-8-18, corporate). A condominium executive board fills its own vacancies for the unexpired term (CONDOMINIUMS, § 47-7C-3(B)); the Homeowner Association Act does not address vacancies, so the declaration, the bylaws, or the corporate default of remaining-director appointment applies in a planned community (PLANNED COMMUNITIES, § 53-8-19, corporate). Condominium unit owners may remove any non-declarant-appointed board member by a two-thirds vote of those present and entitled to vote at a meeting with a quorum, with or without cause (CONDOMINIUMS, § 47-7C-3(G)). Planned-community lot owners may remove a board member by a two-thirds vote of all lot owners present and entitled to vote at a meeting with a quorum, unless the community documents provide a removal process (PLANNED COMMUNITIES, § 47-16-8.1).

Section 4: Recent legislative and judicial activity

A. Recent bills

B. Recent judicial and administrative activity

No published New Mexico Court of Appeals or New Mexico Supreme Court opinion in the relevant window squarely construes the board-election provisions of the Homeowner Association Act or the Condominium Act. Election disputes start in the New Mexico District Courts, move to the New Mexico Court of Appeals, and reach the New Mexico Supreme Court only on discretionary review — but the appellate courts have not yet interpreted these sections. The most directly relevant authority is administrative.

C. Active legislative debates

Proposals to put an outer limit on the declarant-control timeline keep coming back. House Bill 482 (2023), introduced by Reps. Jason C. Harper and Craig W. Brandt, would have amended § 47-16-8(B) to end declarant control no later than 20 years after the initial filing of a homeowner association notice under § 47-16-4; it did not become law.¹⁴ No pending measure would turn the Homeowner Association Act into a comprehensive governance code or layer extra statutory election procedures onto the Condominium Act.

Section 5: National positioning and related coverage

New Mexico is neither a no-HOA-statute state nor a comprehensive-governance state. It sits in between. The Homeowner Association Act registers and discloses, and it also reaches several planned-community election mechanics directly — the declarant-control schedule, director removal, permitted voting methods, ballot counting, and meeting notice — while leaving board size, terms, nominations, and quorum to the declaration, the bylaws, and the Nonprofit Corporation Act. Condominiums run on the separate, Uniform-Condominium-Act-based Condominium Act, and the state has not adopted the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act. For a multi-state operator, the practical lesson is this: you cannot file New Mexico under a pure disclosure label for elections. The statute supplies the turnover, removal, and voting rules; the declaration, the bylaws, and corporate law supply the rest.

Federal frameworks reach New Mexico associations too, no matter what the state framework says — the Fair Housing Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, and the FCC's OTARD rule all apply.

Recommendations

1. For an active planned-community election, start with the statute, not just the bylaws. Confirm the declarant-control posture under § 47-16-8 first — the 25 percent and 50 percent conveyance thresholds and the outer time limits — then apply the § 47-16-9 voting and ballot-counting rules and the § 47-16-17 notice timing. Only then turn to the declaration and bylaws for board size, terms, nominations, and quorum. Escalate to counsel the moment a developer-controlled community at or past 25 percent owner conveyance has not seated an owner-elected director.
2. For condominiums, verify the creation date before you apply any rule. A condominium created on or after May 19, 1982 runs on §§ 47-7C-3, 47-7C-8, 47-7C-9, and 47-7C-10; a pre-1982 condominium runs on the Building Unit Ownership Act and its bylaws unless a recorded majority resolution elected the Condominium Act. Don't assume the Condominium Act governs every condominium.
3. Update your meeting and voting procedures to reflect SB 72 (2025). Condominiums and incorporated associations may now meet and vote by simultaneous remote electronic means; review any bylaws that prohibit electronic participation, and document your authentication and recordkeeping procedures. What would change this guidance is any later amendment that narrows or conditions remote voting.
4. Treat AG Opinion 2024-13 as the operative interpretive authority on turnover until an appellate court rules. Measure the 25 percent threshold against the total of present and anticipated platted lots, not lots sold to date. What would change the recommendation is the first published New Mexico Court of Appeals or Supreme Court opinion construing § 47-16-8 — check for it each quarter.

1. NMSA 1978, § 47-7A-1 et seq. (New Mexico Condominium Act); § 47-7A-2 (applicability, effective May 19, 1982) ↩
2. NMSA 1978, § 47-7-1 et seq. (Building Unit Ownership Act); see § 47-7A-2 (applicability) ↩
3. NMSA 1978, § 47-16-8 (Homeowner Association Act, declarant control of board); Act enacted Laws 2013, ch. 122, effective July 1, 2013 ↩
4. NMSA 1978, § 53-8-1 et seq. (Nonprofit Corporation Act); §§ 53-8-16, 53-8-17, 53-8-18, 53-8-19 ↩
5. NMSA 1978, § 47-7C-3 (Condominium Act, executive board members and officers) ↩
6. NMSA 1978, § 47-16-8.1 (removal of board members; Laws 2019, ch. 30) ↩
7. NMSA 1978, § 47-16-9 (proxy and absentee voting; ballot counting) ↩
8. NMSA 1978, § 47-16-17 (meetings of association; Laws 2019, ch. 30) ↩
9. NMSA 1978, § 47-16-7 (board members and officers; duties; budget) and § 47-16-15 (applicability) ↩
10. NMSA 1978, § 47-7C-8 (Condominium Act, meetings) ↩
11. NMSA 1978, § 47-7C-9 (Condominium Act, quorums) ↩
12. Senate Bill 72, 2025 Regular Session, signed April 7, 2025, Chapter 62 (Senate 37-0; House 66-0) ↩
13. New Mexico Attorney General Opinion No. 2024-13 (August 27, 2024) ↩
14. House Bill 482, 2023 Regular Session (not enacted); proposed § 47-16-8(B)(5) 20-year outer limit on declarant control ↩