New Mexico HOA Collections & Liens

Section 1 — Overview: How assessment collection and liens work in New Mexico

New Mexico runs two parallel regimes for community association collections. The Condominium Act (NMSA 1978, § 47-7A-1 et seq.), drawn from the 1980 Uniform Condominium Act, governs condominiums. The Homeowner Association Act (NMSA 1978, § 47-16-1 et seq.) governs planned communities. Both statutes give associations an assessment lien, and New Mexico is principally a judicial-foreclosure state with a statutory post-sale redemption period.^1,2,3

For condominiums, the lien arises automatically on the date an assessment or fine becomes due. Recording the declaration — not a separate claim of lien — perfects it.¹ New Mexico did not adopt the model six-month super-priority provision of the Uniform Condominium Act, so the association lien holds no statutory priority ahead of a prior-recorded first mortgage.⁴ An association forecloses the lien judicially, in the same manner as a mortgage on real estate.^1,2 Neither statute sets a minimum dollar amount or minimum delinquency period before an association may foreclose.^1,2

That framework puts New Mexico apart from true super-priority states — Nevada, where a nine-month priority can extinguish a first deed of trust, and Connecticut — and from threshold-restricted states such as California, with its $1,800-or-12-month rule, Arizona, and Colorado. New Mexico instead sits among states where the association lien exists by statute but ranks by ordinary recording priority, leaving the recorded declaration and general foreclosure law to do most of the work.^5,6,7

The sections below detail lien creation, priority, the collection sequence, and recent legislative and judicial activity.

New Mexico HOA Collections & Liens at a glance

Source: NMSA 1978 §§ 47-7C-16, 47-16-6, 39-5-18, 39-5-19. Last verified: June 9, 2026.

Section 2 — The lien and its priority

2A. Lien creation, authority, and what it secures

For condominiums, NMSA 1978 § 47-7C-16(A) gives the association a lien on a unit for any assessment levied against that unit or any fine imposed against the unit owner from the time the assessment or fine becomes due. The association may foreclose that lien in like manner as a mortgage on real estate. No separate claim of lien needs recording: under § 47-7C-16(C), recording the declaration itself constitutes record notice and perfects the lien, requiring no further recordation.¹ Where an assessment is payable in installments, the full amount becomes a lien from the time the first installment becomes due. Beyond base assessments, the lien secures — unless the declaration provides otherwise — fees, charges, late charges, fines, and interest charged under § 47-7C-2, all of which the statute makes enforceable as assessments.¹ A judgment or decree in a lien action may include costs and reasonable attorney fees for the prevailing party under § 47-7C-16(F).¹ The lien attaches to the unit, not to the owner's other property.

For planned communities, NMSA 1978 § 47-16-6(B) gives the association a lien on a lot for an assessment levied against that lot or fines imposed against the lot's owner from the time the assessment or fine becomes due, foreclosable in like manner as a mortgage. Installment assessments become a lien from the first installment's due date. Recording the declaration perfects the lien under § 47-16-6(C).² Attorney fees are recoverable only where the declaration or bylaws allow at least one party to recover them, under § 47-16-14.¹¹

2B. Lien priority and any super-priority component

New Mexico recognizes no super-priority for association assessment liens. The compiler's note to § 47-7C-16 states plainly that subsection (b) of § 3-116 of the Uniform Condominium Act — the provision granting the assessment lien priority over other liens and a limited six-month priority over prior first mortgages — was not incorporated into the New Mexico Condominium Act.⁴ New Mexico adopted only the lien-creation and foreclosure mechanics of the model section, not its priority scheme. As a result, the condominium assessment lien claims no statutory rank ahead of a first mortgage recorded before the assessments became due. Priority instead follows ordinary recording principles, with the lien perfected by the recorded declaration. Section 47-7C-16(H) also allows the declaration itself to subordinate the lien to other liens or encumbrances.¹ The Homeowner Association Act contains no priority or super-priority provision at all for planned communities.² Because no super-priority portion exists, the question of a renewable or "rolling" super-priority lien does not arise in New Mexico. The rule is this: the New Mexico association lien is a statutory lien with no super-priority, and a prior-recorded first mortgage is not primed by it.

Where two or more associations hold assessment liens on the same real estate, § 47-7C-16(B) provides that, unless the declaration provides otherwise, those liens carry equal priority regardless of when they were created.¹

2C. CC&R interaction, corporate-law overlay, and federal overlay

Recorded covenants supplement the statutory lien by setting assessment amounts, late charges, interest rates, and collection procedures, and the declaration can subordinate the condominium lien under § 47-7C-16(H).¹ The declaration cannot manufacture a super-priority that the statute withholds, and it cannot convert a judicial-foreclosure state into a power-of-sale regime absent statutory authority. Most New Mexico associations are nonprofit corporations under the Nonprofit Corporation Act (Chapter 53, Article 8), which supplies the corporate-governance overlay for board action.¹³

On the limitations question, the condominium lien carries a specific bar: under § 47-7C-16(D), a lien for unpaid assessments is extinguished unless the association institutes proceedings to enforce it within three years after the full amount of the assessments becomes due.¹ The underlying assessment debt, as a written obligation, is separately subject to the six-year limitation for written contracts under NMSA 1978 § 37-1-3.¹⁴

Federal frameworks apply on top of the New Mexico framework. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act reaches associations' attorneys and third-party collection agents. The automatic stay of the Bankruptcy Code halts collection on the filing of a petition. The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act limits foreclosure against protected servicemembers.

Section 3 — The collection and foreclosure process

3A. Pre-lien collection sequence

Neither the Condominium Act nor the Homeowner Association Act requires a statutory pre-lien notice, advance day-count, or itemized demand before the assessment lien attaches. The lien arises by operation of law when the assessment or fine becomes due — that rule applies to both condos and planned communities under their respective statutes.^1,2 Any pre-lien demand letter, late notice, or cure period in practice is the product of the recorded CC&Rs or board policy, not statute. One statutory disclosure tool exists for condominiums: on a unit owner's written request, the association must furnish a recordable statement of unpaid assessments within ten business days, and that statement binds the association (§ 47-7C-16(G)).¹ The Homeowner Association Act provides the parallel recordable-statement right for planned communities under § 47-16-6(D).² The statutes provide no right to a payment plan and no mandatory dispute procedure for delinquent assessments. The fining-and-suspension due-process steps in § 47-16-18 — fourteen days' written notice and an opportunity to be heard — apply to violations other than failure to pay assessments, so they do not govern assessment collection.¹⁵

3B. Recording and the pre-foreclosure sequence

For condominiums, no claim of lien needs to be recorded: the recorded declaration perfects the lien and no further recordation is required (§ 47-7C-16(C)).¹ The planned-community lien is likewise perfected by the recorded declaration (§ 47-16-6(C)).² Because the lien is perfected on recording of the declaration, an association is not obligated by statute to record a separate notice before suing, although associations frequently record a notice of claim of lien as a title-marker in practice. Neither statute requires a separate statutory notice of intent to foreclose, a recorded board vote authorizing foreclosure, or mandatory mediation as a precondition to suit. Any such prerequisite is contractual unless it appears in the CC&Rs or bylaws. Associations should note that the residential loss-mitigation certification rules adopted by the New Mexico Supreme Court — Rules 1-003.3 and 1-054.2, effective for cases filed on or after September 7, 2021 — and the notice-of-right-to-cure requirements of the Home Loan Protection Act are framed around residential mortgage lenders. Their application to an HOA assessment-lien foreclosure is not settled; counsel should evaluate exposure case by case.¹⁶

3C. Foreclosure mechanics and thresholds

Both the condominium lien and the planned-community lien are foreclosed in like manner as a mortgage on real estate — which in New Mexico means a judicial foreclosure.^1,2,8 The association files a complaint in District Court, serves the owner, and on judgment obtains a decree of foreclosure and the appointment of a special master to conduct the sale. A notice of sale must be published once a week for four consecutive weeks before the sale under NMSA 1978 § 39-5-1, and the sale may not occur until at least thirty days after entry of the foreclosure judgment under § 39-5-17.⁹ New Mexico's nonjudicial Deed of Trust Act process is rarely used and is tied to deeds of trust securing loans, not association assessment liens.⁸ No statutory minimum dollar threshold exists, and no minimum delinquency duration must be satisfied before foreclosing. Fines are part of the secured lien and may support foreclosure under both statutes.^1,2 The appeal path runs from District Court to the New Mexico Court of Appeals, and from there to the New Mexico Supreme Court on discretionary review.

3D. Post-sale: redemption, deficiency, surplus, reinstatement

After a judicial foreclosure sale, NMSA 1978 § 39-5-18 allows the former defendant owner — or any junior mortgagee or junior lienholder whose rights were judicially determined — to redeem the real estate within nine months of the sale by paying the sale price plus ten percent annual interest and certain post-sale charges. The former owner holds first priority to redeem.³ Under § 39-5-19, the parties may shorten the redemption period by agreement to not less than one month, and a party may petition to extend a shortened period.¹⁰ A deficiency judgment is available in a judicial foreclosure where the debt exceeds the sale price.¹⁷ Surplus proceeds, after satisfying the foreclosing lien and senior claims, are distributed to junior lienholders by priority and then to the former owner. Pre-sale, the owner may pay the full judgment amount to stop the sale. Statutory reinstatement rights framed around the Home Loan Protection Act target mortgage loans rather than association liens, so an owner's ability to reinstate an HOA debt short of full payment generally depends on the CC&Rs or a negotiated agreement.¹⁶

Section 4 — Recent legislative and judicial activity

A. Recent bills

In New Mexico, the 2025 session produced two owner-protection measures targeting HOA collections. Neither became law.

B. Recent appellate rulings

No New Mexico appellate opinion in the past 36 months squarely interprets a condominium or homeowner-association assessment lien, its priority against a mortgage, or the foreclosure of an association lien under § 47-7C-16 or § 47-16-6. The closest recent appellate authority interprets the judicial-foreclosure redemption statute that governs association-lien foreclosures.

C. Active legislative debates

Owner-protection proposals to cap or condition HOA foreclosure (HB 440) and to limit certain association fees (HB 232) appeared in the 2025 session. Both may return in 2026, reflecting continued legislative interest in restricting association collection powers.

Section 5 — National positioning and related coverage

New Mexico sits toward the association-unfavorable end of the collections spectrum. Nevada's NRS 116.3116(2) gives the assessment lien priority over a first security interest to the extent of nine months of common-expense assessments preceding a notice of default — a priority the Nevada Supreme Court held can extinguish a previously recorded first deed of trust. Connecticut's Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-258(b) grants a nine-month super-priority plus costs and reasonable attorney fees. New Mexico declined to enact the Uniform Condominium Act's six-month priority and gives the association lien no rank ahead of a prior first mortgage.^4,5,6

New Mexico is not a threshold-restricted state in the manner of California, whose Civil Code § 5720 bars assessment-lien foreclosure unless the delinquency — exclusive of late charges, fees, attorney fees, interest, and collection costs — reaches $1,800 or is more than twelve months overdue. Arizona and Colorado impose similar thresholds. New Mexico sets no minimum balance or delinquency period before foreclosure. It is a judicial-foreclosure state where the recorded declaration and ordinary recording priority control.^1,7

For a multi-state operator, the practical lesson is clear: a collection sequence, lien-priority assumption, or notice form that is valid in a super-priority or power-of-sale state can be defective or barred in New Mexico, where foreclosure must run through District Court and the lien yields to a prior mortgage. New Mexico's direction of travel is toward tighter owner protections — the 2025 HB 440 foreclosure-threshold proposal illustrates that — though no such limit has yet become law.

Federal frameworks, including the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the bankruptcy automatic stay, and the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, apply to New Mexico collections regardless of the state framework.

1. NMSA 1978 § 47-7C-16, Condominium Act — Lien for assessments (subsections A–H) ↩
2. NMSA 1978 § 47-16-6, Homeowner Association Act — Duties of a homeowner association; assessment lien (enacted Laws 2013, ch. 122, § 6; current text reproduced in N.M. House Bill 440 (2025)) ↩
3. NMSA 1978 § 39-5-18, Redemption of real property sold under judgment or decree of foreclosure; nine-month redemption period ↩
4. NMSA 1978 § 47-7C-16, Compiler's note: subsection (b) of § 3-116 of the Uniform Condominium Act — granting assessment-lien priority over prior first mortgages — was not incorporated into New Mexico law ↩
5. Nevada Revised Statutes § 116.3116(2) (nine-month super-priority for common-expense assessments); SFR Investments Pool 1, LLC v. U.S. Bank, N.A., 334 P.3d 408 (Nev. 2014) (HOA super-priority foreclosure can extinguish a prior-recorded first deed of trust) ↩
6. Connecticut General Statutes § 47-258(b) (nine-month super-priority plus costs and reasonable attorney fees; period raised from six to nine months by P.A. 13-156, effective June 24, 2013) ↩
7. California Civil Code § 5720(b) (assessment-lien foreclosure barred unless delinquent assessments, exclusive of accelerated assessments, late charges, fees, attorney fees, interest, and collection costs, reach $1,800 or are more than twelve months delinquent) ↩
8. NMSA 1978 § 39-5-18(G): New Mexico is principally a judicial-foreclosure state; the nonjudicial Deed of Trust Act (§ 48-10-1 et seq.) applies to deeds of trust securing loans, not association assessment liens ↩
9. NMSA 1978 § 39-5-1 (notice of sale published once a week for four weeks before sale) and § 39-5-17 (no sale until 30 days after entry of foreclosure judgment) ↩
10. NMSA 1978 § 39-5-19, Modification of the nine-month redemption period (parties may shorten to not less than one month; subject to petition to extend); cross-referenced in § 39-5-18(F) ↩
11. NMSA 1978 § 47-16-14, Attorney fees and costs: court may award fees to the prevailing party in an action between a lot owner and the association based on the declaration or bylaws, provided the declaration or bylaws allow at least one party to recover fees ↩
12. NMSA 1978 § 47-16-15(C): the Homeowner Association Act does not apply to a condominium governed by the Condominium Act, §§ 47-7A-1 to 47-7D-20 ↩
13. NMSA 1978 Chapter 53, Article 8 (Nonprofit Corporation Act), the general corporate-governance framework for most New Mexico community associations ↩
14. NMSA 1978 § 37-1-3, Six-year limitation for actions founded upon a written contract ↩
15. NMSA 1978 § 47-16-18(B)–(C): fines and suspension for violations other than failure to pay assessments require written notice and a fourteen-day opportunity to be heard ↩
16. New Mexico Supreme Court Rules 1-003.3 and 1-054.2 (pre-filing and pre-judgment loss-mitigation certifications for foreclosure cases filed on or after September 7, 2021) and the Home Loan Protection Act, NMSA 1978 § 58-21A-6 (notice of right to cure; framed around residential mortgage loans) (Nolo, citing Rules 1-003.3, 1-054.2 and § 58-21A-6) ↩
17. Deficiency judgments available in New Mexico judicial foreclosures where the total debt exceeds the sale price (subject to statutory exceptions for low-income residential loans under the Deed of Trust Act) ↩
18. N.M. House Bill 440 (2025 Regular Session), "Homeowners Assoc. Liens," sponsors Rep. Tara L. Lujan and Rep. Antonio Maestas; amends § 47-16-6 to bar foreclosure on liens less than twelve months delinquent, less than $5,000, or consisting solely of fines; Action Postponed Indefinitely February 22, 2025 ↩
19. N.M. House Bill 232 (2025 Regular Session), "Prohibit Certain Homeowner Association Fees"; failed to advance ↩
20. TAL Realty, Inc. v. Kaushal, 2023-NMCA-027, No. A-1-CA-39012 (N.M. Ct. App. May 8, 2023): redemption interest under § 39-5-18 stops accruing on proper tender by deposit into the court registry ↩