Liens & ForeclosureNM
Can a New Mexico HOA Foreclose Over Dues?
By The HOARebel Team · June 1, 2026 · 3 min read · Updated June 28, 2026
New Mexico's lien rules sit in two parallel statutes — one for HOAs, one for condos. Both create real liens, and both contain features owners need to understand before the dispute escalates. For your specific situation, a licensed New Mexico attorney is the right resource. This is general information, not legal advice.
The HOA lien — and it reaches fines
Under the New Mexico Homeowner Association Act, the association has a lien on a lot "for any assessment levied against that lot or for fines imposed against that lot's owner from the time the assessment or fine becomes due." Two important features:
- The lien is automatic — it arises when the assessment or fine becomes due
- The lien expressly reaches fines as well as assessments
That makes a contested fine something to address through the § 47-16-18 hearing process before it gets folded into a growing lien claim.
How the HOA lien is foreclosed — § 47-16-6
Section 47-16-6 of the Homeowner Association Act provides that the association's lien "may be foreclosed in like manner as a mortgage on real estate," and that "[r]ecording the declaration constitutes notice recorded in the office of the county clerk … and perfection of the lien" — so no separate lien filing is needed for the lien to attach.
Unlike some states, New Mexico's HOA Act does not set a minimum dollar amount, a minimum months-delinquent period, or a fines-only bar before an association may foreclose. (A 2025 bill, HB 440, proposed exactly those limits — no foreclosure on debt under $5,000, under 12 months delinquent, or consisting solely of fines — but it died in committee on February 22, 2025 and never became law. Colorado and Maryland, by contrast, do restrict foreclosure on fines-only debt by statute.) Because the HOA lien in New Mexico reaches both assessments and fines and can be foreclosed like a mortgage, the § 47-16-18 fine-dispute process is where a contested fine is typically addressed before it is folded into a lien.
Section 47-16-6 also runs the other way: on written request, the association must furnish a recordable statement of the unpaid assessments against the lot "within ten business days," and that statement "is binding on the association and the board."
Condominiums: NMSA § 47-7C-16
For condominiums, the Condominium Act's lien provision in § 47-7C-16 gives the association several distinctive features:
- Recording the declaration perfects the lien. "Recording of the declaration constitutes record notice and perfection of the lien. No further recordation of the claim of lien for assessment under this section is required." The lien is in place from the start.
- Equal priority among association liens. "Unless the declaration otherwise provides, if two or more associations have liens for assessments created at any time on the same real estate, those liens have equal priority."
- Enforced as mortgages. The lien is "enforceable in the same manner as mortgage liens."
- Three-year limitations period. "A lien for unpaid assessments is extinguished unless proceedings to enforce the lien are instituted within three years after the full amount of the assessments becomes due."
- Fee-shifting. A judgment in a lien enforcement action "may include costs and reasonable attorney's fees for the prevailing party" — which cuts in both directions.
The 3-year clock for condo liens
The three-year limitations period in § 47-7C-16 is worth circling. If the association does not institute proceedings within three years after the full amount becomes due, the lien is extinguished by operation of the statute. That puts pressure on the association to act on delinquencies rather than letting them age — and gives owners a real defense to old, stale lien claims.
What people generally do
In a New Mexico assessment-debt situation, a few points commonly matter:
- A written payoff and the association's records under § 47-16-5 show exactly what is owed.
- Disputed fines and undisputed assessments are treated separately — though in New Mexico the lien reaches both.
- For condo communities, the date of each unpaid assessment matters against the 3-year limitations period in § 47-7C-16.
- The fee-shifting provision in § 47-7C-16 cuts both ways.
- A licensed New Mexico attorney is the resource while options remain open.