New Mexico Foreclosure Laws

New Mexico foreclosure laws permit only judicial foreclosure proceedings. Most of these proceedings last approximately six months.

Pre-Foreclosure

In most situations, power of sale clauses are not allowed to appear in deeds of trust or mortgages for residential real estate. For this reason, new Mexico foreclosures are judicial foreclosures. Some mortgages and deeds of trust require that the lender inform the debtor before starting foreclosure, but state laws do not necessitate this.

The lender starts the foreclosure procedure by filing a complaint against the debtor in court. This filing will mention anyone who has an interest in the real estate. After the complaint is filed in court, the lender must record a lis pendens with the local county clerk. This is a notice of a pending lawsuit. The debtor must be given notice of the filing and lis pendens in person and is given thirty days to reply to the complaint. If in person service is not possible because the debtor cannot be found the notice may be published in a local newspaper once a week for a month and this is considered service. In the event of service by publication, the debtor must reply to the notice within twenty days that the last publication appears in the newspaper.

If the debtor does not reply within the specified timeframe, the court issues a ruling. The court can decide on this judgment through a hearing or by consultation with the parties involved in the foreclosure. Before the foreclosure auction, the debtor can stop the foreclosure at any point by paying the default amount and any additional fees the lender has incurred. Once the court has ruled, the lender can schedule an auction for the property at least thirty days after the judgment.

Notice of Auction

If the default amount is not resolved, the notice of sale must be published before the auction date. In New Mexico, this notice must be published for four successive weeks in a local newspaper, at least once a week. The final publication must take place three days or more before the auction date.

Most accepted bids must be 80% or more of the market value of the property, as determined by an assessment. Once the winning bidder is established, he or she is given ownership of the property. The court must approve the sale, however. Once this happens, there is a one month redemption period. For some properties, there is a nine month redemption period. To redeem a property, debtors must file a notice to redeem the property and must pay the winning bid price as well as any additional interest and taxes.