NM · Researched October 7, 2026
New Mexico's Uniform Owner-Resident Relations Act sets a 3-day notice for unpaid rent, 24 hours' written notice for entry, and a 30-day deposit return deadline. A 2025 law cut the late fee cap to 5% of rent, capped screening fees at $50, and requires all fees in listings. Managing rentals for others requires a real estate broker license.
Managing property for others or leasing and renting real estate for others for compensation is broker activity. Property management is defined to include marketing, leasing, collecting and disbursing funds, maintenance coordination and tenant relations. HOA management and vacation rental reservations are excluded from that definition.
Owners for their own property; employees of the owner, or of a qualifying broker acting for the owner, managing the owner's property; limited power-of-attorney transactions; attorneys; court-appointed fiduciaries and trustees; government employees.
Qualifying brokers must place money received in a custodial, trust or escrow account at a bank, savings and loan or title company authorized in New Mexico and keep records set by Commission rules. Associate brokers must turn money over to their qualifying broker promptly.
On a lease of one year or more you may take more than one month's rent, but must pay the tenant passbook-rate interest each year on it. Prepaid last month's rent is not counted as a deposit.
Mailing to the last known address counts. Missing the deadline forfeits the right to keep any of the deposit, to counterclaim, and to sue separately for damage, and you owe attorney fees. Bad faith retention adds a $250 penalty.
Rent payments cannot be applied to deposits or damages without the tenant's written agreement. Licensed managers keep client money in a broker trust account.
Calculate on rent only, not deposits, fees or utilities. Give written notice of the late fee by the last day of the next rental period or you lose it. The cap dropped from 10% to 5% on June 20, 2025.
Do not charge when you know the unit is unavailable. Hold the payment until earlier applicants are resolved. Refund within 30 days if someone else takes the unit or you never run the screening. Give applicants copies of reports used, and do not charge again within 90 days for properties under the same owner.
For periodic tenancies shorter than a month, give one rental period's notice. Increases in lease fees need 60 days' written notice under the 2025 law.
No city or county, including home rule cities, may control rents on private property. Government-funded affordable units are excluded.
If the tenant tenders the full amount due in the manner stated before the 3 days end, you cannot file. Deadlines falling on weekends or federal holidays roll to the next business day.
The first notice must describe the breach with dates and facts and warn that a second breach in 6 months ends the lease. Give it within 30 days of learning of the breach. Substantial violations (serious crimes defined in the Act) use a 3-day notice.
Applies to both owner and resident. Willful holdovers can owe damages and attorney fees.
The court can continue the hearing up to 7 days for good cause. An appeal by the resident stays the writ, usually with rent paid into escrow.
For abandonment, the notice must give a disposal date at least 30 days out and contact information. Items worth under $100 may be disposed of at once. Sale proceeds above what is owed go to the resident within 15 days. You may charge reasonable storage and moving costs.
No notice is needed for repairs the resident requested within the last 7 days, or for emergencies. Try to accommodate a resident's reasonable alternate time. Repeated or abusive entry lets the resident seek an injunction or end the lease.
After written notice, the resident may end the lease if you make no reasonable repair attempt in 7 days, or abate rent under 47-8-27.2. Conditions the resident caused do not qualify.
At or before move-in, give the name, address and phone of the manager and of the owner or agent for notices. Listings must show base rent and itemize every fee charged during the tenancy (since June 20, 2025). Federal lead paint disclosure applies to pre-1978 housing.
State housing list: race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, pregnancy and childbirth, spousal affiliation, physical or mental disability, and military status (added May 15, 2024). Familial status is not on the state list but federal law covers it.
Late fees fell from 10% to 5% of rent and are calculated on rent only. Screening fees are capped at $50 with refund rules, listings must itemize all fees, applicants get copies of screening reports, and fee increases need 60 days' notice.
The Human Rights Act now bars housing discrimination based on military status, which includes veterans and the spouse or child of a member or veteran.
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With Julian Calvo, who works with property management companies at LeadSimple.
Compare with other states: security deposit limit, deposit return deadline, deposit interest and holding rules, late fees, application and screening fees, rent increase notice, rent control, notice for unpaid rent, notice for lease violations, ending a month-to-month, eviction timeline, abandoned property, landlord entry, repairs and habitability, required disclosures, state fair housing protections.