Construction Liens in New Mexico
Contents
Overview
Sources
N.M. Stat. Ann. §§ 48-2-1 et seq.
Authorized Claimants
Every person performing labor upon, providing or hauling equipment, tools or machinery for or furnishing materials to be used in the construction, alteration or repair has a lien upon the same for the work or labor done, for the specific contract or agreed upon (N.M Stat. 48-2-2)
Lien Priority
The liens provided for in Sections 48-2-1 through 48-2-17 NMSA 1978 are preferred to any lien, mortgage or other encumbrance which may have attached subsequent to the time when the building, improvement or structure was commenced, work done or materials were commenced to be furnished; also to any lien, mortgage or other encumbrance of which the lienholder had no notice and which was unrecorded at the time the building, improvement or structure was commenced, work done or the materials were commenced to be furnished. (N.M.Stat. 48-2-5(A))
Notices and Registries
Filing Deadlines
Every original contractor, within one hundred and twenty days after the completion of his contract, and every person, except the original contractor, desiring to claim a lien pursuant to Sections 48-2-1 through 48-2-19 NMSA 1978, must, within ninety days after the completion file for record with the county clerk of the county in which such property or some part thereof is situated, a claim containing a statement of his demands, after deducting all just credits and offsets. (N.M.Stat. 48-2-6)
Enforcement Deadlines
No lien provided for in Sections 48-2-1 through 48-2-17 NMSA 1978 remains valid for a longer period than two years after the claim of lien has been filed unless proceedings have been commenced in a court of competent jurisdiction or in binding arbitration within that time to enforce the lien. (N.M.Stat. 48-2-10)
