New Mexico HOA and COA Foreclosures

In New Mexico, if your home is part of a homeowners' association (HOA) or condominium owners' association (COA) and you fall behind in assessments:

• The HOA or COA can get a lien on your home.
• The association may charge you for overdue assessments, late charges, fines, interest, attorneys' fees and costs, and other charges.
• You can make a written request that the HOA or COA send you a statement telling you how much you owe.
• After you default on the assessments, the COA or HOA may foreclose.
• Lien priority determines what happens to other liens, like mortgages and judgment liens, if a HOA or COA lien is foreclosed.

If the HOA or COA initiates a foreclosure, you might have a defense to the action, or you might be able to negotiate a way to get caught up on the overdue amounts and save your home.

How HOA and COA Assessments Generally Work

When you buy a single-family home, townhome, or condominium in a planned community with covenants, you'll most likely pay fees and assessments, often collectively called "assessments," to an HOA or COA. If you fall behind in the assessments, the association will likely initially try to collect the debt using traditional methods. For instance, the association will probably call you and send letters.

But if those tactics don't get you to pay up, the association might try other ways to collect from you. The association could take away your privileges to use the common facilities or file a lawsuit for a money judgment against you.

Based on the association's Declaration of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC&Rs) or Declaration of Condominium and state law, most HOAs and COAs also have the power to get a lien on your property if you become delinquent in assessments. Once you fall behind in payments, a lien will usually automatically attach to your property. Sometimes, the association will record its lien with the county recorder to provide public notice that the lien exists, regardless of whether state law requires recording.

An assessments lien clouds the title to the property, hindering your ability to sell or refinance the home. In addition, the property can also be foreclosed to force a sale to a new owner—even if the property has a mortgage.

Assessments Liens in New Mexico

In New Mexico, an HOA or COA is entitled to a lien for any assessment due or fines imposed against the owner from the time the assessment or fine becomes due. If an assessment is payable in installments, the full amount of the assessment constitutes a lien from the time the first installment becomes due. (N.M. Stat. Ann. § 47-16-6(B), § 47-7C-16(A)).

Charges the HOA or COA May Include in Its Lien

State law and the HOA or COA's governing documents will usually set out the type of charges that may be included in the lien.

In New Mexico, a COA is permitted to include the following in its lien unless the governing documents provide otherwise:

• past-due assessments
• late charges
• fines for violations of the declaration, bylaws, rules, and regulations (after giving the owner notice and an opportunity to be heard)
• certain charges (like for the preparation and recordation of amendments to the declaration or statements of unpaid assessments), and
• interest at a rate established by the COA, not to exceed 18% per year. (N.M. Stat. Ann. § 47-7C-16(A), § 47-7C-2(A), § 47-7C-15(B)).

To find out which particular charges a New Mexico HOA may include in its lien, check the HOA's governing documents.

Requesting a Statement of Assessments Due from an HOA or COA

If you make a written request, the HOA or COA must provide you with a statement setting forth the amount of the unpaid assessments against your home within ten business days after it receives your request. (N.M. Stat. Ann. § 47-16-6(D), § 47-7C-16(G)).

HOA and COA Lien Foreclosures in New Mexico

Under New Mexico law, an association's lien may be foreclosed in the same way as a mortgage on real estate. (N.M. Stat. Ann. § 47-16-6(B), § 47-7C-16(A)). Mortgage foreclosures in New Mexico are judicial, so HOAs and COAs use the judicial process to foreclose an assessments lien.

HOA and COA Liens and Your Mortgage

A common misconception is that the association can't foreclose if you're current with your mortgage payments. But an association's right to foreclose isn't dependent on whether you're up to date on your mortgage. Instead, lien priority determines what happens in a foreclosure.

What Is Lien Priority?

The priority of liens establishes who gets paid first following a foreclosure sale and often determines whether a lienholder will get paid at all. Liens generally follow the "first in time, first in right" rule, which says that whichever lien is recorded first in the land records has higher priority than later recorded liens. A first lien has a higher priority than other liens and gets the first crack at the foreclosure sale proceeds.

If any proceeds are left after the first lien is paid in full, the excess proceeds go to the second lienholder until that lien is paid off, and so on. A lien with a low priority might get nothing from a foreclosure sale.

But state law or an association's governing documents might adjust lien priority.

HOA and COA Lien Priority in New Mexico

The COA governing documents will set forth which liens take priority over a COA lien. (N.M. Stat. Ann. § 47-7C-16(H)). Likewise, to find out the priority of an HOA lien, check the association's governing documents.

Usually, a foreclosure by an HOA or COA won't eliminate a first mortgage because the association's lien is normally lower in priority.

Talk to a Lawyer If You're Facing an HOA or COA Foreclosure

If you're facing an HOA or COA foreclosure in New Mexico, consider consulting with a foreclosure attorney to discuss all legal options available in your particular circumstances.