Is the home in an HOA, condo, or co-op? (selling in New Mexico)

HOA / condo. New Mexico Homeowner Association Act, NMSA § 47-16-1 et seq. (effective July 1, 2013). § 47-16-11 — seller or agent must obtain a disclosure certificate from the association and provide it to the buyer no later than 7 days before closing; buyer has a 7-day cancellation right after receipt. § 47-16-4 — HOA must record a notice of association; § 47-16-3 — declaration recording; § 47-16-7(F) — association must list all fees and fines (including disclosure-certificate charges). New Mexico Condominium Act, NMSA § 47-7A-1 et seq. (UCA-based); resale certificate under NMSA § 47-7D-107. This is a compilation of published state requirements, not legal advice, and no lawyer has reviewed it or your sale. Laws and forms change, counties and cities add their own rules, and whether any of this applies to you depends on facts we don't know. Treat every item as a starting point for a question, not as an answer. Confirm anything you plan to rely on against the official source we link, and run your list past a title company or an attorney licensed in your state.

Selling a house in New Mexico: the paperwork

Every document a New Mexico sale commonly touches, who usually produces it, and the law behind it. In most sales the seller's own share is small, and this page shows you which part that usually is.

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16 documents · 13 questions · about a 12 minute read · free, and we don't ask for your email

5documents are usually the seller's

out of 16 in a New Mexico sale

Tell us about your sale

Answer what you know. Skip what you don't. Every answer takes something off your list or explains why it stays on.

The home

Was the home built before 1978?

Older homes carry a federal lead paint disclosure. It's the same in every state.

Is the home in an HOA, condo, or co-op?

The association has to produce a package, and they can take weeks. Worth knowing early.

Is there a well or septic system?

Private water and sewer get their own questions, and sometimes their own inspection.

Is it a manufactured or mobile home?

These can still hold a vehicle title, which has to be retired before the land can transfer.

You and the title

Are you married?

Some states need a spouse's signature even when they're not on the title. Many don't.

Is the home owned by a trust, LLC, or company?

An entity needs paperwork showing who's allowed to sign for it.

Did you inherit the home, or is it in probate?

How the home came to you decides which deed you can sign.

Does anyone rent or live in the home besides you?

A lease and its deposit transfer with the sale, and the tenant has to be told.

Do you file U.S. taxes as a citizen or resident?

If you don't, the buyer has to hold back part of the price and send it to the IRS.

Will you be at the closing yourself?

Signing from a distance takes a power of attorney, and it has to be arranged early.

Its history

Is there work on the house that was never permitted, or a permit still open?

An open permit can stop a closing. Closing one out takes time you'll want in hand.

Are there special assessments or a PACE loan on the property?

These ride with the property or get paid off at closing, and buyers ask about them.

Are the mineral, oil, or gas rights separate from the land?

In some states these are sold off separately, and the deed has to say so.

Usually the seller's to produce

In most sales nobody else prepares these. Whether each one applies to you depends on your home, your title, and your buyer.

RANM Purchase AgreementIn the purchase agreement itself
Property-tax-levy estimate (NMSA § 47-13-4)Pre-offer
RANM Seller's Property Disclosure (customary)Pre-listing packet
Federal lead paint disclosure (pre-1978)Attached to PSAOn your list because was the home built before 1978
Acequia membership / water-rights docs (where applicable)Pre-listing / Closing packet

Usually drafted for you to sign

These commonly arrive already written. Read them, and ask about anything that looks wrong before you sign.

FIRPTA non-foreign affidavitClosing packet

Usually somebody else's to prepare

Commonly handled by a title company, an attorney, a lender, or the county. Listed so none of them is a surprise.

Warranty or special warranty deedClosing packet / Recorded post-close
Escrow instructionsClosing packet
Settlement statement (ALTA)Closing packet
Payoff statement(s)Closing packet
Title commitment / policyClosing packet
1099-SFiled post-close
Wire-fraud advisoryPre-listing / Closing packet
HOA disclosure certificate (§ 47-16-11)HOA package (≥ 7 days pre-closing)On your list because is the home in an hoa, condo, or co-op
Deed of trust or mortgage (buyer loan)Recorded post-closeOn your list because is the home owned by a trust, llc, or company
Release / reconveyanceRecorded post-close

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How New Mexico generally runs a sale

The broad shape of a sale there, as the research found it. Counties and cities add their own rules on top of all of this.

Closing model — Escrow / title-companyNo attorney required to close; title companies handle escrow and settlement.

Community propertyNMSA § 40-3-13(A) — except for purchase-money mortgages, "the spouses must join in all transfers, conveyances or mortgages or contracts to transfer, convey or mortgage any interest in commun...

Practical effectNew Mexico is the strictest of the community-property states — a single-spouse community conveyance is literally void, not merely voidable. Both spouses sign even if one is on title.

HomesteadNMSA § 42-10-9 homestead exemption of $150,000 (or $300,000 for a surviving spouse where the other died within two years) per current § 42-10-9(B) and NM Supreme Court Civil Form 4-808A (Oct...

Standard deed typeWarranty deed or special warranty deed.

Disclosure regime — NO state-mandated property-condition formThe Real Estate Disclosure Act (NMSA § 47-13-1 et seq.) is narrow and tax-focused: § 47-13-4 requires the seller, before accepting an offer, to request from the county assessor the estimated...

Transfer tax — NONENew Mexico has no state real estate transfer tax and no Declaration of Value requirement.

RON status — AuthorizedRevised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts (RULONA), NMSA §§ 14-14A-1 to 14-14A-32 (enacted 2021), effective January 1, 2022; RON rules at 12.9.4 NMAC; maximum RON fee $25 per act.

Recording actNotice. NMSA § 14-9-1 (instruments affecting real estate recorded with the county clerk); § 14-9-2 — records are "notice to all the world" from the time of recording;

Recording officeCounty Clerk in each of New Mexico's 33 counties.

Local overlaysSanta Fe historic districts; acequia water communities (northern NM); land grants-mercedes (Ch. 49); Colonias (border-area) designations;

Other things New Mexico asks about

These come up in New Mexico and almost nowhere else. We don't ask them above because we can't answer them for you yet, but they're worth raising with your title company.

Acequia community membership (NMSA § 73-2 et seq.)?
Colonias designation (Doña Ana, Luna, Otero, etc.)?
Property within a Land Grant-Merced (NMSA Ch. 49)?
Santa Fe historic district?

Before you rely on any of this

This is a compilation of published state requirements, not legal advice, and no lawyer has reviewed it or your sale. Laws and forms change, counties and cities add their own rules, and whether any of this applies to you depends on facts we don't know. Treat every item as a starting point for a question, not as an answer. Confirm anything you plan to rely on against the official source we link, and run your list past a title company or an attorney licensed in your state.

These counts describe a typical sale, not yours. Which documents you need turns on facts about your home, your title, your buyer, and your county, and one unusual answer can add several or remove them.

Who prepares each document is what usually happens, not a rule. Practice differs between states, between counties, and between one title company and the next, and your contract can move work from one side to the other.

Keighbor is not a real estate brokerage and does not represent you. Nobody here is your agent. We don't negotiate, set your price, recommend a course of action, or take a commission. We provide software that helps you organize your side of the sale.

The full New Mexico reference

The rest of the research, with every citation kept. This is the same material our own product is built on, and nothing is held back for paying customers. It describes the law as the research found it, not as it applies to your sale.

ALWAYS-required documents (every transaction)

PSA. RANM Purchase Agreement (member form). FSBO sellers use an attorney-drafted or generic contract satisfying the Statute of Frauds.
Deed (warranty or special warranty). Both spouses if community property (void otherwise, NMSA § 40-3-13). Recorded with the County Clerk.
Federal lead paint disclosure (pre-1978).
FIRPTA affidavit. IRC § 1445.
1099-S. Filed by closing agent.
Wire-fraud advisory. Industry standard.
Payoff statements. Ordered by escrow.
Settlement statement. ALTA / Closing Disclosure.
Escrow instructions. Signed by both parties.
Property-tax-levy estimate (§ 47-13-4). From county assessor; given to buyer before accepting the offer.
RANM Seller's Property Disclosure. Customary (not statutory); addresses mineral / oil-gas rights.

SOMETIMES-required documents (trigger-gated)

Marital status / spousal signature (New Mexico's headline issue). NMSA § 40-3-13 — both spouses must join; a single-spouse community conveyance is void and of no effect (Marquez, Hannah). Cures: recorded POA (§ 47-1-7) or written ratification. Separate property conveyable alone.
Property held in trust. Certification of trust, NMSA § 46A-10-1013 (Uniform Trust Code); trustee's deed.
LLC / corp. Resolution plus certificate of good standing (NM Secretary of State).
Power of attorney. Uniform Power of Attorney Act (NMSA Ch. 45, Art. 5B); recorded POA under § 47-1-7 for the spousal-joinder exception.
Foreign seller. FIRPTA only — New Mexico has no state nonresident real estate withholding.
Inherited / probate. Personal representative's deed; small-estate affidavit NMSA § 45-3-1201 ($50,000 personal-property threshold — note it does not clear real property, which generally needs probate or a transfer-on-death deed).
HOA / condo. New Mexico Homeowner Association Act, NMSA § 47-16-1 et seq. (effective July 1, 2013). § 47-16-11 — seller or agent must obtain a disclosure certificate from the association and provide it to the buyer no later than 7 days before closing; buyer has a 7-day cancellation right after receipt. § 47-16-4 — HOA must record a notice of association; § 47-16-3 — declaration recording; § 47-16-7(F) — association must list all fees and fines (including disclosure-certificate charges). New Mexico Condominium Act, NMSA § 47-7A-1 et seq. (UCA-based); resale certificate under NMSA § 47-7D-107.
Well and septic. NM Office of the State Engineer (well registration and permits); NM Environment Department (NMED) liquid-waste (septic) transfer inspection.
Tenant-occupied. Uniform Owner-Resident Relations Act, NMSA § 47-8.
Mineral / oil-gas rights (major NM concern). No statutory disclosure mandate, but severed mineral estates and active oil-gas leases are extremely common in the Permian Basin (Lea and Eddy counties) and San Juan Basin (northwest). Under NM law, minerals may be severed by grant or reservation into a separate estate; severed mineral or royalty interests are real property, are devisable and heritable, and are subject to community-property rules; the mineral estate is generally dominant, carrying rights of surface ingress and egress to develop. Mineral ownership is tracked at the county assessor (the Mining and Minerals Division does not track ownership). The RANM disclosure form captures severance and lease information; a surface buyer in an energy-active basin can face drilling or surface disruption from a third-party mineral holder, so disclosure is practically critical even though not statutorily compelled.
Acequia (NM-unique). NMSA § 73-2 et seq. Acequias are declared public (§ 73-2-9) and are political subdivisions governed by elected commissioners and a mayordomo (§ 73-2-21); water is distributed by beneficial use, with acreage the controlling factor. Water rights may be appurtenant (run with the land) or severable and transferable subject to State Engineer approval. Membership carries assessment and labor (limpia) obligations. Selling acequia-served land requires coordinating water-right status, membership transfer, and any pending State Engineer transfer applications.
Land Grants-Mercedes (NM-unique). NMSA Ch. 49. Spanish and Mexican-era community land grants confirmed under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo; more than two dozen are statutorily designated political subdivisions of the state (§§ 49-1-1, 49-1-2), governed by boards of trustees with zoning authority over common lands. Some rural properties carry unresolved grant or common-land title questions; the NM DOJ Guadalupe Hidalgo Treaty Division and the Land Grant Council are reference bodies.
Manufactured / mobile home. Affidavit of affixation / title deactivation (NM MVD; NMSA Ch. 66, Art. 3).
Special assessments. Public Improvement Districts (PIDs).
Historic district. Santa Fe H-district ordinances (review-board approval for exterior work).

Prescribed-language items (substance-over-form)

NMSA § 47-13-4: property-tax-levy estimate — statutorily specified process and content.
NMSA § 47-16-11 and § 47-16-12: HOA disclosure certificate content and the buyer's 7-day cancellation right.
Federal lead paint verbatim Lead Warning Statement.

Bottom line: New Mexico has no mandated condition-disclosure form, but the § 47-13-4 tax-levy estimate is a hard statutory requirement, and the § 47-16-11 HOA disclosure carries a hard 7-day pre-closing delivery / 7-day cancellation window.

Local / municipal overlays

Santa Fe Historic Districts (Historic Districts Ordinance; review-board approval).
Bernalillo County (Albuquerque) clerk practices.
Acequia water-district overlays (northern NM).
Colonias (border-area) infrastructure, title, and utility concerns.
Land-grant common-land governance in affected northern counties.

Notable examples only; not exhaustive.

Post-closing obligations

Recording. Deed with the County Clerk (no transfer tax; no Declaration of Value).
Mortgage discharge. New Mexico uses both mortgages and deeds of trust — release / reconveyance accordingly.
1099-S. Filed by closing agent.
New Mexico state income tax. For tax years beginning on or after Jan. 1, 2025, NMSA § 7-2-34(A) (Laws 2024, Ch. 67, § 8) allows the greater of $2,500 of net capital-gain income, or 40% of up to $1,000,000 of gain from the sale of a New Mexico business allocated or apportioned to the state. Prior TY2024-and-earlier rule (greater of $1,000 or 40%) no longer applies.

Federal overlays (cross-reference)

Cross-reference master methodology § 8 (FIRPTA; 1099-S; federal lead paint; wire-fraud advisory; FinCEN Residential Real Estate Rule and its 2026 vacatur — see § 10).

Recent changes flagged (2023–2026)

2019 amendments to the Homeowner Association Act (§ 47-16-7 budget and fee disclosure duties).
RULONA / RON effective Jan. 1, 2022; 2023 amendment refined remote-appearance rules.
Capital-gains deduction restructured for tax years beginning on or after Jan. 1, 2025 (NMSA § 7-2-34, Laws 2024, Ch. 67).
FinCEN Residential Real Estate Rule (31 CFR § 1031.320). Effective March 1, 2026; vacated nationwide March 19, 2026 in Flowers Title Companies, LLC v. Bessent, No. 6:25-cv-127-JDK (E.D. Tex.); reports not currently required pending appeal.

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