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New Mexico Foreclosure Law
New Mexico foreclosures are handled through the court system.
The typical foreclosure process lasts about six months.
Pre-foreclosure Period
In New Mexico, mortgages and deeds of trust for residential
property must be foreclosed and sold in court due to the ban of
power-of-sale clauses in most cases. The lender is not required
by the state to notify the owner before initiating the
pre-foreclosure process, although the mortgage or deed of trust
may sometimes require this. First, a foreclosure complaint is
filed in court against the borrower and will include any other
parties who have a stake in the property. Once the complaint has
been filed, a Lis Pendens (pending lawsuit) is recorded with the
county clerk of the county in which the property is located. The
lender gives notice in person to the borrower, who has 30 days
to answer the complaint. If the borrower cannot be located and
served personally, the lender publishes a notice of the pending
lawsuit once a week for four consecutive weeks in a local
newspaper. Borrowers have 20 days from the date of the last
publication to respond. If the time limit for the borrower to
respond has expired, the court enters a ruling, which can be
agreed upon by the parties involved or decided in a hearing. At
any time before the foreclosure sale, the borrower may satisfy
the judgment by paying all arrears, costs and attorneys' fees
incurred. This stops the foreclosure proceedings.
Notice of Sale / Auction
If the court rules against the borrower, the lender or the
lender?s trustee publishes a notice of sale once a week for four
consecutive weeks in a local newspaper. The sale is scheduled a
minimum of 30 days after the court ruling and the final
publication of the notice occurs at least three days before the
date of the sale. An acceptable bid must be at least 80 percent
of the fair market value of the property at the time of the
judicial sale. Once the property is sold a deed is recorded,
giving the ownership of the property to the winning bidder.
After the sale is approved by the court, the original borrower
or other parties with a stake in the property usually have one
month to redeem, but for some properties the redemption period
can last nine months. Borrowers can redeem the property by
filing a notice to redeem and paying the sale price plus taxes
and interest.
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