New Mexico HOA fine rules

Two written notices are required, one before the association may act at all and one before the board may impose the fine. "Unless otherwise provided for in the community documents, the association may, after providing written notice and an opportunity to dispute an alleged violation other than failure to pay assessments: (1) levy reasonable fines for violations of or failure to comply with any provision of the community documents; and (2) suspend, for a reasonable period of time, the right of a lot owner or the lot owner's tenant, guest or invitee to use common areas and facilities of the association" (N.M. Stat. Ann. § 47-16-18(E)). "Prior to imposition of a fine or suspension, the board shall provide an opportunity to submit a written statement or for a hearing before the board or a committee appointed by the board by providing written notice to the person sought to be fined or suspended fourteen days prior to the hearing. Following the hearing or review of the written statement, if the board or committee, by a majority vote, does not approve a proposed fine or suspension, neither the fine nor the suspension may be imposed. Notice and a hearing are not required for violations that pose an imminent threat to public health or safety" (§ 47-16-18(F)). The Act does not say how either notice must be delivered and does not state what it must contain. The delivery methods the Act does prescribe are for association meetings, not for this notice: "Notwithstanding a provision to the contrary in the community documents, written notice of the meeting stating the time, date and location of the annual meeting and, in the case of a special meeting, the purpose or purposes for which the meeting is called, shall be delivered electronically, hand-delivered or sent by mail not less than ten and no more than fifty days before the meeting. If sent by mail, the notice shall be deemed to be delivered when addressed to a lot owner at the address as it appears in the association's records and deposited in the United States mail, postage prepaid" (§ 47-16-17(B)). Subsection lettering note: these two provisions were enacted in 2019 as Subsections B and C of § 47-16-18 and were relettered E and F, without any change to their words, by Laws 2026, Chapter 62, Section 4, effective July 1, 2026, which inserted new child care home provisions ahead of them.

The Homeowner Association Act fixes no cure period before a fine. It requires "written notice and an opportunity to dispute an alleged violation" (N.M. Stat. Ann. § 47-16-18(E)) and then notice "fourteen days prior to the hearing" (§ 47-16-18(F)), but it gives the owner no statutory window in which correcting the violation blocks the fine, and it does not require the notice to identify what would cure the violation. The Act runs the other way on timing once the owner does not respond: "If a person against whom a violation has been alleged fails to request a hearing or submit a written statement as provided for in Subsection F of this section, the fine or suspension may be imposed, calculated from the date of violation" (§ 47-16-18(G)). The fixed day counts elsewhere in the Act govern other subjects — ten business days for records (§ 47-16-5(A)) and for a disclosure certificate (§ 47-16-12(B)), three business days to update certain disclosure certificate statements (§ 47-16-12(G)), thirty calendar days to provide an adopted budget to lot owners (§ 47-16-7(E)) and to make a financial audit, review or compilation available (§ 47-16-10), ninety days for a new board member's written certification (§ 47-16-7(B)), an annual meeting "at least once every thirteen months" (§ 47-16-17(A)), meeting notice "not less than ten and no more than fifty days before the meeting" and board meeting notice "at least forty-eight hours in advance" (§ 47-16-17(B), (C)).

N.M. Stat. Ann. § 47-16-18(F) — "Prior to imposition of a fine or suspension, the board shall provide an opportunity to submit a written statement or for a hearing before the board or a committee appointed by the board by providing written notice to the person sought to be fined or suspended fourteen days prior to the hearing. Following the hearing or review of the written statement, if the board or committee, by a majority vote, does not approve a proposed fine or suspension, neither the fine nor the suspension may be imposed. Notice and a hearing are not required for violations that pose an imminent threat to public health or safety." The fourteen days is the notice the board must give before the hearing; the Act sets no number of days within which the owner must ask to be heard, and it prescribes no procedure for the hearing itself. The consequence of not responding is stated separately: "If a person against whom a violation has been alleged fails to request a hearing or submit a written statement as provided for in Subsection F of this section, the fine or suspension may be imposed, calculated from the date of violation" (§ 47-16-18(G)). These provisions were enacted in 2019 as Subsections C and D and were relettered F and G, with no change to their words, by Laws 2026, Chapter 62, Section 4, effective July 1, 2026.

The Homeowner Association Act sets no dollar limit on a fine and no limit on how often one may be imposed. The only limit it places on amount is a standard of reasonableness attached to the power itself: the association may "levy reasonable fines for violations of or failure to comply with any provision of the community documents" and may "suspend, for a reasonable period of time, the right of a lot owner or the lot owner's tenant, guest or invitee to use common areas and facilities of the association" (N.M. Stat. Ann. § 47-16-18(E)(1), (2)). That whole grant is prefaced by "Unless otherwise provided for in the community documents" (§ 47-16-18(E)), so the recorded declaration, bylaws, articles and rules can displace it. The board-vote requirement in § 47-16-18(F) operates as a further check: "Following the hearing or review of the written statement, if the board or committee, by a majority vote, does not approve a proposed fine or suspension, neither the fine nor the suspension may be imposed." A separate section caps a different charge: "Notwithstanding any local ordinance or ordinance enacted by a home rule municipality, an association may impose reasonable charges not to exceed three hundred dollars ($300) for preparation of a disclosure certificate as required by the Homeowner Association Act, to be collected at the time of closing; provided that the transaction closes" (§ 47-16-12(H)), and a fee to update certain disclosure certificate statements may not exceed fifty dollars ($50.00) (§ 47-16-12(G)).

"All financial and other records of the association shall be made available during regular business hours for examination by a lot owner within ten business days of a written request" (N.M. Stat. Ann. § 47-16-5(A)). "The association shall not charge a fee for making financial and other records available for review. The association may charge a fee of not more than ten cents ($.10) per page for copies" (§ 47-16-5(B)). The records covered are listed in § 47-16-5(C): the declaration; the name, address and telephone number of the association's designated agent; the bylaws; the names and addresses of all association members; minutes of all meetings of the association's lot owners and board for the previous five years, other than executive sessions, and records of all actions taken by a committee in place of the board or on behalf of the association for the previous five years; the operating budget for the current fiscal year; current assessments, including both regular and special assessments; financial statements and accounts, including bank account statements, transaction registers, association-provided service or utility records and amounts held in reserve; the most recent financial audit or review, if any; all current contracts entered into by the association or the board on behalf of the association; current insurance policies, including company names, policy limits, deductibles, additional named insureds and expiration dates for property, general liability and association director and officer professional liability, and fidelity policies; and any electronic record of action taken by the board. Delay carries a penalty: "The failure of an association to provide access to the financial and other records within ten business days after receipt of a written request creates a rebuttable presumption that the association willfully failed to comply with the Homeowner Association Act. A lot owner that is denied access to financial and other records is entitled to the greater of the actual damages incurred for the association's willful failure to comply with this subsection or fifty dollars ($50.00) per calendar day, starting on the eleventh business day after the association's receipt of the written request" (§ 47-16-5(D)).