New Mexico rewrote its rental fee rules in mid-2025, and plenty of leases signed before then are quietly out of compliance now. Senate Bill 267, signed in April and effective June 20, 2025, cut the maximum late fee from 10% to 5% of rent, capped application fees at $50, and turned undisclosed fees into an unfair trade practice with real liability attached. If your lease template still says "late charge: 10%," it collects an illegal fee every month it gets used.

Here is what changed, then the rules that didn't move: deposits, entry, rent raises, and the eviction ladder under the Uniform Owner-Resident Relations Act (NMSA §§ 47-8-1 to 47-8-52). The one-screen version lives on our New Mexico quick-reference page.

What SB 267 changed on June 20, 2025

Five things, all in force now:

  • Late fees dropped to 5%. The cap in NMSA § 47-8-15(D) fell from 10% to 5% of rent for each rental period in default, and the fee may be calculated only on rent, never on utilities, deposits, or other charges.
  • Application fees are capped at $50. That is the most you can charge to process a screening report. One fee per applicant per 90 days, and it must be refunded if you never run the screening or the unit was already rented.
  • Every fee goes in the listing. A published listing must state the base rent and itemize every fee or charge the tenant will face during the tenancy, in plain language.
  • Changing fees takes 60 days' written notice on a month-to-month tenancy, or one full rental period on shorter tenancies.
  • Violations are unfair trade practices. An undisclosed or unlawful fee now creates exposure under the state Unfair Practices Act, on top of the rental statute itself.

What did not change: rent caps. HB 442, a 2025 bill that would have limited mobile home park rent increases, died in committee. New Mexico has no rent control, and a 1991 statute bars cities and counties from enacting their own (NMSA § 47-8A-1), so Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Las Cruces all play by the same rules.

Deposits: the one-month cap follows the lease length

On any rental agreement shorter than one year, including month-to-month, the deposit is capped at one month's rent (NMSA § 47-8-18(A)). The cap covers everything held as a deposit: on a $1,500 unit you can hold $1,500 total, not $1,500 plus a $500 pet deposit.

Sign a lease of a year or longer and the cap lifts, with a catch most landlords miss: take more than one month's rent as a deposit on an annual lease and you owe the tenant interest on it every year, at the passbook savings rate. Most New Mexico landlords stay at one month and skip that bookkeeping entirely.

The 30-day return clock, and what missing it costs

You get 30 days from termination or the tenant's departure, whichever comes later, to deliver an itemized list of deductions and refund the balance (NMSA § 47-8-18(C)). Normal wear and tear is never deductible.

Blow the deadline and the statute takes the whole deposit off the table: you forfeit the right to keep any of it, you lose the right to sue or counterclaim for damage to the unit, and you pay the tenant's court costs and attorney fees. Bad-faith retention adds a $250 civil penalty on top (NMSA § 47-8-18(D)). Next door, Idaho gives landlords 21 days to return but sets no cap on the deposit itself; New Mexico trades a longer clock for tighter limits. Rentari flags the 30-day deadline automatically when a New Mexico lease ends, which is exactly the kind of date that slips during a turnover.

Raising rent and charging late fees in 2026

A month-to-month rent increase needs written notice at least 30 days before the periodic rental date it takes effect (NMSA § 47-8-15(F)). There is no ceiling on the amount. Fixed-term leases lock the rent until renewal unless the lease itself says otherwise.

Late fees need three things to stick: the lease must authorize the fee, it cannot exceed 5% of the rent for that rental period, and you must notify the tenant of the charge by the last day of the following rental period (NMSA § 47-8-15(D)). Miss that notice window and the fee is uncollectible. New Mexico has no statutory grace period, so a properly drafted lease can assess the fee the day after rent is due.

On a $1,400 rent, the most you can charge is $70 per period. For comparison, Colorado caps late fees at the greater of $50 or 5% of the overdue amount, while Arizona has no fixed statutory cap for standard rentals, just a reasonableness standard.

Entry: 24 hours in writing, three exceptions

To enter an occupied unit you need 24 hours' written notice stating the purpose of entry, the date, and a reasonable estimate of the time window (NMSA § 47-8-24). That covers inspections, repairs, and showings to buyers or prospective tenants.

Three situations skip the 24 hours: a genuine emergency; entry to perform repairs or services the tenant requested within the past 7 days; and entry accompanied by a public official conducting an inspection. If the tenant offers a reasonable alternate time that doesn't cost you money, the statute expects you to accommodate it.

The eviction ladder: 3 days, 7 days, or 30

For unpaid rent, serve a written 3-day notice by hand delivery, mail, or posting on an exterior door. If the tenant tenders the full amount named in the notice within the 3 days, the nonpayment case is over; the statute bars it (NMSA § 47-8-33(D)). Take the money.

Other lease violations run on a 7-day track. The first material breach gets a 7-day notice with the right to cure (NMSA § 47-8-33(A)). A second similar breach within 6 months gets a 7-day termination notice with no cure right. And a substantial violation, meaning specified criminal conduct such as drug dealing, unlawful use of a weapon, assault, or property damage over $1,000 on or near the premises, gets a 3-day quit notice with no cure at all.

Ending a periodic tenancy without cause takes 30 days' written notice before the rental date on a month-to-month, or 7 days on a week-to-week (NMSA § 47-8-37). If the tenant holds over, you file a petition for restitution in magistrate court, or metropolitan court in Bernalillo County, and the hearing usually lands 7 to 10 days after the tenant is served. The state courts publish free notice and petition forms at selfrepresentation.nmcourts.gov, and state-specific versions live in our forms library.

Self-help is off the table at every rung. Changing locks, hauling belongings out, or cutting electricity, gas, water, or heat without a court order is unlawful ouster (NMSA § 47-8-36), and it hands the tenant a damages claim while your legitimate case waits.

Habitability and the one-third rent abatement

New Mexico's repair remedy is unusual, and it has teeth. After written notice of a condition that materially affects health or safety, you get 7 days to fix it. From the notice date until the repair, the tenant may abate one-third of the daily prorated rent for each day the condition persists, and 100% of the rent for any day the unit is uninhabitable and they don't occupy it (NMSA § 47-8-27.2).

There is no statutory repair-and-deduct here, so a tenant who hires their own plumber and shorts the rent is outside the act. But the abatement math punishes slow repairs: on a $1,650 rent, one-third abatement running 20 days is about $367 off the next check, and a judge can bless it.

Disclosures New Mexico actually requires

At or before move-in, disclose in writing the name, address, and phone number of the person who manages the property and of the owner or the owner's agent for service of process (NMSA § 47-8-19). Skip this and the tenant is relieved of their own notice obligations under the act, which can undercut your case in court later.

Since SB 267, the listing itself is a disclosure document too: base rent plus every fee, itemized. And for any building built before 1978, federal law adds the lead-based paint disclosure and EPA pamphlet before signing. The full act is worth a bookmark: NMSA Chapter 47, Article 8.

New Mexico landlord FAQ

How much can I charge for a late fee in New Mexico?

Up to 5% of the rent for each rental period the tenant is in default, calculated on rent only, and only if the lease authorizes it. You also have to notify the tenant of the charge by the end of the next rental period or you forfeit it (NMSA § 47-8-15(D)). The old 10% cap ended June 20, 2025.

How much notice do I need to raise the rent?

Written notice at least 30 days before the periodic rental date on a month-to-month tenancy (NMSA § 47-8-15(F)). There is no limit on the size of the increase anywhere in the state. New or changed fees, as opposed to rent, need 60 days' notice under SB 267.

Do I owe interest on a security deposit?

Only when the lease runs a year or longer and you hold more than one month's rent as deposit; then annual interest at the passbook rate is owed (NMSA § 47-8-18). Deposits at or under one month never accrue statutory interest.

How fast can I evict for nonpayment?

The notice period is 3 days, and full payment within it ends the case. After that you file, and the hearing is usually set 7 to 10 days after service. A clean, uncontested case commonly runs a few weeks from notice to writ; contested cases take longer.

This guide is general information for New Mexico landlords, not legal advice. Statutes get amended and courts refine how they read them, so before acting on a deadline or notice period, verify against the current statute text or ask a New Mexico landlord-tenant attorney.