N.M. Stat. § 14-9-1 (2026)

All deeds, mortgages, leases of an initial term plus option terms in excess of five
years, or memoranda of the material terms of such leases, assignments or amendments
to such leases, leasehold mortgages, United States patents and other writings affecting
the title to real estate shall be recorded in the office of the county clerk of the county or
counties in which the real estate affected thereby is situated. Leases of any term or
memoranda of the material terms thereof, assignments or amendments thereto may be
recorded in the manner provided in this section. As used in this section, "memoranda of
the material terms of a lease" means a memorandum containing the names and mailing
addresses of all lessors, lessees or assignees; if known, a description of the real
property subject to the lease; and the terms of the lease, including the initial term and
the term or terms of all renewal options, if any.

History: Laws 1886-1887, ch. 10, § 1; C.L. 1897, § 3953; Code 1915, § 4786; C.S.
1929, § 118-108; 1941 Comp., § 13-201; 1953 Comp., § 71-2-1; 1991, ch. 234, § 1.

                                      ANNOTATIONS

Compiler's notes. — Laws 1991, ch. 234, § 4 defined "leasehold" to mean an estate in
real estate or real property held under a lease and validates as correct and legally
effective filings or recordings to give constructive notice any actions taken prior to April
4, 1991 to file or record leases, memoranda, assignments or amendments thereto,
leasehold mortgages or other writings affecting leaseholds or any interests in
leaseholds in accordance with legal requirements for the filing or recording of writings
affecting the title to real estate or real property.

Cross references. — For filing municipal assessment liens, see 3-36-1 NMSA 1978.

For notice of possession of public land of United States, see 19-3-1 NMSA 1978.

For townsite patents, see 19-4-1 to 19-4-3 NMSA 1978.

For recording assignment of mortgages, see 48-7-2 NMSA 1978.

For record of survey requirements, see 61-23-28.2 NMSA 1978.

For filing and recording of changes of ownership in water rights, see 72-1-2.1.

The 1991 amendment, effective April 4, 1991, added the catchline; inserted "leases of
an initial term plus option terms in excess of five years, or memoranda of the material
terms of such leases, assignments or amendments to such leases, leasehold
mortgages" in the first sentence; and added the second sentence.

                          I.     GENERAL CONSIDERATION.

Purpose. — Sections 14-9-1 and 14-9-3 NMSA 1978 are not intended to protect
creditors of the owners of property, but to impart information to those dealing with the
property respecting its transfer and encumbrances. First Nat'l Bank v. Haverkampf,
1911-NMSC-053, 16 N.M. 497, 121 P. 31, aff'd, 235 U.S. 689, 35 S. Ct. 204, 59 L. Ed.
426 (1914); Ilfeld v. de Baca, 1905-NMSC-007, 13 N.M. 32, 79 P. 723, rev'd on other
grounds, 1907-NMSC-014, 14 N.M. 65, 89 P. 244 (decided prior to 1923 amendment of
14-9-3 NMSA 1978).

Function of recording statutes. — In loans of money secured by property, recording
statutes provide for notice to other potential lenders and indicate the upper limits of
financing. New Mexico Bank & Trust Co. v. Lucas Bros., 1978-NMSC-062, 92 N.M. 2,
582 P.2d 379.

Certainty afforded by recording. — Because potential lenders rely upon recorded
mortgages to determine whether to make other loans, there must be certainty as to the
extent to which a mortgage encumbers property. New Mexico Bank & Trust Co. v.
Lucas Bros., 1978-NMSC-062, 92 N.M. 2, 582 P.2d 379 (decided on facts which
occurred prior to passage of 48-7-9 NMSA 1978).

Petitioner was not entitled to the protection of the Recording Act. — Where
husband and wife executed a promissory note secured by a mortgage on real property
in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and where the mortgage was signed by both husband and
wife, but where the promissory note was signed only by husband, and where husband
also signed a quitclaim deed, which was recorded in Santa Fe county in 2017, in favor
of himself and wife, and where, in 2018, a court in California entered a judgment
dissolving the marriage of husband and wife and adopting a marital settlement
agreement stipulated by the parties that divided their assets and stated that the real
property in Santa Fe was separate property purchased by husband before the marriage,
and where, in 2018, plaintiff filed a complaint for foreclosure on the property and
received a default judgment after none of the defendants answered the complaint, and
where the property was sold at auction in 2019 to a limited liability corporation (LLC),
the sale of which was approved by the district court, and where, prior to the court's
approval of the sale, husband assigned his right of redemption to petitioner TAL Realty
and wife assigned her right of redemption and issued a quitclaim deed for her right of
redemption to the LLC on September 4, 2019, both of which were recorded with the
county clerk on September 9, 2019, and wife also assigned her right of redemption to
petitioner Kaushal on September 20, 2019, and where petitioners filed competing
petitions for redemption of the property, and where petitioner Kaushal argued that he
was a good faith purchaser or a subsequent innocent purchaser for value entitled to the
protection of the Recording Act because county records showed that the property was
owned jointly by husband and wife, petitioner Kaushal's argument was without merit,
because regardless of the efficacy of the quitclaim deed from wife to the LLC on
September 4, 2019, petitioner Kaushal was on constructive notice that there was some
sort of cloud on the title of wife's right of redemption at that time, and yet still purchased
wife's right of redemption. As such, petitioner Kaushal was not a good faith purchaser
when he was assigned wife's right of redemption on September 20, 2019, and cannot
claim the protections of the Recording Act. Nationstar Mortgage v. Kaushal, 2023-
NMCA-051.
No time requirement for recording instruments. — There is no requirement that an
instrument be recorded within a particular period of time; the order in which deeds
appear on the record is not important in a notice jurisdiction. Angle v. Slayton, 1985-
NMSC-032, 102 N.M. 521, 697 P.2d 940.

              II.    APPLICABILITY TO PARTICULAR INSTRUMENTS.

The recording act applies to tax deeds. The recording act does not apply to tax liens.
Cano v. Lovato, 1986-NMCA-043, 105 N.M. 522, 734 P.2d 762, cert. denied, 104 N.M.
246, 716 P.2d 1267, cert. quashed, 105 N.M. 438, 733 P.2d 1321 (1987).

The recording act does not apply to tax liens. Cano v. Lovato, 1986-NMCA-043, 105
N.M. 522, 734 P.2d 762, cert. denied, 104 N.M. 246, 716 P.2d 1267, cert. quashed, 105
N.M. 438, 733 P.2d 1321 (1987).

Provisions applicable to Mexican land grants. — This article applies to Mexican land
grants. Yeast v. Pru, 292 F. 598 (D.N.M. 1923).

Provisions applicable to mortgages. — Mortgages affecting real estate are governed
by this section. Shafer v. McCulloh, 1934-NMSC-012, 38 N.M. 179, 29 P.2d 486.

Provisions not applicable to assignments of mortgages. — Sections 14-9-1 to 14-9-
3 NMSA 1978 do not require the recordation of an assignment of a mortgage securing
the payment of a negotiable promissory note, to protect the holder from payments made
by the mortgagor, or subsequent purchaser, to the original mortgagee. Hayden v.
Speakman, 1914-NMSC-077, 20 N.M. 513, 150 P. 292.

Assignment of unrecorded land contract. — The assignment of an unrecorded land
contract, which assignment was neither acknowledged nor proven in any form to entitle
it to be recorded, is not such an instrument as this section requires to be placed of
record. Early Times Distillery Co. v. Zeiger, 1902-NMSC-001, 11 N.M. 221, 67 P. 734.

Executory contracts entitled to record. — An executory contract of sale of real
estate, when duly executed and acknowledged, is a writing entitled to record. McBee v.
O'Connell, 1911-NMSC-049, 16 N.M. 469, 120 P. 734, appeal after remand 1914-
NMSC-088, 19 N.M. 565, 145 P. 123

Applicability to revocable trusts. — The protection afforded by the New Mexico
recording acts is inapplicable to a revocable trust that does not affect the title to the
original property. Withers v. Board of Cnty. Comm'rs, 1981-NMCA-032, 96 N.M. 71, 628
P.2d 316.

Restrictive covenant running with the land shall be enforced. — Where venture
company owned 116 acres of property and split the property into four tracts, imposing
identical restrictive covenants upon each tract when it was sold that prohibited each
tract from being divided into parcels of less than five acres and that specifically stated
that the restrictive covenant ran with the land, and where defendants purchased a five-
acre parcel within one of the four tracts and sold two and one-half acres of their five-
acre parcel, the district court did not err in enforcing the restrictive covenant on behalf of
adjacent landowners, because a restrictive covenant that runs with the land binds the
covenantor’s successors in interest and applying the general rule that covenants
burdening land sold under a general plan of restriction can be enforced by one
landowner against another within a subdivision. Cobb v. Gammon, 2017-NMCA-022.

Law reviews. — For article, "Survey of New Mexico Law, 1979-80: Property," see 11
N.M. L. Rev. 203 (1981).

For annual survey of New Mexico Law of Property, see 20 N.M.L. Rev. 373 (1990).

Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 66 Am. Jur. 2d Records and Recording
Laws §§ 1, 54 to 68, 73.

Covenant or easement affecting another parcel owned by grantor, record of deed or
contract for conveyance of one parcel with, as constructive notice to subsequent
purchaser or encumbrance of second parcel, 16 A.L.R. 1013.

Rights as between purchaser of timber under recorded instrument and subsequent
vendee of land, 18 A.L.R. 1162.

Effect of failure to record executory contracts for sale of real estate, 26 A.L.R. 1552.

Grantee or mortgagee by quitclaim deed or mortgage in quitclaim form as within
protection of recording laws, 59 A.L.R. 632.

Effect of actual notice of unrecorded instrument to purchaser from one without notice,
63 A.L.R. 1367.

Recovery of tax or assessment paid to procure recording of deed, 64 A.L.R. 117, 84
A.L.R. 294.

Right of one claiming through heir, devisee, or personal representative to protection
against unrecorded conveyance or mortgagor by ancestor or testator, 65 A.L.R. 360.

Necessity of recording tax deed to protect title as against interest derived from former
owner, 65 A.L.R. 1015.

Alteration in deed or mortgage with consent of parties thereto after acknowledgment or
attestation as affecting notice from record thereof, 67 A.L.R. 366.

Right to compensation for improvements as affected by constructive notice by record of
true title or interest, 68 A.L.R. 288, 82 A.L.R. 921.
Subrogation to prior lien of one who advances money to discharge it and takes new
mortgage as affected by recording of intervening lien, 70 A.L.R. 1407.

Assignment of future rents as within recording laws, 75 A.L.R. 270.

Necessity of recording extension of mortgage or deed of trust by subsequent agreement
to cover additional indebtedness, 76 A.L.R. 589.

Registration as notice to creditor of fraudulent conveyance, which will start running of
limitation, 76 A.L.R. 869, 100 A.L.R.2d 1094.

Bankruptcy as invalidating, as against all creditors, instrument executed by bankrupt
which under state law is valid as to creditors becoming such after record but invalid as
to creditors prior to record, 76 A.L.R. 1200.

Title lost by failure to record as cloud on title, 78 A.L.R. 116.

Rights of vendee under executory land contract not recorded as against subsequent
deed or mortgage by vendor, 87 A.L.R. 1515.

Right of seller of fixtures retaining title thereto, or a lien thereon, as against prior
mortgagee of realty as affected by record of the mortgage, 88 A.L.R. 1335, 111 A.L.R.
362, 141 A.L.R. 1283.

Recording laws as applied to assignment of mortgages on real estate, 89 A.L.R. 171,
104 A.L.R. 1301.

Right of executor or administrator of insolvent estate to take advantage of failure to
record or file or refile conveyance or mortgage executed by his decedent, 91 A.L.R.
299.

Who may take advantage of failure to renew real estate mortgage as provided by
statute, 97 A.L.R. 739.

Nonpayment of all or part of consideration at time of receiving notice, actual or
constructive, of a prior instrument, as affecting right of one otherwise protected by
recording law against prior unrecorded deed or mortgage, 109 A.L.R. 163.

Validity of statute requiring recordation of tax certificate within designated time, 111
A.L.R. 258.

Recording of life tenant's deed purporting to convey fee as rendering vendee's
possession adverse to remainderman during life estate, 112 A.L.R. 1047.

Power of attorney under which deed or mortgage is executed, as instrument entitled to
record, 114 A.L.R. 660.
Fraudulent misrepresentation or concealment, public records as constructive notice of,
so as to start running of statute of limitations against action for fraud, 152 A.L.R. 461.

Restrictions in lessor's record title as to use of premises as affecting rights between
lessee and lessor, 165 A.L.R. 1178.

Purchase-money mortgage as within provision of statute defeating or postponing lien of
unrecorded or unfiled mortgage, 168 A.L.R. 1164.

Statutes precluding enforcement of mortgage unless holder complies with conditions
respecting recording of amount remaining unpaid, 174 A.L.R. 652.

Record of instrument which comprises or includes an interest or right that is not a
proper subject of record, 3 A.L.R.2d 577.

Omission from deed of restrictive covenant imposed by general plan of subdivision, 4
A.L.R.2d 1364.

Agreement between real estate owners restricting use of property as within
contemplation of recording laws, 4 A.L.R.2d 1419.

Validity and construction of regulations as to subdivision maps or plats, 11 A.L.R.2d
524.

Relative rights to real property as between purchasers from or through decedent's heirs
and devisees under will subsequently sought to be established, 22 A.L.R.2d 1107.

Personal covenant in recorded deed as enforceable against grantee's lessee or
successor, 23 A.L.R.2d 520.

Effect of recording instrument on determination of its character as a will or deed, 31
A.L.R.2d 532.

Adverse possession by one claiming under or through deed by cotenant as affected by
record of deed, 32 A.L.R.2d 1214.

Necessity that mortgage covering oil and gas lease be recorded as real estate
mortgage, and/or filed or recorded as chattel mortgage, 34 A.L.R.2d 902.

What acts, claims, circumstances, instruments, color of title, judgment, or thing of record
will ground adverse possession in a life tenant as against remaindermen or
reversioners, 58 A.L.R.2d 299.

Record of instrument without sufficient acknowledgment as notice, 59 A.L.R.2d 1299.

Solid mineral royalty as real or personal property, 68 A.L.R.2d 728.
Priority as between mechanic's lien and purchase-money mortgage as affected by
recording, 73 A.L.R.2d 1407.

Record of deed to cotenant as notice to other cotenants of adverse character of
grantee's possession, 82 A.L.R.2d 5.

Trustee's duty to record mortgage securing bondholders, 90 A.L.R.2d 501.

Construction and effect of "marketable record title" statutes, 31 A.L.R.4th 11.

Oil and gas royalty as real or personal property, 56 A.L.R.4th 539.

26 C.J.S. Deeds § 73; 59 C.J.S. Mortgages § 201.