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New Mexico Tax Deed Sales and Auctions

New Mexico sells the deed itself, so no statutory investor interest rate applies under NMSA 1978, Chapter 7, Article 38 (7-38-60 through 7-38-74). Tax Sale Atlas holds the sale calendar, auction platform and list locations for all 33 New Mexico counties, each read from the county’s own official pages and checked against the statute on Sep 25, 2026.

New Mexico is a tax deed state, and the sale is run by the state rather than by counties. Read more…

County treasurers bill and collect, but once real property taxes have been delinquent for more than two years the treasurer lists the parcel on the county's tax delinquency list by July 1 and transfers the account to the Taxation and Revenue Department, which then holds exclusive authority to collect it. The department's Property Tax Division may sell the property once three years have passed from the first delinquency date on that list, and must offer it within four. It sells at an oral public auction held in the county where the land lies, either itself or through an auctioneer it hires, to the highest bidder at or above a minimum price that can never be less than the delinquent taxes, penalties, interest and costs. Payment in full is due before the auction closes. No tax lien certificate is ever sold to an investor, there is no right of redemption after the sale, and the deed conveys the former owner's interest subject to perfected interests that existed before the January 1 tax lien date. The former owner has two years from the sale to challenge the conveyance in court.

Rules verified Sep 25, 2026 against New Mexico Statutes.

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Sale type: Tax deed
Redemption: None after sale
Auction method: premium bid
Over-the-counter: Not available

Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Sep 25, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify

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Tax deed sales

The deed process can lead to property ownership. Confirm the steps below, the interest conveyed, and the title and possession requirements for the parcel. If the parcels you are bidding on are vacant land rather than houses, see what buying land at a tax sale hands you.

Auction method: premium bid

Runs afterReal property taxes delinquent for more than two years go onto the county treasurer's tax delinquency list by July 1 and the account transfers to the Taxation and Revenue Department. More…

The department may sell the property at any time after three years from the first delinquency date shown on that list, and must offer it within four years of that date (or within one year after a legal bar on selling ends), unless all delinquent taxes, penalties, interest and costs are paid, or an installment agreement is signed, by 5:00 p.m. on the day before the sale. Since January 1, 2014 the department must offer at least one listed property for sale in each county every year unless the Property Tax Division director and the county treasurer sign a written agreement to postpone. The July 1 list itself is not a sale.

Run byState of New Mexico, Taxation and Revenue Department, Property Tax Division, not the county. More…

After the tax delinquency list is received the department has exclusive authority to collect the listed taxes, and it conducts the sale either itself or through an auctioneer it hires. County treasurers only bill, collect current taxes, prepare the delinquency list and may accept payments as the department's agent.

DepositNone. The statute sets no bidder deposit and no registration fee. More…

Bidders register in person on the day of the sale, registration opening at 8:00 a.m. and closing when the 10:00 a.m. auction starts, and bid orally in person or through an agent carrying a notarized authorization. A personal or business check is accepted only with a letter of guarantee from the issuing bank presented at registration.

Balance duePayment in full by the close of the public auction; no offer is accepted until then. More…

Accepted forms are money order, certified check, cashier's check, or a personal or business check backed by the bank's letter of guarantee, payable to the Property Tax Division. For abandoned real property sold on the division's online platform, full payment is due within one business day after the buyer is notified that the bid was accepted.

Surplus proceedsSale money goes first to the department's costs, then to penalties and interest, then to the delinquent taxes, which are remitted to the county treasurer. More…

The balance is paid to the former owner, or to anyone a court orders, after the department may first apply it to other property taxes that person owes, and the department may require proof of former ownership. If no former owner claims the balance within two years of the sale after a reasonable search, it is treated as abandoned property under the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act.

Confirm marketability and insurance requirements with a title professional. Budget any title-clearing work and delays before relying on a resale. See the due diligence guide, or check what survives a tax deed in New Mexico.

Redemption, delinquency, and over-the-counter at a glance

Redemption

How longThe pre-sale window is long even though there is no post-sale redemption: taxes go delinquent thirty days after each due date, the account transfers to the state after two years, the property cannot be sold until three years after the first delinquency date on the list, and the owner must receive certified-mail notice twenty to thirty days before the sale, as must each recorded lienholder whose address is reasonably ascertainable. More…

Installment agreements run up to thirty-six months at one percent a month and cannot be entered on or after the date of the initial sale. After the sale the only exposure is the former owner's two-year window to challenge the conveyance in district court, and, where a federal tax lien is recorded, the 120-day federal redemption right the Property Tax Division's terms warn about.

What the owner pays

All delinquent taxes, penalties, interest and costs due, paid to the Taxation and Revenue Department (or to a county treasurer the department has authorized as its agent) by 5:00 p.m. on the day before the sale.

Delinquency

How it startsProperty taxes of ten dollars or more are payable to the county treasurer in two equal installments, due November 10 and April 10 of the following year. More…

Taxes not paid within thirty days after the due date are delinquent, so the practical delinquency dates are December 10 and May 10. Interest then accrues at one percent a month or any fraction of a month, and a penalty of one percent a month is added up to a cap of five percent of the delinquent taxes, with a five dollar minimum that a county may suspend. Real property taxes are a first lien in favor of the state from January 1 of the tax year, paramount to any other interest in the property, perfected or unperfected. By June 10 each year the treasurer mails a notice to owners delinquent more than two years, and by July 1 prepares the tax delinquency list and transfers those accounts to the Taxation and Revenue Department.

Over-the-counter

How to buyNew Mexico has no fixed-price over-the-counter purchase. More…

A parcel that draws no bid at or above its minimum may be offered again, and at that later offering it may sell below the minimum price; the division's sale notices state that unsold parcels may be re-offered at a separate auction immediately following the first sale. A parcel not offered can be carried to a later sale, but the notice requirements must be met again each time. The closest thing to a standing sale is the statute's continuous online sale of abandoned subdivision lots on the Property Tax Division website, which can run until December 31 of the tax year and is still a bidding process, not a counter purchase.

What is availableNew Mexico publishes no lands-available list. More…

Unsold parcels remain on the department's delinquency list until re-offered, paid or placed on an installment agreement.

Governing statutes

NMSA 1978, Chapter 7, Article 38 (7-38-60 through 7-38-74)NMSA 1978, 7-38-38 NMSA 1978, 7-38-46 NMSA 1978, 7-38-48 NMSA 1978, 7-38-49 and 7-38-50 NMSA 1978, 7-38-61 and 7-38-62 NMSA 1978, 7-38-65 NMSA 1978, 7-38-66 NMSA 1978, 7-38-67 NMSA 1978, 7-38-67.1 NMSA 1978, 7-38-68 NMSA 1978, 7-38-70 NMSA 1978, 7-38-71 NMSA 1978, 7-38-74

All 33 New Mexico counties

Sales are organized by county. Search your city or county and compare the available sale details. Where deed-sale formats are listed, filter for online or in-person sales. Certificate platforms appear where that sale type is available.

Frequently asked questions

Does New Mexico sell tax liens or tax deeds?

Tax deeds only. No tax lien certificate is sold to investors. The state keeps its lien until the Taxation and Revenue Department's Property Tax Division sells the land itself at public auction and issues a deed to the buyer.

Who runs the New Mexico tax sale, the county or the state?

The state. Once taxes are more than two years delinquent the county treasurer lists the parcel and transfers the account to the Taxation and Revenue Department, which then has exclusive authority to collect it. The department's Property Tax Division, or an auctioneer it hires, holds the auction in the county where the land is located. County treasurers do sell seized manufactured homes and other personal property, but that is a different process.

When are New Mexico tax sales held?

There is no fixed month. The Property Tax Division schedules each county when title research and other collection work are complete, holds sales throughout the year, and does not reach all 33 counties every year, though since 2014 it must offer at least one property in each county annually unless the division and the treasurer agree in writing to postpone. Every date and sale list is published on the division's Delinquent Property Tax Auctions page.

See all New Mexico FAQ

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Open any county for its sale calendar, auction platform, registration rules, and office contacts.

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