New Mexico Lease Agreement: What to Include

A New Mexico residential lease needs to reflect this state's actual rules on security deposits, entry notice, late fees, and required disclosures — not a generic template written for a different state. The figures below come from New Mexico's residential landlord-tenant statute; where the state sets no fixed number, that's stated plainly rather than glossed over, since "the state doesn't specify" is itself something you need to know.

Security deposit

Security deposit limit: 1 month rent for leases under 1 year; for 1 year+ no cap but interest required if deposit exceeds 1 month. New Mexico requires landlords to pay interest on held deposits — check the current statutory rate and any escrow requirements before you hold tenant funds. Return deadline after move-out: 30 Days.

Entry notice, late fees, and rent increases

Entry notice: 24 Hours. Late fees: No statewide fixed cap; should be reasonable and stated in lease; no statewide grace period requirement. Rent increase notice for month-to-month tenancies: 30 days. (Entry notice citation: N.M. Stat. Ann. § 47-8-24 (24 hours).)

Required disclosures

A New Mexico lease should include or accompany:

• • Federal lead-based paint
• • owner/agent disclosures

Eviction notice for nonpayment

For nonpayment of rent, New Mexico's standard notice period is 3 days. This is the minimum notice before you can move to the next step in the eviction process — actual court timelines run longer once a case is filed. (Eviction notice citation: N.M. Stat. Ann. § 47-8-33(D) (3 days).)

What actually distinguishes New Mexico

New Mexico caps the security deposit at: 1 month rent for leases under 1 year; for 1 year+ no cap but interest required if deposit exceeds 1 month.

New Mexico is one of a smaller group of states that requires landlords to pay tenants interest on held security deposits — factor that into how you hold the funds.

New Mexico requires 24 hours notice before a landlord enters an occupied unit for routine, non-emergency purposes.

At 3, New Mexico's notice period for nonpayment is on the short end nationally — landlords can move to the next step quickly, but that also means less room for a paperwork mistake to cost you time.

Sources and the bottom line

The figures above reflect New Mexico's residential landlord-tenant statute as summarized on LeasePilot HQ's New Mexico landlord-tenant law page, which lists the specific sources behind each number. Security deposit rules specifically are codified at N.M. Stat. Ann. § 47-8-18 (1 month for leases <= 1 year; no cap above), with the return deadline set by N.M. Stat. Ann. § 47-8-18 (30 days). Primary and cross-reference sources used in compiling this page:

• • https://ipropertymanagement.com/laws/security-deposits
• • https://www.justia.com/real-estate/landlord-tenant/information-for-landlords/right-of-entry/
• • https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/state-landlord-tenant-laws

State landlord-tenant law changes through legislative sessions and court decisions — treat the numbers above as a starting point, verify against New Mexico's current statute (linked above) before relying on them for an actual lease, and see LeasePilot HQ's full New Mexico landlord-tenant law summary for the complete breakdown, or generate a lease with New Mexico-specific clauses built in automatically.