Filing deadline

Original contractors (direct with owner): record within 120 days after completion of their own contract. Everyone else: 90 days after substantial completion of the whole project - not from the claimant's own last work, an unusual trigger. File with the county clerk where the property (or part of it) lies; recording alone perfects the lien with no service obligation.

Notice prerequisites

Preliminary Notice needed only from claimants NOT in direct contract with the owner or the original contractor, on non-residential work, when the lien will be $5,000 or more. Give written notice of the right to lien within 60 days of first furnishing, by certified mail RRR, fax with acknowledgment, or personal delivery, to the owner/reputed owner or original contractor; a late notice reaches back only 30 days. Not required on residential jobs (4 or fewer units) or from first-tier subs/suppliers. A statutory Request for Information forces the owner/GC to supply project data within 5 days or lose the no-notice defense.

Service on the owner

No service requirement at all - once the Claim of Lien is properly recorded it is deemed legal notice to the world; nothing must be mailed to the owner.

Enforcement

Foreclosure suit (in the district court where the property sits) or binding arbitration must start within 2 years of recording the lien, or it lapses. No statutory lis pendens requirement; prevailing party recovers reasonable attorney fees and costs.

NMSA 1978 sec. 48-2-1 et seq. (Mechanics' and Materialmen's Lien Law); sec. 48-2-2.1 (preliminary notice); sec. 48-2-6, -10; Stop Notice Act, NMSA 1978 sec. 48-2A-1 et seq.; Construction Industry Licensing Act, NMSA 1978 sec. 60-13-1 et seq.