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What is the statute and paragraphs that cover the required renewal period of a mechanics lien?

I am trying to buy a property with a recorded mechanics lien for work done 30 years ago. I understand that this type of lien must be renewed (re-recorded?) every two years. I can find no record of any re-recording of this lien and I am trying to find the stature that covers this period to reference this period in a demand letter that the lien be released. In addition there is a secondary mechanics lien from a corporation that is no longer in existance. What is the statute that would apply for the removal of this lien, and what would be the process? Thank you.

1 reply

Nov 12, 2018

How long liens last, and how to get rid of them when the claimant doesn't release them, are common and important questions.

Very few states allow for the effective period of a mechanics lien to be extended, and New Mexico is not one of those states. In New Mexico, N.M.S.A. § 48-2-10 states that: "No lien provided for in Sections 48-2-1 through 48-2-17 NMSA 1978 remains valid for a longer period than two years after the claim of lien has been filed unless proceedings have been commenced in a court of competent jurisdiction or in binding arbitration within that time to enforce the lien."

So, unless an action to enforce the lien was initiated through a foreclosure suit or a binding arbitration, the lien is extinguished and becomes unenforceable two years after the lien was originally filed.

Even when a lien is no longer effective and is unenforceable, it can remain filed and searchable in the property records. And this can mean hassles from parties that may not know or realize the lien has expired and is no longer an actual encumbrance on the property. Because of this, many people want to have such a lien removed. This can usually be accomplished quickly through petitioning the court in the county in which the property is located to order the dissolution and removal of the lien because of a failure to initiate an enforcement action.

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