Is there a legal limit on late fees in New Mexico?

5% of the rent for each rental period the resident is in default (NMSA 47-8-15(D), as amended by Laws 2025, ch. 122, effective 2025-06-20).

Does a late fee have to be written into the lease in New Mexico?

Yes — in New Mexico a late fee must be stated in the lease.

Can a landlord charge a daily late fee in New Mexico?

An initial-plus-daily late-fee structure may not total more than 5% of that period's rent, because the 5% ceiling applies per rental period in default.

What late fees can a landlord charge in New Mexico?

Verified July 11, 2026 All New Mexico topics →

New Mexico caps residential late fees at 5% of the rent for each rental period the tenant is in default — cut from 10% by a 2025 law effective June 20, 2025 — and the fee may be charged only if the rental agreement provides for it.

Cited to NMSA 1978 § 47-8-15 (D) and 2 more New Mexico statutes · Verified July 11, 2026

The 5% is measured against rent alone: deposits, other fees and utilities are expressly excluded from the calculation. New Mexico also imposes a use-it-or-lose-it notice rule found almost nowhere else: to assess a late fee at all, the landlord must notify the tenant of the fee charged no later than the last day of the rental period immediately following the one in which the default occurred. There is no statutory grace period — rent is payable without demand at the agreed time — so the fee can attach as soon as rent is late, subject to the lease and the notice rule. Beware outdated sources: most 50-state charts and even major legal databases still show the pre-2025 10% cap.

New Mexico late fees at a glance

Statutory cap	5% of the rent for each rental period the resident is in default (NMSA 47-8-15(D), as amended by Laws 2025, ch. 122, effective 2025-06-20) The base is rent only: late-fee calculations shall not include deposits, additional fees or utilities.
Mandatory grace period	None mandated statewide
Must be in the lease	Yes
Daily fees	An initial-plus-daily late-fee structure may not total more than 5% of that period's rent, because the 5% ceiling applies per rental period in default. The statute is silent on fee structure itself. Rent is otherwise payable without demand or notice at the agreed time (47-8-15(B)).
Reasonableness standard	Not addressed by statute

Cite this page: "Landlord Atlas, New Mexico Late Fee Laws (verified July 11, 2026), landlordatlas.com/laws/late-fees/new-mexico/" — free to cite and quote with a link (how these records are verified). Every figure above is cited to the New Mexico statute in the citations section below.

Check a late fee against the New Mexico rules — free, no signup, built on the same verified New Mexico rules as this page.

Notes and caveats

The primary stale-source trap: the 10% cap is dead — From Laws 1995, ch. 195 until June 20, 2025 the cap was 10% of the 'total rent payment.' SB 267 (Laws 2025, ch. 122, § 6, signed April 8, 2025, effective June 20, 2025 under the 90-days-after-adjournment default) reduced it to 5% and narrowed the base to rent only, expressly excluding deposits, additional fees and utilities.
Sources still showing 10% — FindLaw (stamped current 2024-01-01), the RLD 2019 compilation, the courts' 2023 self-help brochure and nearly all landlord guides still carry 10%. The FindLaw citation is kept here deliberately, as the documented superseded text.
Two official sources carry the current 5% text — The official enrolled bill and the Justia 2025-edition amendment note agree: 'after "not to exceed" changed "ten" to "five"... effective June 20, 2025'.
The fee must be written into the lease — The statute's express precondition is 'If the rental agreement provides for the charging of a late fee' — no lease clause, no fee.
Use it or lose it: the notice-to-assess window — The landlord must give notice of the fee charged no later than the last day of the rental period immediately following the one in which the default occurred. This mechanic predates 2025 and survived the amendment verbatim; a landlord who misses that window cannot assess the fee for that period.
No grace period — and the 3-day notice is not one — The word 'grace' appears nowhere in the UORRA. The 3-day nonpayment termination notice of 47-8-33 is an eviction cure window, not a fee-accrual delay, and a 2025 bill to stretch that eviction notice to 10 days (HB 462) did not become law.
No reasonableness test — New Mexico uses a hard percentage cap, so no reasonableness standard is applied or needed.

Common questions: New Mexico late fees

Each answer is the verified value from the table above, restated as a direct answer. Free to quote with a link to this page.

Is there a legal limit on late fees in New Mexico?: 5% of the rent for each rental period the resident is in default (NMSA 47-8-15(D), as amended by Laws 2025, ch. 122, effective 2025-06-20).
Is there a grace period before rent is late in New Mexico?: None mandated statewide.
Does a late fee have to be written into the lease in New Mexico?: Yes — in New Mexico a late fee must be stated in the lease.
Can a landlord charge a daily late fee in New Mexico?: An initial-plus-daily late-fee structure may not total more than 5% of that period's rent, because the 5% ceiling applies per rental period in default.

Statute citations

NMSA 1978 § 47-8-15 (D) (verified 2026) Official source
Laws 2025, ch. 122 (SB 267), § 6 (verified 2026) Official source
NMSA 1978 § 47-8-15 (mirror — shows superseded 10% text) (D) (verified 2026) Unofficial mirror

How this record was verified: Verbatim reads of two independent official documents, each downloaded and read in full: (1) the NM Regulation & Licensing Department's official UORRA compilation PDF (rld.nm.gov, 2019 edition) for sections 47-8-15 (pre-2025 baseline), 47-8-18, 47-8-24, 47-8-37 and full-chapter negative sweeps (no escrow/interest-account rule, no grace period, no pet-deposit statute, no frequency limit); and (2) the final (enrolled, SJC substitute) version of 2025 SB 267 on nmlegis.gov (Laws 2025, ch. 122, signed 2025-04-08, effective 2025-06-20) for the current text of 47-8-15 (5% late fee), new sections 47-8-19.1 to 47-8-19.4, and amended 47-8-48. Every critical figure reconciled against FindLaw (mirror stamped current 2024-01-01) and Justia 2025-edition amendment notes; the two officials agree with each other and the mirrors on the 1-month deposit cap for sub-annual agreements, annual-lease interest trigger, 30-day return, $250 bad-faith penalty, 5% late fee and its notice-to-assess mechanic, 30-days-before-the-rental-date increase rule, and 24-hour written entry notice. Section 47-8A-1 (rent control preemption) initially verified on two mirrors reconciled verbatim (Justia + FindLaw) because the official host nmonesource.com does not offer stable section links; a same-day (2026-07-11) direct read of the official compiled code on nmonesource.com (NMSA Unannotated, Chapter 47) then sight-verified 47-8A-1 verbatim (subsections A-C, History: Laws 1991, ch. 23, § 1), the compiled 47-8-15 text including the 5% subsection (D) and the 2025 ch. 122 history line, the compiled section numbers 47-8-19.1 through 47-8-19.4, and the unamended history lines of 47-8-18 (1975/1985/1989) and 47-8-24 (1975/1995) — all matching the figures shown here. Pending-bill sweep 2026-07-11: 2026 regular session (30-day) adjourned sine die 2026-02-19; SB 138 (repeal rent control prohibition) died in committee (Action Postponed Indefinitely, confirmed on the official nmlegis.gov bill page); no UORRA bill touching the four topics passed.