Records access is where New Mexico's HOA Act does its loudest work. Section 47-16-5 requires that all financial and other records of the association be made available for examination during regular business hours within ten business days of a written request — and the statute defines the set generously: the declaration, the bylaws, the names and addresses of all members, minutes of all meetings, the operating budget, current assessments, financial statements and accounts including bank account statements and transaction registers, service and utility records, amounts held in reserve, the most recent financial audit or review, and all current contracts the association has signed. Review is free; the association may charge no more than ten cents per page for copies.
Then the enforcement clause that makes boards move: failure to provide access within ten business days creates a rebuttable presumption that the association willfully failed to comply with the Act, and an owner denied access is entitled to the greater of actual damages or fifty dollars per calendar day, starting on the eleventh business day after the association received the request. A records demand in New Mexico is not a favor you're asking — it's a clock you're starting, with a per-day price printed on it. Condominium owners hold the UCA version: under § 47-7C-18 the association must keep financial records sufficiently detailed for resale-certificate compliance, and all financial and other records must be made reasonably available for examination by any unit owner or authorized agent.
The audit you're owed without asking
Independent of your requests, § 47-16-10 requires the association to obtain a financial audit, review, or compilation of its records by an independent certified public accountant, in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, at least once every three years — with the results made available to lot owners within thirty calendar days of completion, and the cost carried as a common expense. Pair that with the annual budget delivery (within thirty days of adoption, § 47-16-7) and the fee-and-fine schedule that must ride along with it, and a New Mexico owner has a recurring, statutory window into the money without ever filing a request. If your association can't produce a CPA report from the last three years, that absence is itself a violation worth putting in writing.
The authority
The statutes behind this
Cited by name as authority, for your own reading. Informational only, not legal advice.
NMSA 1978, § 47-16-5
All financial and other records — from the declaration and minutes to bank statements, transaction registers, reserves, and contracts — available within 10 business days; free inspection, $.10/page copies, and damages of the greater of actual harm or $50/day from day eleven.
NMSA 1978, § 47-16-10
An independent CPA must audit, review, or compile the association's records at least every three years, with results to owners within 30 days — a standing transparency floor you don't have to request.
NMSA 1978, § 47-7C-18
Condominium associations must keep sufficiently detailed financial records and make all financial and other records reasonably available for examination by any unit owner or authorized agent.
Step by step
How to make a records request in New Mexico
A statute-anchored request that starts the ten-business-day clock and preserves the $50/day remedy.
- 01
Put it in writing and date it
Email or mail a written request — only a written request starts § 47-16-5's clock. Keep proof of the association's receipt; the penalty runs from the eleventh business day after it.
- 02
Name the records from the statute's own list
Ask for what the statute enumerates: declaration, bylaws, minutes, operating budget, current assessments, financial statements, bank statements, transaction registers, reserve balances, the latest CPA audit or review, and all current contracts.
- 03
Cite the section and the remedy
Reference NMSA § 47-16-5 and note, matter-of-factly, that access is due within ten business days and that denial carries the greater of actual damages or $50 per day thereafter. Boards read that sentence carefully.
- 04
Refuse improper fees
Examination is free by statute; copies are capped at ten cents per page. A 'research fee' or per-request charge has no basis in the Act — decline it in writing.
- 05
Track the clock and enforce
Mark the tenth business day. If it passes, write again noting the accruing statutory damages and the presumption of willful noncompliance, and consult a licensed New Mexico attorney about collecting — the fee-shifting posture of a documented violation favors you.
Straight answers
Common questions
What records is a New Mexico HOA required to show me?
Essentially everything: the declaration and bylaws, member names and addresses, minutes of all meetings, the operating budget and current assessments, financial statements including bank account statements and transaction registers, reserves, the most recent audit or review, and all current contracts — § 47-16-5's own list.
How fast, and at what cost?
Within ten business days of your written request, during regular business hours. Inspection is free; copies may cost at most ten cents per page. Anything slower or pricier is out of step with the statute.
What happens if the association just ignores me?
The statute presumes the failure was willful and entitles you to the greater of your actual damages or $50 per calendar day, starting the eleventh business day after they received the request. Document the timeline — the remedy is arithmetic, not argument.
Do condo owners get the same right?
Condos run under § 47-7C-18: records must be kept in sufficient detail and made reasonably available to any unit owner or authorized agent. No per-day penalty attaches, but 'reasonably available' still supports a firm written demand — and resale-certificate duties keep condo books current.