When the sale is held
No statutory month. The Property Tax Division states there is no set schedule: sales are held annually and scheduled county by county as title research is completed and other collection efforts are exhausted, and it does not hold sales in all 33 counties every year. Sales run throughout the year; the division's schedule on 2026-09-25 listed Sandoval County on September 30, 2026 and Mora County on October 8, 2026, both at 10:00 a.m. The state assigns every date centrally and publishes all of them, with each county's sale notice and parcel list, on its Delinquent Property Tax Auctions page.
When taxes go delinquent
Property taxes of ten dollars or more are payable to the county treasurer in two equal installments, due November 10 and April 10 of the following year. Taxes not paid within thirty days after the due date are delinquent, so the practical delinquency dates are December 10 and May 10. Interest then accrues at one percent a month or any fraction of a month, and a penalty of one percent a month is added up to a cap of five percent of the delinquent taxes, with a five dollar minimum that a county may suspend. Real property taxes are a first lien in favor of the state from January 1 of the tax year, paramount to any other interest in the property, perfected or unperfected. By June 10 each year the treasurer mails a notice to owners delinquent more than two years, and by July 1 prepares the tax delinquency list and transfers those accounts to the Taxation and Revenue Department.
What sends a parcel to the sale
Real property taxes delinquent for more than two years go onto the county treasurer's tax delinquency list by July 1 and the account transfers to the Taxation and Revenue Department. The department may sell the property at any time after three years from the first delinquency date shown on that list, and must offer it within four years of that date (or within one year after a legal bar on selling ends), unless all delinquent taxes, penalties, interest and costs are paid, or an installment agreement is signed, by 5:00 p.m. on the day before the sale. Since January 1, 2014 the department must offer at least one listed property for sale in each county every year unless the Property Tax Division director and the county treasurer sign a written agreement to postpone. The July 1 list itself is not a sale.
These dates are the statewide statutory schedule. The New Mexico Property Tax Division, not the county, schedules each county’s auction and sets its terms, so confirm the date on the New Mexico county pages before you plan a bid. For the mechanics of the sale itself, see how to buy in New Mexico.
Verified Sep 26, 2026 against New Mexico statutes.
Tax Sale Atlas publishes educational information about public tax sale processes. This is not legal, financial, or investment advice. Rules, dates, and fees change; confirm with the county office before you bid.