Section 7-38-68 - Installment agreements. - New Mexico Statutes

7-38-68. Installment agreements.

A.     The division may enter into an installment agreement for the payment of all delinquent property taxes, penalties, interest and costs due with respect to either real property or a manufactured home with the owner of the real property or manufactured home whose taxes have become delinquent and whose account for all or part of the delinquent taxes has been transferred for collection to the division. Execution of an installment agreement under this section by a property owner is an irrevocable admission of liability for all taxes that are the subject of the agreement. The installment agreement shall be in writing and shall not extend for a period of more than thirty-six months. Interest shall accrue on the unpaid balance during the period of the installment agreement. The rate of interest shall be one percent a month, and no other interest on that portion of the principal representing unpaid taxes shall accrue while an installment agreement is in effect. The division shall not enter into an installment agreement with a property owner on or after the date of the initial sale of real property or manufactured home for delinquent taxes whether or not the real property or manufactured home is sold and a deed issued as a result of that sale. The division shall promulgate regulations establishing requirements for a minimum down payment and substantially equal monthly payments for installment agreements.   

B.     An installment agreement prevents any further action to collect the delinquent taxes stated in the agreement as long as the terms of the agreement are met.   

C.     The division may proceed under the Property Tax Code [Articles 35 to 38 of Chapter 7 NMSA 1978] to collect the property taxes, penalties, interest and costs due and unpaid if:   

(1)     installment payments are not made on or before the dates specified in the agreement;   

(2)     the property owner fails to pay other property taxes when required; or   

(3)     any other condition contained in the agreement is not met.   

D.     For the purpose of computing the time when real property or a manufactured home may be sold for delinquent taxes, the date of original delinquency shall be used when the delinquent taxes have been the subject of an installment agreement that was subsequently breached by the property owner.   

E.     If an owner of real property or a manufactured home enters into an installment agreement and subsequently breaches the agreement under this section, the division shall not enter into another installment agreement with that property owner for the payment of the delinquent taxes that were the subject of the installment agreement.   

F.     Alphabetically indexed and serially numbered records of installment agreements must be kept in the office of the director and made available for public inspection.