New Mexico Statutes 48-1A-7. No duty to accept or to disclose a nonconsensual common law lien; immunity from liability
A. A filing officer does not have a duty to accept for filing or recording a claim of lien, unless the lien is authorized by statute or imposed by a court of competent jurisdiction having jurisdiction over property affected by the lien.
Terms Used In New Mexico Statutes 48-1A-7
- Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
- Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
- Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
B. A filing officer does not have a duty to accept for filing or recording a claim of lien against a state or local official or employee or a federal official or employee based on the performance or nonperformance of that official’s or employee’s duties, unless accompanied by a specific order from a court of competent jurisdiction having jurisdiction over property affected by the lien, authorizing the filing of the lien.
C. A filing officer does not have a duty to disclose an instrument of record or filing that attempts to give notice of a nonconsensual common law lien. This subsection does not relieve a filing officer of a duty that otherwise may exist to disclose a claim of a lien authorized by statute or imposed by order of a court of competent jurisdiction having jurisdiction over property affected by the lien. The existence of a claim of a nonconsensual common law lien in the public record does not constitute a defect in the title of or an encumbrance on the real property described and does not affect the marketability of the title to the real property.
D. A filing officer shall not be liable for damages arising from a refusal to record or file or a failure to disclose any claim of a nonconsensual common law lien of record pursuant to this section.
E. A filing officer shall not be liable for damages arising from the acceptance for filing of a claim of lien as described in Subsection B of this section, or for the acceptance for filing of a notice of invalid lien pursuant to Subsection B of Section 6 [48- 1A-6 NMSA 1978] of the Lien Protection Efficiency Act.
F. Except as otherwise provided by law, a filing officer shall not be required to defend decisions to accept or reject documents pursuant to Section 6 of the Lien Protection Efficiency Act.