Wherewithal

New Mexico security deposit return obligations for landlords

What the statute requires of you in New Mexico: return deadlines, clock triggers, itemization / notice duties, deposit caps, and penalties for non-compliance — drawn from Wherewithal’s statute research corpus. A landlord who complies correctly does not create a statutory penalty claim.

Confidence: PRIMARY

PRIMARY — main elements read against statute text

Deadline to return / account	30 days
When the clock starts	termination OR surrender+acceptance, whichever first
Penalty for non-compliance	forfeit withhold rights + $250 civil penalty (§E)
Deposit cap (maximum you may collect)	1 mo if lease <1 year; no cap if ≥1 year
Escrow / interest requirements	interest if deposit >1 mo rent
Citation	N.M. Stat. § 47-8-18

Source: N.M. Stat. § 47-8-18

Compliance flags / traps

⚠ lease-length gate on cap

Applicability conditions

lease_length — cap only if lease <1 year · <1 year

Corpus version: 350bbeedc5c4e248 (hash of human fields; use as last-updated fingerprint)

Deadline calculator

Compliance tool only — estimates the statutory return / accounting window from Wherewithal’s corpus fields. Not legal advice. No case is created.

This state’s corpus encodes a primary numeric window of 30 days. Enter the move-out / possession-delivery date the statute keys on.

Move-out / termination date (when possession is delivered)

Tenant side: New Mexico security deposit return rules

Same statute corpus, framed for tenants organizing a deposit-return claim.

Nearby states (landlord side)

Wherewithal is an organizational tool only. Not legal advice. Consider consulting a licensed attorney. This page is compliance information for landlords summarizing statutory duties — not legal advice.

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