New Mexico Eviction Procedure

                                                               

After the notice period has lapsed (without any action taken by the tenant), the landlord can file the eviction lawsuit in court. The landlord will file the Petition by Owner for Restitution document with the courts. 

When the Petition is filed, the clerk will give the landlord a service packet. 

The service packet contains:

Summons

Petition 

Answer to Petition (blank}

The tenant must be served the service packet at least seven days before the date of the trial. The landlord cannot serve the packet personally, it must be served by a third party (such as the sheriff’s office, or a private process server). 

After the packet has been served, the person who served it must fill out the “return of service” section on the back of the summons. The landlord is required to file the return of service before the trial date. The tenant has until the day of the trial/hearing to file an Answer to Petition.

If a judgment is made in favor of the landlord (otherwise known as a “judgment for restitution”), an eviction date will be set by the judge. The date of eviction is typically three to seven days after the judgment has been issued.

If the tenant does not move out by the eviction date, the landlord can request that a “Writ of Restitution” to be issued. The writ will order the sheriff’s office to oversee the eviction of the tenant. 

                                                                                                          

After the writ has been issued by the clerk, the landlord must deliver it to the sheriff’s office.

SERVING COURT DOCUMENTS

When the landlord files a lawsuit in the courts, the clerk will issue documents to be served to the defendant. 

The courts will require the documents to be served by the sheriff or licensed process server. The server will have a certain amount of time to serve the defendant and the deadline is usually 72 hours before the hearing. There are also time restrictions which vary from state to state such as 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. when the defendant can be served. This prevents the server coming up to the residence at 3:00 a.m.

After serving the needed documents, the server will attach an abode form. This abode will state the time, date, location of service and person accepting service. This document is filled out by the server and attached to the copy of the documents