New Mexico execution: there is no automatic stay, and collection can begin the day judgment is entered

Almost every state gives a judgment debtor a breathing space. Ten days in Washington and South Carolina, fifteen in Arizona, thirty in Mississippi and under the federal rule.

New Mexico gives none.

execution may issue upon a judgment and proceedings may be taken for its enforcement upon the entry thereof unless otherwise ordered by the court.

Upon the entry thereof. The day the judgment is entered, a writ can issue. If you want a pause, you have to ask for one.

The rule that grants nothing

Rule 1-062(A) NMRA:

Stay; in general. Except as provided in these rules, execution may issue upon a judgment and proceedings may be taken for its enforcement upon the entry thereof unless otherwise ordered by the court. Unless otherwise ordered by the court, an interlocutory or final judgment in an action for an injunction or in a receivership action shall not be stayed during the period of its entry and until an appeal is taken or during the pendency of an appeal. The provisions of Paragraph C of this rule govern the suspending, modifying, restoring or granting of an injunction during the pendency of an appeal.

Everything therefore turns on obtaining an order, and there are three routes to one.

Route one: a post-judgment motion

Rule 1-062(B):

Stay on motion for new trial or for judgment. In its discretion and on such conditions for the security of the adverse party as are proper, the court may stay the execution of or any proceedings to enforce a judgment pending the disposition of a motion for a new trial or to alter or amend a judgment made pursuant to Rule 1-059 NMRA, or of a motion for relief from a judgment or order made pursuant to Rule 1-060 NMRA, or of a motion for judgment in accordance with a motion for a directed verdict pursuant to Rule 1-050 NMRA, or of a motion for amendment to the findings or for additional findings made pursuant to Paragraph D of Rule 1-052 NMRA.

Four supporting motions — 1-059, 1-060, 1-050 and 1-052(D) — and a discretionary stay on proper conditions for the other side's security.

Because nothing is automatic, the stay request should travel with the motion rather than after it. A motion to reconsider does not, by itself, stop a writ.

If the judgment was a default, see setting aside a New Mexico default judgment, where a consumer debt pleading failure is written into the rule itself.

Route two: a supersedeas bond on appeal

Rule 1-062(D) is detailed, and every detail is a requirement.

Stay upon appeal. When an appeal is taken, the appellant by giving a supersedeas bond may obtain a stay subject to the exceptions contained in Paragraphs A and C of this rule. The bond may be given at or after the time of filing the notice of appeal or of procuring the order allowing the appeal, as the case may be. The stay is effective when the supersedeas bond is approved by the district court.

Two of these deserve attention.

Approval, not filing, is the trigger. Execution may proceed in the gap between tendering a bond and having it approved — and in New Mexico that gap begins on the day of entry, with nothing else holding collection off.

A personal surety is treated skeptically. The requirement to show a net worth at double the bond, plus notice to the appellee before approval, makes an individual guarantor a slow route.

The rule also directs the court, in deciding the sufficiency of a surety or whether one is needed at all, to take into account "the type and value of any collateral which is in, or may be placed in, the custody or control of the court". Depositing the collateral with the court is worth raising where a bond is hard to obtain.

Rule 1-062(F) softens this for fiduciaries appealing on behalf of an estate or beneficiary: the amount and type of security are fixed with "due regard" to the assets under the fiduciary's control and any bond already given.

Route three: being a public body

Rule 1-062(E):

Stay in special instances. When an appeal is taken by the state or an officer or agency thereof, or by direction of any department of the state, or by any political subdivision or institution of the state, or by any municipal corporation, the taking of an appeal shall, except as provided in Paragraphs A and C of this rule, operate as a stay.

For public appellants the appeal itself operates as a stay — no bond, no motion, no order. The list is wide: the state, its officers and agencies, political subdivisions, institutions and municipal corporations.

Paragraph C adds a further category. In "contested elections, mandamus, removal of public officers, quo warranto or prohibition", whether an appeal supersedes the judgment at all is discretionary with the court that rendered it.

Being examined about your assets

Rule 1-069(A):

Examination; subpoena; hearing. Upon request of the judgment creditor or a successor in interest, the clerk shall issue a subpoena directing any person with knowledge that will aid in enforcement of or execution on the judgment, including the judgment debtor, to appear before the district court to respond to questions concerning that knowledge. The subpoena shall be served in the same manner as other subpoenas except that it shall be served not less than three (3) days prior to the date the examination is to be conducted.

Three days is a short runway, and the subpoena issues ministerially. There is no judicial screening before it goes out.

Rule 1-069(B) offers the alternative: "In lieu of such an examination before the court, the judgment creditor or a successor in interest may obtain discovery from any person, including the judgment debtor, in any manner provided in these rules."

Where the creditor takes that route, the ordinary discovery rules apply — including New Mexico's requirement that a motion to compel state on its face that the movant tried to resolve the dispute. See the New Mexico motion to compel.

Where this connects

For the case itself, see the New Mexico motion to dismiss — thirty days to answer, ten after a denial.

How New Mexico compares

A short checklist

1. Assume collection can start immediately. There is no waiting period to rely on.
2. File any stay request with the motion, not after it — a pending motion does not stop a writ.
3. If you are appealing, plan for approval time. The stay begins when the district court approves the bond.
4. Size the bond to the unsatisfied balance plus costs, interest and damages for delay.
5. Avoid a personal surety if speed matters — it needs notice to the other side and double the net worth.
6. Raise collateral in the court's custody if a bond is out of reach; the rule directs the court to weigh it.
7. Watch for a clerk-issued subpoena. Three days' notice is all the rule requires.

Where these rules live

• Rule 1-062 NMRA — Stay of proceeding to enforce a judgment
• Rule 1-069 NMRA — Judgment; supplementary proceedings
• Rule 1-060 NMRA — Relief from judgment or order

This page explains what the rules say. It isn't legal advice, and what property is exempt from execution is governed by statutes this site doesn't cover.