CRIME OF DEED THEFT

HB0272

HOUSE BILL 272

57th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2026

INTRODUCED BY

Nathan P. Small

AN ACT

RELATING TO CRIME; CREATING THE CRIMES OF RESIDENTIAL AND
COMMERCIAL DEED THEFT; PROVIDING PENALTIES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

SECTION 1.
A new section of the Criminal Code is enacted
to read:

"[
NEW MATERIAL
] DEED THEFT--PENALTIES.--

A. Deed theft consists of:

(1) intentionally altering, falsifying,
forging or misrepresenting property documents, such as
residential or commercial deeds or titles, with the intent to
deceive, defraud or unlawfully transfer or encumber the
ownership rights of a residential or commercial real property;

(2) providing, with the intent to defraud,
misrepresentations as to the ownership or the authorized
representative of residential or commercial real property to
induce others to rely on the false information in order for the
person providing the misrepresentations to obtain ownership or
possession of the real property; or

(3) with the intent to defraud, taking,
obtaining, stealing or transferring ownership of real property
by fraud, forgery, larceny or any fraudulent or deceptive
practice.

B. A person who commits deed theft is guilty of a:

(1) third degree felony when the person
commits deed theft of one commercial real property;

(2) second degree felony when the person
commits deed theft of:

(a) one residential real property;

(b) one mixed-use property with at least
one residential unit; or

(c) two or more commercial real
properties; or

(3) first degree felony when the person
commits deed theft of a residential real property that:

(a) is occupied as a home by at least
one person; or

(b) involves a home that is owned or
occupied by a person sixty years of age or older, an
incompetent person, an incapacitated person or a person with a
physical disability.

C. A person is guilty of aggravated deed theft, a
first degree felony, when the person commits deed theft of two
or more residential real properties.

D. As used in this section:

(1) "commercial real property" means
nonresidential property formerly or currently used primarily
for business, retail, governmental or professional purposes;

(2) "incapacitated person" means a person
lacking the ability to manage property and business affairs
effectively by reason of mental illness, mental deficiency,
physical illness or disability, chronic use of drugs, chronic
intoxication, confinement, detention by a foreign power,
disappearance, minority or other disabling cause;

(3) "incompetent" means a person who has been
judicially declared incapable of managing the person's affairs;

(4) "mixed-use property" means property on
which a building or structure is used for both residential and
commercial or nonresidential purposes; and

(5) "residential real property" means real
property or a manufactured or modular home that is used or
intended to be used for residential purposes."

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