HB 272

                                1  HOUSE BILL 272
                                2      57TH LEGISLATURE - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - SECOND SESSION, 2026
                                3  INTRODUCED BY
                                4  Nathan P. Small
                                5
                                6
                                7
                                8
                                9
                                10  AN ACT
                                11   RELATING TO CRIME; CREATING THE CRIMES OF RESIDENTIAL AND
                                12   COMMERCIAL DEED THEFT; PROVIDING PENALTIES.
                                13
                                14   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
                                15        SECTION 1.    A new section of the Criminal Code is enacted
                                16   to read:
[bracketed material] = delete
                                17        "[NEW MATERIAL] DEED THEFT--PENALTIES.--
underscored material = new
                                18  A.   Deed theft consists of:
                                19  (1)   intentionally altering, falsifying,
                                20   forging or misrepresenting property documents, such as
                                21   residential or commercial deeds or titles, with the intent to
                                22   deceive, defraud or unlawfully transfer or encumber the
                                23   ownership rights of a residential or commercial real property;
                                24  (2)   providing, with the intent to defraud,
                                25   misrepresentations as to the ownership or the authorized
                                     .233436.1
                                1    representative of residential or commercial real property to
                                2    induce others to rely on the false information in order for the
                                3    person providing the misrepresentations to obtain ownership or
                                4    possession of the real property; or
                                5  (3)   with the intent to defraud, taking,
                                6    obtaining, stealing or transferring ownership of real property
                                7    by fraud, forgery, larceny or any fraudulent or deceptive
                                8    practice.
                                9  B.   A person who commits deed theft is guilty of a:
                                10  (1)   third degree felony when the person
                                11   commits deed theft of one commercial real property;
                                12  (2)   second degree felony when the person
                                13   commits deed theft of:
                                14  (a)   one residential real property;
                                15  (b)   one mixed-use property with at least
                                16   one residential unit; or
[bracketed material] = delete
                                17  (c)   two or more commercial real
underscored material = new
                                18   properties; or
                                19  (3)   first degree felony when the person
                                20   commits deed theft of a residential real property that:
                                21  (a)   is occupied as a home by at least
                                22   one person; or
                                23  (b)   involves a home that is owned or
                                24   occupied by a person sixty years of age or older, an
                                25   incompetent person, an incapacitated person or a person with a
                                     .233436.1
                                                                     - 2 -
                                1    physical disability.
                                2  C.   A person is guilty of aggravated deed theft, a
                                3    first degree felony, when the person commits deed theft of two
                                4    or more residential real properties.
                                5  D.   As used in this section:
                                6  (1)   "commercial real property" means
                                7    nonresidential property formerly or currently used primarily
                                8    for business, retail, governmental or professional purposes;
                                9  (2)   "incapacitated person" means a person
                                10   lacking the ability to manage property and business affairs
                                11   effectively by reason of mental illness, mental deficiency,
                                12   physical illness or disability, chronic use of drugs, chronic
                                13   intoxication, confinement, detention by a foreign power,
                                14   disappearance, minority or other disabling cause;
                                15  (3)   "incompetent" means a person who has been
                                16   judicially declared incapable of managing the person's affairs;
[bracketed material] = delete
                                17  (4)   "mixed-use property" means property on
underscored material = new
                                18   which a building or structure is used for both residential and
                                19   commercial or nonresidential purposes; and
                                20  (5)   "residential real property" means real
                                21   property or a manufactured or modular home that is used or
                                22   intended to be used for residential purposes."
                                23  - 3 -
                                24
                                25
                                     .233436.1