A. The owner of any building, mining claim, improvement or structure subject to a lien under Sections 48-2-1 through 48-2-17 NMSA 1978 or an original contractor having a contract with that owner may petition the district court for the county in which the property or a part of it is located for an order canceling the lien.

B. Upon the filing of the petition, the district court judge shall examine the lien claimant's recorded demands and determine an amount sufficient to satisfy the recorded demands and any other damages, court costs or attorney fees that may be recovered by the lien claimant. Security, in the amount set by the judge and of a type approved by the judge, shall be deposited by the owner of the property or original contractor with the district court conditioned on the payment of any sum found to be validly due to the lien claimant. An owner or original contractor may not provide a single security for the cancellation of the lien of more than one claimant.

C. When the security is deposited under this section, the judge of the district court shall immediately issue an order canceling the lien and shall notify the county clerk with whom the lien was filed. Upon the recording of the order, the county clerk shall mark the filed lien as canceled. When an order is issued under this subsection, the claimant's lien attaches to the security and is enforceable as to the security in the district court in which it is deposited to the same extent as any other lien provided for in Sections 48-2-1 through 48-2-17 NMSA 1978.

History: 1953 Comp., § 61-2-8.1, enacted by Laws 1975, ch. 68, § 1; 2007, ch. 212, § 2.

The 2007 amendment, effective June 15, 2007, provided that the owner of property subject to a lien under 48-2-1 through 48-2-17 NMSA 1978 or an original contractor having a contract with the owner may petition the district court for an order to cancel the lien; that an owner or original contractor may not provide a single security for the cancellation of a lien of more than one claimant; and that when a claimant's lien attaches to security, it is enforceable as provided in 48-2-1 through 48-2-17 NMSA 1978.