To be effective, all instructions to NM Escrow and amendments to those instructions, must be in writing, and signed by the party making the request. If the instruction or amendment requires the agreement of the other party to a contract, then such signature(s) must be included. 

New instructions that result in changes to the amounts that NM Escrow is to receive or disburse may not be made unless received by NM Escrow at least 10 days prior to the requested effective date of the change. Untimely change requests will be made for the next payment.

Unless otherwise stated in the contract, interest shall be computed on the unpaid balance to the date the payment is received by NM Escrow and will begin accruing upon the effective date of the contract.

NM Escrow assumes no liability for the legal efficacy or validity of any escrowed contract or document. Further, NM Escrow makes no warranties or representations and offers no opinion about the title ostensibly conveyed or received, rights of lien holders, or any matter affecting the interest of the parties in and to the subject-matter of the escrow. The parties to any escrowed contract or document should consult with their respective legal counsel, title company, accountant and/or other applicable professional regarding these matters.

Payments may be made by “Pay by Web” or “Autopay” (see below). You can phone NM Escrow to assist with a “Pay by Web”  payment.  See below for more information.  Payments may also be made by personal check, or with certified funds (e.g., money order, bank check). We do not except cash.  For prompt processing, any payment made that exceeds $5,000.00 must be made with certified funds. If a payment in excess of $5,000.00 is made by personal check, no funds will be disbursed until the check has “cleared” the financial institution on which it was drawn. 

Payoffs can be made by “Pay-by-Web”, certified funds (e.g. money order or bank check), or by check drawn on a New Mexico Title Company trust account.  Payoffs cannot be made by other payment types (e.g. personal checks, cash).  A payoff quote is valid for a maximum of 30 days.  The payoff quote includes interest through the "Payoff date" on the payoff quote.  If a payoff is remitted after the "Payoff date" the buyer must add interest for each day through the date of payment.  The payoff quote will be carefully reviewed but is not guaranteed. We have the right to provide a corrected payoff at any time.  If either party believes the payoff quote may be incorrect, contact us immediately.  Buyer is responsible for payment in full of the obligation before documents held by New Mexico Escrow Solutions will be released.  To be valid, a payoff quote must be hand-signed (not electronic) by an authorized employee of New Mexico Escrow Solutions.

If the escrowed contract requires NM Escrow to impound a portion of the funds received for the payment of property taxes and/or insurance premium, NM Escrow must receive from the parties a copy of the current annual tax bill and/or current insurance premium bill for these payments to be made. The parties to the escrowed contract are solely responsible to ensure that the current tax bill and/or current insurance premium bill is/are delivered to NM Escrow at least 30 days prior to the due date(s) for such payment(s). NM Escrow will send an email confirming receipt of the bill(s) to the parties. The parties must retain the confirmatory email to prove receipt by NM Escrow. The parties must notify NM Escrow if a confirmatory email has not been received within 10 days after submitting the bill(s). Failure to provide and confirm receipt of the bill(s) in a timely manner may result in penalties and/or policy cancellations for which NM Escrow is not  responsible. 

IRS regulations and NM Escrow on-line account services depend on accurate Tax Identification Numbers (TINs) from the parties. IRS regulations require NM Escrow to collect TINs from buyers on Real Estate Contracts, Mortgages and other interest-bearing instruments. Buyer’s failure to provide NM Escrow with correct Name and TIN information will result in NM Escrow charging Buyer for each written request for that information according to NM Escrow’s current fee schedule. To use NM Escrow’s on-line account services, TINs entered by Seller and Buyer must match TINs entered by NM Escrow. Failure to provide NM Escrow with accurate TINs will prevent access to on-line services. Buyer’s failure to provide an accurate Name TIN delay  NM Escrow’s release of escrowed documents until correct Name and TIN information has been provided.    

NM Escrow charges and collects fees according to NM Escrow’s Fee Schedule, posted on-line at www.nmescrow.com. NM Escrow reserves the right to amend such Fee Schedule at any time by sending written notice at least thirty (30) days’ prior to the effective date of the change. NM Escrow’s fees will be collected according to the escrowed documents. In the absence of instructions for the collection of NM Escrow’s fees in the escrowed documents, fees will be collected from seller’s funds or, if Seller’s funds are insufficient, Buyer shall be responsible to pay the fees with their next payment. At NM Escrow’s discretion, unpaid fees may subject to a special handling fee, invoiced to the responsible party(ies), and/or added to close-out fees. At the time of close-out, all fees due NM Escrow must be paid prior to release of escrowed documents.  

All payments will be deemed provisionally accepted when tendered, subject to validation by NM Escrow of the readiness of funds and the correct payment amount and timeliness.

Disbursements are made as determined by the escrowed contract or, depending on the nature of the disbursement, by written instructions signed by Seller or by all parties to the contract.

Checks returned for insufficient funds or otherwise rejected will be subject to NSF Fees in accordance with NM Escrow’s Fee Schedule. After two dishonored checks, NM Escrow reserves the right to require that all subsequent payments be made by certified funds. If Buyer’s check is dishonored, and NM Escrow is unable to recover funds from Buyer, Seller will be required to reimburse NM Escrow for the amount of the dishonored check.  

Autopay is a service that allows the Buyer to choose a set day for automatic payments to be drawn each month from the Buyer’s account. A form on NM Escrow’s website must be completed, signed and returned to NM Escrow to start Autopay. Cancellation of Autopay must be done in writing at least 10 days prior to the next scheduled draw date. Autopay payments are ACH transactions that must comply with the applicable law. Elsewhere in this Policy is more information about ACH transactions. 

Pay-by-Web is a one-time payment option that Buyers can access through NM Escrow’s website. This one-time payment option must be initiated by Buyers and can be repeated as needed. Autopay payments are ACH transactions that must comply with the applicable law. Elsewhere in this Policy is more information about ACH transactions.   

When a payment by ACH is scheduled on a weekend or holiday, the payment may be initiated on the next business day. Because an ACH payment is an electronic transaction, the funds may be withdrawn from the Buyer’s account as soon as the same or next business day. If an ACH payment from the Buyer to NM Escrow is rejected for Non-Sufficient Funds (NSF), NM Escrow may at its discretion attempt to process the payment again at any time within 30 days. Buyer agrees to an additional charge as set forth in NM Escrow’s Fee Schedule for each attempt by NM Escrow to process the payment. A Buyer must not dispute ACH payments with their financial institution so long as Buyer authorized the original payment and the terms of this Policy are met.  If a collection agency and/or law firm is engaged by NM Escrow to collect from Buyer an unsatisfied ACH payment, Buyer will be liable for the payment and all costs of collection, including legal fees.

Seller must forward any notice of changes to the underlying mortgage(s) or other underlying encumbrance(s) to NM Escrow within 10 days of receipt. Such changes include but are not necessarily limited to (1) changes in the identity of, and payment instructions for, the mortgagee (i.e., financial institution #1 sells the mortgage and note to financial institution #2) and (2) changes in the amount of the mortgage payment. Failure to forward notification of such changes to NM Escrow may result in late charges and shortage of the escrowed contract and underlying encumbrances or default. NM Escrow is not responsible for any late charges, shortages, default or additional damages that may result from Seller’s failure to timely notify NM Escrow of such changes. 

NM Escrow may resign as the parties’ escrow company by giving at least sixty (60) days’ prior written notice of its intent to resign.  The parties will then mutually select a successor escrow company and give written notice to NM Escrow of such selection before the expiration of NM Escrow’s 60-day notice of intent to resign. If the parties fail, for any reason, to mutually select a successor escrow company and give NM Escrow timely written notice of such selection, then NM Escrow may select the successor escrow company for the parties. Delivery by NM Escrow to the successor escrow company of all documents and funds held by NM Escrow, net of  fees and expenses due to NM Escrow, shall relieve NM Escrow of all liability and responsibility for acts or omissions occurring after the date of the transfer of the escrowed documents and/or funds to the new escrow company and/or subject matter of the escrow.

NM Escrow will provide a full statement of the escrow account, setting forth credits to principal and interest for the period and other information requested within 14 days of a written request made by a party to the escrow agreement.

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Within 10 days following a buyer depositing the final payment on an account, NM Escrow will send a final statement of account to the seller and buyer, which statement will include the following:

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(1) the names of the parties on the account;

(2) the address or legal description of real property or a definitive description of the property if it is not real property;

(3) a statement that the account was paid in full;

(4) the amount of the final payment;

(5) the date that the final payment was deposited with NM Escrow; and

(6) the date that the final payment was or is expected to be disbursed by the NM Escrow. NM Escrow will disburse funds within (5) five days of the money becoming available to NM Escrow.

If there are inadequate amounts in reserves to cover the required payments, NM Escrow will notify the parties to the agreement. NM Escrow shall not be liable for any damages arising out of NM Escrow's failure to pay expenses from the reserve account if the reserve account has inadequate funds to satisfy the payment(s) due at the time they are due.  

All funds received hereunder shall be deposited into NM Escrow trust account, which may be an interest-bearing account. All interest earned therefrom may be retained by NM Escrow as and for additional consideration for servicing this escrow.

If NM Escrow is collecting a monthly insurance payment, buyers should have paid one-year annual insurance premiums when they entered into the contract.  NM Escrow DOES NOT send payments to the insurance carrier monthly. Instead, monthly insurance payments received from the buyer are collected in an impound account and used to pay the next year’s annual insurance premium when it becomes due. Each year of the Contract, at least 15 days prior to the expiration of the current insurance policy, the buyer must provide NM Escrow with information regarding the renewal of the current policy, or the new policy the buyer intends to obtain, so that NM Escrow is able to timely remit the correct annual premium to the appropriate insurance carrier. NM Escrow WILL NOT automatically renew the policy with the current insurance carrier, as the buyer may have chosen to change carriers and/or the amount required to effectively renew the policy may not be the same amount as the current year’s premiums.