Albuquerque Alarm Permit: Requirements, $25 Fee, and False Alarm Fines

If you own or rent property in Albuquerque and have a monitored or audible alarm, you need an Albuquerque alarm permit from the city’s False Alarm Reduction Unit. The permit costs $25 a year, covers burglar, hold-up, fire, and panic systems, and must be in place within 60 days of installation.¹

Who Has to Get One

The requirement applies to homeowners, renters, and commercial operators inside city limits. If you rent, the permit is yours, not your landlord’s; the ordinance treats the tenant as the alarm user.¹

Each address is a separate alarm site. Two business locations mean two permits. A fire alarm and a burglar alarm at the same address also need their own permits.

What the Application Asks For

Have this ready before you start:

Your full name, home address, work and cell numbers, and email.
The alarm site address, whether it’s residential or commercial, and whether you own or lease. Renters give the property owner’s name, address, and phone; apartment dwellers add the apartment manager’s contact.
The type of system: intrusion, hold-up, fire, or other.
Two emergency contacts who can reach the property within 30 minutes at any hour, with working phone numbers.
Your alarm company’s name and its city-issued alarm business permit number. If a company installed a new system, the installer’s name and permit number as well.

The alarm business permit number is not a general contractor license. Albuquerque issues a specific permit to companies that install, repair, or monitor alarms, and that’s the number to ask for.²

The $25 Fee and Who Can Skip It

Every alarm user pays $25 a year. No tiers, no refunds.¹

Two groups qualify for a full waiver at a private residence. Residents 65 or older can show a driver’s license or other proof of age. Low-income residents can show a New Mexico EBT card for food stamps, an SSI benefits statement, a TANF EBT card, or a Medicaid health benefit card.¹ Neither waiver applies to commercial property. Apply for the waiver before paying if you think you qualify.

How to Apply

Register online at cabqfaru.citysupport.org. The portal accepts Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express, with a 2.94% processing fee on card transactions, and also accepts ACH debit.³⁴

To apply by mail, send the completed form and a check to the False Alarm Reduction Unit, 400 Roma NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102. Make sure the address on your application matches your property records exactly. Once the city processes the application, you’ll get a permit number. Pass it to your monitoring company so they can confirm you’re active when dispatching a response.

The 60-day window matters. You must submit the application and fee within 60 days of installation.¹ From day 61 forward you’re in violation.

Renewing and Updating Your Information

The permit runs one year. The False Alarm Reduction Unit sends an automatic notice 45 days before renewal, so you don’t have to track the date yourself.⁵ Renewal is another $25.

When any information on file changes, notify the unit within 30 days. A new phone number, a different alarm company, or a new emergency contact all count.¹ Stale emergency contacts cause real problems during a real alarm: if nobody on file can get to the property, the situation escalates.

False Alarm Fees

You get three free false alarms per permit year. After that, the fees start.

Alarms four through ten: $150 per incident for burglar, hold-up, duress, or panic alarms. Fire, smoke, carbon monoxide, and heat alarms cost $300 per incident at a business and $150 at a residence.
After the tenth: an additional $500 fine on top of the per-incident fee.²

The unit sends a notification after every false alarm, including the free ones. Treat those early notices as a signal to service the system before the fees start.⁵

Appealing a False Alarm Charge

If you think a fee was assessed in error, submit a written appeal within 30 days of the notification to the False Alarm Reduction Unit, 400 Roma NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102.⁶

Equipment malfunction and user error are not grounds for appeal. The city’s position is that keeping the system working is the permit holder’s job. An appeal fits better when the responding officer’s report is inaccurate, or when the alarm was triggered by a verifiable outside event you couldn’t control.

What Happens If You Don’t Get a Permit

Operating an alarm without a permit is a petty misdemeanor under the ordinance, punishable by up to $500 and up to 90 days in jail. Each day counts as a separate offense.⁵ Jail is unlikely for a first offense, but the legal exposure is real. Two months of noncompliance is technically 60 offenses. At $25 a year, the permit is the cheapest part of owning an alarm system in Albuquerque.

1
American Legal Publishing. Albuquerque Code of Ordinances 9-3-5 Alarm User Permit Fee Transferability False Statements
2
City of Albuquerque. Alarm Ordinance
3
False Alarm Reduction Unit. False Alarm Reduction Unit – Register My Alarm
4
City of Albuquerque. Alarm Fees and Fines Online Payment
5
City of Albuquerque. False Alarm Reduction Unit Frequently Asked Questions
6
City of Albuquerque. False Alarms Reduction Program