A New Mexico affidavit of correction is not one document but several, and the right one depends on what you are fixing. Minor clerical errors in a recorded deed or other real estate instrument use a scrivener’s-error affidavit under Section 47-1-57 NMSA 1978. Errors on a vehicle title go through the Motor Vehicle Division on Form MVD-10019. Birth certificates are amended through the Department of Health, and most marriage record corrections require a district court order. Every version must be notarized, and filing false information on any of them is perjury.1Section 30-25-1 NMSA 1978
Scrivener’s Error Affidavit for Real Estate
Section 47-1-57 created a specific tool for fixing small drafting or clerical mistakes in instruments already recorded with a county clerk. It is not a way to renegotiate a transaction. Substantive changes — price, boundaries, parties, mortgage terms — still require a corrective deed, a deed modification, or a court order.
What Counts as a Scrivener’s Error
The statute lists ten correctable categories:
- Missing words or omissions in a legal description
- An incorrect or misspelled subdivision name
- Wrong recording details for a referenced plat
- Errors in a metes-and-bounds or section description (the affidavit must reference a recorded instrument with the correct description when one exists)
- A misspelled name
- An incorrect or missing middle initial
- A grantor’s or grantee’s address left out
- An incorrect marital status designation
- A missing exhibit or addendum that should have been attached
- The wrong legal type or state of formation for a corporation or other entity
If your error falls outside these ten categories, the scrivener’s-error affidavit will not work.
Who Can Sign It
The statute limits execution to people with professional involvement in the original document. The original buyer and seller are not on the list, and their consent is not required.
- The attorney who prepared the original instrument
- A title insurance company employee who completed the form of the original instrument, or any employee of a licensed title insurer or agent
- A certified or registered land professional who filled in the form or provided the property description
- An attorney who later examined title and found discrepancies that are reasonably apparent as minor clerical errors
For errors on a power of attorney, only the attorney representing the principal or the principal themselves may sign.
What the Affidavit Must Contain
For the county clerk to accept it, the document must include:
- A statement that the affiant has actual knowledge of the facts and is testifying under penalty of perjury
- The name of whoever prepared or was associated with the original instrument
- The names and roles of all parties to the original instrument
- Recording information for the original instrument, including recording date and document number
- A description of each error being corrected
- The correct information that should replace each error
The title of the document must clearly identify it as a “scrivener’s affidavit” or “scrivener’s-error affidavit.” The affiant signs before someone authorized to administer oaths under New Mexico law.
Filing and Effect
The affidavit is recorded in the county where the property sits and indexed under the names of the original parties. Once recorded, it is admissible as evidence to the same extent as a deed or other recorded instrument. The correction is effective as of the date of the original instrument, not the filing date, which preserves the chain of title. The statute sets no deadline, so an error found years later can still be corrected this way.
County clerks charge $25 per document, with an additional $25 for each block of ten or fewer index entries beyond the first ten.2Section 14-8-15 NMSA 1978 Real estate instruments must be recorded in the county where the property is located.3Section 14-9-1 NMSA 1978
Affidavit of Correction for a Vehicle Title
Title errors go through the Motor Vehicle Division, not a county clerk. The MVD uses Form MVD-10019, “Seller’s Affidavit of Correction,” which can correct a New Mexico title, an out-of-state title, or a manufacturer’s statement or certificate of origin being presented for a New Mexico title.
The seller or transferor of the vehicle signs the affidavit. If the error appears on a manufacturer’s document, the dealer signs instead. Having the buyer sign is a disqualifying mistake. The seller’s signature must be notarized, unless the error was witnessed by an MVD agent. The form warns on its face that a false affidavit under the Motor Vehicle Code is perjury under Sections 66-5-38 and 30-25-1, a fourth-degree felony.
The MVD does not print a standard correction fee on the form. Call your local field office for the current amount, and plan to bring the original title along with the completed, notarized affidavit.
Correcting Vital Records
Birth Certificates
Birth certificate amendments are handled by New Mexico Vital Records and Health Statistics, part of the Department of Health, in Santa Fe. A parent, legal guardian, or the registrant (if 18 or older) can apply. A registrant between 14 and 18 must either sign the application personally or give notarized consent before any change is made on their behalf. The affidavit is signed in front of a notary.
Completed documents go to New Mexico Vital Records and Health Statistics, P.O. Box 26110, Santa Fe, NM 87502. The amendment fee is set by Section 24-14-29 NMSA 1978 and includes one certified copy of the amended record. Contact the office for the current dollar amount. A name-spelling fix is straightforward; a full name change or a gender designation amendment involves additional documentation.
Marriage Records
Under Section 40-1-15, if the county clerk’s office made a typographical or data entry error on a marriage document, the clerk can correct or reissue it directly. For any other error, you need a district court order directing the clerk to make the change. There is no simple affidavit path for marriage records the way there is for real estate or titles.
Notarization
Every corrective affidavit in New Mexico must be notarized, with the narrow MVD exception for errors witnessed by an agent. New Mexico’s Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts, in Chapter 14, Article 14A of the NMSA, governs how notaries verify identity and administer oaths. You appear before the notary with valid government-issued ID, swear or affirm the contents are true, and sign in the notary’s presence.
The scrivener’s-error statute specifically requires the affiant to be “sworn to and acknowledged” before someone authorized to administer oaths, and the affidavit must contain a statement that the affiant is testifying under penalty of perjury. Signing at home and then handing the document to a notary for a stamp is invalid. A reputable notary will refuse it.
Penalties for a False Affidavit
Section 30-25-1 defines perjury as knowingly making a false statement under oath or penalty of perjury in the course of an official proceeding. The Motor Vehicle Code, at Section 66-5-38, reinforces this by making any false affidavit required under the Code perjury under Section 30-25-1.
Perjury is a fourth-degree felony. Under Section 31-18-15, a fourth-degree felony carries a basic sentence of 18 months in prison, and the court may impose a fine of up to $5,000. A false affidavit that alters public records can also create civil liability to anyone harmed by the fraudulent correction, such as a later property buyer or a vehicle purchaser who received a falsified title.
Mistakes That Get Filings Rejected
The most common problem is picking the wrong tool: trying to use a scrivener’s-error affidavit for a substantive change, or filing something with the county clerk when the MVD has its own required form. Match the tool to the document and to the type of error.
Incomplete affidavits are the next-biggest issue. For real estate corrections, every item in Section 47-1-57(C) has to be there — recording information for the original instrument, all parties’ names, a description of each error, and the corrected information. Forgetting to label the document as a “scrivener’s affidavit” or “scrivener’s-error affidavit” also violates the statute.
On the MVD side, the seller signs, not the buyer. If the error sits on a manufacturer’s document, the dealer signs. Getting the wrong signature means starting the process over.
And whichever affidavit you are filing, sign it in front of the notary. Bring your government-issued ID to the appointment and sign there.