Otero County, NM Short-Term Rentals: Taxes & Fees (2026)

Otero County treats short-term rental platforms as marketplace providers under its Lodger's Tax Ordinance, Otero County Code §§ 205-63 through 205-83. Section 205-65 defines a marketplace provider as anyone who advertises lodging online, by catalog, or by broadcast and who collects payment from the guest and transmits it to the owner, whether or not the platform earns a fee for that service. Section 205-70.B requires every marketplace provider facilitating rentals in the unincorporated county to coordinate with Otero County on the policies and procedures for collecting and remitting the occupancy tax for each property that uses its service, and to keep adequate records of the rentals and proceeds in a form the county can access and inspect during reasonable hours with reasonable notice for three years.

Individual vendors carry the same three-year record duty under § 205-70.A. If a vendor or the marketplace provider it uses fails to remit tax collected, or fails to collect the tax at all, § 205-71.A makes the vendor personally liable for the unpaid tax plus a civil penalty equal to the greater of 10% of the amount not remitted or $100. The County Manager mails the delinquent vendor written notice, and if payment does not arrive within 15 days of that notice, § 205-71.B lets the county sue in district court for the tax, penalties, interest of up to 1% a month, and its collection costs and attorney fees.

Section 205-71.C also makes the unpaid occupancy tax a lien on the vendor's real and personal property in Otero County, recorded from the filing date.