Manzano Industries, Inc. v. Mathis, 101 N.M. 104, 678 P.2d 1179 (N.M. 1984)

Legal information, not legal advice. Verify against the cited opinion.

  • Citation: 101 N.M. 104, 678 P.2d 1179 (1984)
  • Court / Year: Supreme Court of New Mexico, 1984
  • Topic tags: forfeiture · remedies
  • Facts: A real estate contract dispute in which the buyer had paid a large down payment and then defaulted; the buyer urged that forfeiting the down payment was unconscionable.
  • Holding: Forfeiture enforced. The forfeiture of a large down payment does not shock the conscience of the court in every case; the amount of the forfeited down payment is only one factor for the trial court to weigh.
  • Reasoning: Applies the equitable shock-the-conscience standard but declines to make a sizable down payment automatically determinative; the trial court has discretion weighing all the equitable factors.
  • Practical impact for CFD operators/buyers: The “forfeiture-enforced” counterweight to Huckins; later quoted in Russell and Buckingham for the proposition that a large down payment alone is not dispositive.
  • Good-law status: Good law; cited in Russell and Buckingham.
  • Source (retrieved): https://static.case.law/nm/101/cases/0104-01.json · Verified: 2026-06-08

Jurisdictions that follow / cite: new-mexico


Disclaimer. Legal information, not legal advice. Confirm the opinion is still good law before relying on it.