Opinion ID: 891708
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Completed Exchanges.

Text: {87} The Land Commissioner exceeded the bounds of permitted authority under the Enabling Act by conducting the Stanley Ranch and the UU Bar Ranch exchanges. Section 10 of the Enabling Act provides that [e]very sale, lease, conveyance or contract of or concerning any of the lands hereby granted or confirmed, or the use thereof or the natural products thereof, not made in substantial conformity with the provisions of this Act shall be null and void. . . . Under NMSA 1978, Section 19-7-8 (1912), the Land Commissioner has the power to cancel any lease, contract or other instrument executed by him which shall have been obtained by fraud or executed through mistake or without authority of law. As such, the Stanley Ranch and the UU Bar Ranch exchanges are null and void and must be cancelled. A Writ of Mandamus will issue ordering the Land Commissioner to cancel all documents or other legal instruments purporting to implement these two exchanges including any transfers of title.