Chapter 56 — Chapter 56

As used in Chapter 56, Article 1 NMSA 1978, unless the context otherwise requires: A. "goods" means all tangible chattels personal when purchased primarily for personal, family or household use and not for commercial or business use, but not including motor vehicles as defined in…

The attorney general of the state of New Mexico or the district attorney of the district in which the violation occurs may bring an action in the name of the state against any person to restrain and prevent any violation of this act [56-1-1 to 56-1-13 NMSA 1978]. History: 1953 Co…

In the enforcement of this act [56-1-1 to 56-1-13 NMSA 1978], the attorney general of the state of New Mexico or with his consent a district attorney may accept an assurance of discontinuance of any act or practice deemed in violation of this act, from any person engaging in, or …

Any person who violates any order or injunction issued pursuant to this act [56-1-1 to 56-1-13 NMSA 1978] shall forfeit and pay a civil penalty of not more than $1,000. For the purpose of this section, the court issuing any injunction shall retain jurisdiction, and the cause shal…

The provisions of this act [56-1-1 to 56-1-13 NMSA 1978] shall not invalidate or make unlawful retail installment contracts or retail charge agreements executed prior to the effective date hereof. History: 1953 Comp., § 50-16-13, enacted by Laws 1965, ch. 258, § 13.

payments; prohibition against repossession of merchandise under agreement when paid for. A. Payments made on retail charges agreements, open-end contracts or similar types of add-on retail sales agreements shall be first applied to the purchases earliest in time. The payments sha…

compliance with this act. Any creditor engaging in transactions subject to the provisions of this act, who complies with 15 United States Code, [§§] 1601 through 1665, and the regulations promulgated pursuant thereto, shall be deemed to have complied with applicable provisions of…

A retail installment contract for the purchase of a mobile home may provide that the rate of time price differential may be adjusted at stated intervals, in which case the retail installment contract shall be subject to the following provisions: A. adjustments in the rate charged…

paid. A. Each retail installment contract shall be in writing, dated, signed by the retail buyer, and completed as to all essential provisions, except as otherwise provided in Subsections G and H of this section. B. The printed or typed portion of the contract, other than instruc…

ANNOTATIONS Repeals. — Laws 1981, ch. 263, § 4, repealed 56-1-2.1 NMSA 1978, as enacted by Laws 1981, ch. 186, § 2, relating to the maximum time price differential in retail installment contracts, effective July 1, 1981. For present provisions, see 56-1-2 NMSA 1978. Compiler's no…

A. Each retail charge agreement shall be in writing and signed by the buyer. A copy of any such agreement executed on or after the effective date of this act shall be delivered or mailed to the buyer prior to the date on which the first payment is due thereunder. Any acknowledgme…

ANNOTATIONS Repeals. — Laws 1981, ch. 263, § 4, repealed 56-1-3.1 NMSA 1978, as enacted by Laws 1981, ch. 186, § 4, relating to the maximum time price differential in retail charge agreements, effective July 1, 1981. For present provisions, see 56-1-3 NMSA 1978. Compiler's notes.…

If the cost of insurance is included in the retail installment contract or the retail charge agreement and a separate charge is made to the buyer for the insurance: A. the contract or agreement must state the nature, purpose and amount of the insurance; B. the contract or agreeme…

No retail installment contract or retail charge agreement shall contain any provision by which: A. in the absence of the buyer's default in the performance of any of his obligations, the holder may accelerate the maturity of any part or all of the amount owing thereunder; B. a po…

Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law: A. an assignee may purchase or acquire or agree to purchase or acquire any retail installment contract or retail charge agreement or any outstanding balance under either from a seller on such terms and conditions and for such price…

No act or agreement of the retail buyer before or at the time of the making of a retail installment contract, retail charge agreement or purchase thereunder shall constitute a valid waiver of any of the provisions of this act [56-1-1 to 56-1-13 NMSA 1978] or of any remedies grant…

Any person who wilfully [willfully] and intentionally violates any provision of this act [56-1-1 to 56-1-13 NMSA 1978] shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. Violation of any order or injunction issued pursuant to this act shall constitute prima facie proof of a violation of this sect…

Any seller who enters into any contract or agreement which does not comply with the provisions of this act [56-1-1 to 56-1-13 NMSA 1978] or who violates any provision of this act except as a result of an accidental or bona fide error shall be barred from the recovery of any time …

As used in this act [56-2-1 to 56-2-4 NMSA 1978]: A. "person" means an individual, partnership, corporation and association; B. "debt adjuster" means a person who acts or offers to act for a consideration as an intermediary between a debtor and his creditors for the purpose of se…

Any person who shall hereafter act or offer to act as a debt adjuster in this state shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. History: 1953 Comp., § 50-17-2, enacted by Laws 1965, ch. 80, § 2.

Courts of record shall have power, in an action brought in the name of the state by the attorney general, to enjoin any person from acting or offering to act as a debt adjuster; and, in such action, may appoint a receiver for the property and money employed in the transaction of …

The following persons shall not be deemed debt adjusters for the purposes of this act [56-2-1 to 56-2-4 NMSA 1978]: any attorney-at-law admitted to practice in this state; any person who is a regular, full-time employee of a debtor, and who acts as an adjuster of his employer's d…

As used in this act [56-3-1 to 56-3-6 NMSA 1978]: A. "credit bureau" means any business engaged in furnishing credit information about consumers; and B. "consumer" means any natural person in the general consuming public who seeks or is seeking credit for personal, family or hous…

A. Any credit bureau conducting business in the state shall provide trained personnel to interview and counsel with a consumer, during normal business hours, concerning any information about that consumer contained in the credit bureau's files. B. A credit bureau, upon request, s…

A. A credit bureau may supply identifying information such as names, addresses, former addresses, places of employment and former employment to non credit-granting governmental agencies. B. No other information may be supplied to such governmental agencies, other than as provided…

A. In dealing with businesses, professions and individuals, a credit bureau shall require service contracts to be executed in which the regular subscriber or the occasional user certifies that inquiries shall be made only for the purposes of the granting of credit or other bona f…

A credit bureau which furnishes personnel-reporting service shall adopt rigid safeguards in order that the specialized information developed in the course of such investigations other than credit information shall be maintained separately, and shall not be incorporated in credit …

A. A credit bureau may report the following matters for no longer than the specified periods: (1) bankruptcies of all types for not longer than fourteen years from the date of adjudication of the most recent bankruptcy; (2) accounts placed for collection and accounts charged to p…

A. Any credit bureau or user of information that willfully fails to comply with any requirement of Sections 56-3-1 through 56-3-6 NMSA 1978 with respect to any consumer is liable to that consumer in an amount equal to: (1) any actual damages sustained by the consumer as a result …

It is a fourth-degree felony for: A. any person to knowingly and willfully obtain information on a consumer from a credit bureau under false pretenses; or B. any officer or employee of a credit bureau to knowingly and willfully provide information concerning a consumer from the c…

Chapter 56, Article 3A NMSA 1978 may be cited as the "Fair Credit Reporting and Identity Security Act". History: Laws 2007, ch. 106, § 1; 2010, ch. 54, § 1.

As used in the Fair Credit Reporting and Identity Security Act: A. "consumer" means an individual who is a resident of New Mexico; B. "consumer reporting agency" means any person that, for monetary fees, dues or on a cooperative nonprofit basis, regularly engages in the practice …

A. A consumer may elect to place a security freeze on the consumer's credit report by making a request to a consumer reporting agency by means of certified or regular mail sent to an address designated by the consumer reporting agency, or by means of a telephone or a secure elect…

A. A consumer may file a declaration of removal with a consumer reporting agency operating within New Mexico declaring that the consumer: (1) is the victim of identity theft; (2) is eligible for removal of information reported to or by the consumer reporting agency on the basis o…

At any time that a consumer reporting agency is required to provide the consumer with a summary of rights pursuant to Section 609 of the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, the following notice shall be included: "New Mexico Consumers Have the Right to Obtain a Security Freeze or …

If a consumer reporting agency violates the provisions of the Fair Credit Reporting and Identity Security Act, the affected consumer or the attorney general may bring a civil action against the consumer reporting agency for: A. injunctive relief to prevent further violation of th…

If any part or application of the Fair Credit Reporting and Identity Security Act is held invalid, the remainder or its application to other persons or situations shall not be affected. History: Laws 2007, ch. 106, § 6; 2010, ch. 54, § 7.

This act [56-4-1 to 56-4-4 NMSA 1978] may be cited as the "Credit Card Act". History: 1953 Comp., § 50-19-1, enacted by Laws 1971, ch. 154, § 1.

As used in the Credit Card Act: A. "adequate notice" means a printed notice to a cardholder which sets forth the pertinent facts clearly and conspicuously so that a person against whom it is to operate could reasonably be expected to have noticed it and understood its meaning; no…

No credit card shall be issued except in response to a request or application for it. This prohibition does not apply to the issuance of a credit card in renewal of, or in substitution for, an accepted credit card. History: 1953 Comp., § 50-19-3, enacted by Laws 1971, ch. 154, § …

A person who accepts a credit card from a cardholder shall not issue a receipt that lists more than five numbers from the cardholder's credit card account number. History: Laws 2003, ch. 169, § 4.

A. A cardholder is liable for the unauthorized use of a credit card only if: (1) the card is an accepted credit card; (2) the liability is not in excess of fifty dollars ($50.00); (3) the card issuer has provided the cardholder with a toll-free number or other convenient, no-cost…

Except as provided in the Uniform Commercial Code [Chapter 55 NMSA 1978], notes, bonds, due bills and all instruments in writing, by which the maker promises to pay to another, or order or bearer, a sum of money, or by which the maker promises to pay in property or labor, or to p…

Except as provided in the Uniform Commercial Code [Chapter 55, NMSA 1978], the assignor may discharge himself from liability to the assignee by specifying in the assignment that it is made without recourse. History: Laws 1851-1852, p. 283; C.L. 1865, ch. 14, § 2; C.L. 1884, § 172…

necessary. Except as provided in the Uniform Commercial Code [Chapter 55, NMSA 1978], no contract for labor, or for the payment or delivery of property in which the time of performance is not fixed, can be converted into a money demand until a demand of performance has been made …

Any notary public, who shall willfully issue a false certificate in relation to any note or order protested by him, shall be punished by a fine of not less than twenty dollars [($20.00)] nor more than five hundred dollars [($500)], and shall also be liable for damages to any part…

damages and interest recoverable.] The rate of damage to be allowed and paid upon the nonacceptance or nonpayment of bills of exchange drawn or indorsed in this state, when damage is recoverable, shall be as follows: if the bill be drawn upon a person at a place out of the United…

As used in Sections 56-6-1 through 56-6-11 New Mexico Statutes Annotated, 1978 Compilation: A. words shall have the same meanings as set forth in the Uniform Commercial Code, Article 7 [55-7-101 to 55-7-807 NMSA 1978]; B. "warehouse" means any building, structure or other protect…

The provisions of this act [56-6-1 to 56-6-11 NMSA 1978] shall not apply to any farmer's marketing association whose principal business is that of storing and marketing perishable agricultural products. History: Laws 1941, ch. 145, § 10; 1941 Comp., § 53-910; 1953 Comp., § 50-9-1…

or under $5,000 bond; exception.] No provision of this act [56-6-1 to 56-6-11 NMSA 1978] shall apply to any warehouseman operating under the provisions of the United States Warehouse Act nor to any warehouseman within the state of New Mexico who is under like bond in the amount o…