2019 New Mexico Statutes
Chapter 58 - Financial Institutions and Regulations
Article 7 - Installment Loans
Section 58-7-8 - Penalties and forfeitures. (Effective January 1, 2020.)

A. Any person willfully violating any of the provisions of the New Mexico Bank Installment Loan Act of 1959 is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be fined not less than one hundred dollars ($100) or more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) or imprisoned for not more than six months or both, in the discretion of the court. A contract or loan in the making or collection of which an act is done that violates Section 58-7-6 or 58-7-7 NMSA 1978 is void and the lender has no right to collect, receive or retain any interest or charges whatsoever. A lender may not collect the principal of a loan if the lender has violated Subsection A of Section 58-15-3 NMSA 1978, or knowingly violated the provisions of Section 58-7-6 or 58-7-7 NMSA 1978.

B. The taking, receiving or reserving of a rate of charge, discount or advantage greater than allowed by the New Mexico Bank Installment Loan Act of 1959, when knowingly done, is deemed a forfeiture of the entire amount of the rate of charge or advantage that the note, bill or other evidence of debt carries with it or that has been agreed to be paid on it. In case the greater rate of charge has been paid, the person by whom it has been paid or the person's legal representatives may recover by civil action twice the amount of the rate of charge paid from the person taking or receiving it, provided that the action is commenced within two years from the time the transaction occurred.

C. A violation of a provision of the New Mexico Bank Installment Loan Act of 1959 that constitutes either an unfair or deceptive trade practice or an unconscionable trade practice pursuant to Section 57-12-2 NMSA 1978 is actionable pursuant to the Unfair Practices Act.

History: 1953 Comp., § 48-21-9, enacted by Laws 1959, ch. 327, § 9; 2017, ch. 110, § 7; 2019, ch. 201, § 4.

The 2019 amendment, effective January 1, 2020, provided penalties for violations of certain provisions of the New Mexico Bank Installment Loan Act of 1959 and the New Mexico Small Loan Act of 1955, and provided that certain violations of the New Mexico Bank Installment Loan Act of 1959 are also actionable pursuant to the Unfair Practices Act; in Subsection A, added "A contract or loan in the making or collection of which an act is done that violates Section 58-7-6 or 58-7-7 NMSA 1978 is void and the lender has no right to collect, receive or retain any interest or charges whatsoever. A lender may not collect the principal of a loan if the lender has violated Subsection A of Section 58-15-3 NMSA 1978, or knowingly violated the provisions of Section 58-7-6 or 58-7-7 NMSA 1978."; and in Subsection C, after "1959", deleted "which violation consists of a false or misleading oral or written representation of any kind knowingly made in the extension of credit that may, tends to or does deceive or mislead any person to whom the extension of credit is made" and added "that", and after "trade practice", added "or an unconscionable trade practice pursuant to Section 57-12-2 NMSA 1978 is actionable".

Applicability. — Laws 2019, ch. 201, § 17 provided that the provisions of this act apply to loans subject to the New Mexico Small Loan Act of 1955 and the New Mexico Bank Installment Loan Act of 1959 that are executed on or after January 1, 2020.