2019 New Mexico Statutes
Chapter 59A - Insurance Code
Article 51 - Bail Bondsmen Licensing
Section 59A-51-14 - Denial, suspension, revocation or refusal to continue license.
A. The superintendent may deny, suspend, revoke or refuse to continue any license issued under the Bail Bondsmen Licensing Law for any of the following reasons:
(1) any cause for which issuance of the license could have been refused had it then existed and been known to the superintendent;
(2) a material misstatement, misrepresentation or fraud in obtaining the license;
(3) any violation of the laws of this state relating to bail or the bail bond business;
(4) misappropriation, conversion or unlawful withholding of money belonging to insurers or others and received in the conduct of business under the license;
(5) fraudulent or dishonest practices in the conduct of business under the license;
(6) failure to comply with, or willful violation of, any provision of the Bail Bondsmen Licensing Law or proper order, rule or regulation of the superintendent or any court of this state;
(7) any activity prohibited in Section 59A-51-13 NMSA 1978;
(8) failure or refusal, upon demand, to pay over to any insurer that the licensee represented, any money coming into the licensee's hands belonging to the insurer;
(9) failure to preserve without use and retain separately or to return collateral taken as security on any bond to the principal, indemnitor or depositor of collateral when the principal, indemnitor or depositor is entitled to such collateral;
(10) for knowingly having in the bail bondsman's employ a person whose bail bond business license has been revoked, suspended or denied in this or any other state; or
(11) failure, neglect or refusal to supervise a solicitor's activities on the bail bondsman's behalf.
B. When, in the judgment of the superintendent, the licensee in the conduct of affairs under the license has demonstrated incompetency, untrustworthiness, conduct or practices rendering the licensee unfit to engage in the bail bond business, or making the licensee's continuance in such business detrimental to the public interest, or that the licensee is no longer in good faith engaged in the bail bond business, or that the licensee is guilty of rebating, or offering to rebate the licensee's commissions in the case of limited surety agents or premiums in the case of property bondsmen, and for such reasons is found by the superintendent to be a source of detriment, injury or loss to the public, the superintendent shall revoke or suspend the license.
C. In case of the suspension or revocation of license of any bail bondsman, the license of any or all other bail bondsmen who are members of the same agency and any or all solicitors employed by such agency, who knowingly were parties to the act that formed the ground for the suspension or revocation shall likewise be suspended or revoked, except for the purpose of completing pending matters, and those persons who knowingly were parties to the act are prohibited from being licensed as a member of or bail bondsman or solicitor for some other agency.
D. No license under the Bail Bondsmen Licensing Law shall be issued, renewed or permitted to exist when the same is used directly or indirectly to circumvent the provisions of the Bail Bondsmen Licensing Law.
History: Laws 1984, ch. 127, § 941; 2003, ch. 202, § 14; 2005, ch. 259, § 4; 2014, ch. 21, § 7.
ANNOTATIONSThe 2014 amendment, effective May 21, 2014, eliminated the conviction of a felony as a ground for denying, suspending, revoking or refusing to continue a license; in Subsection A, deleted former Paragraph (4) which provided that the superintendent could deny, suspend, revoke or refuse to continue a license if the applicant or licensee were convicted of any felony, regardless of whether the conviction resulted from conduct related to the bail bond business; and in Subsection B, after "surety agents or premiums in the case of", deleted "professional" and added "property".
The 2005 amendment, effective April 6, 2005, added Subsection A(3), (4), and (8) to provide grounds upon which a license may be denied, suspended, revoked or discontinued; provided in Subsection A(7) that a license may be denied, suspended, revoked or discontinued for willful violation of any order of any court of this state; deleted former Subsection A(7), which provided that a license could be denied, suspended, revoked or discontinued for willful failure to return collateral security to the principal when the principal is entitled to the security; and added Subsection A(10) to provide that a license may be denied, suspended, revoked or discontinued for failure to preserve without use and retain separately or to return collateral security to a person who is entitled to the security.
The 2003 amendment, effective June 20, 2003, substituted "Chapter 59A, Article 51 NMSA 1978" for "this article" following "license issued under" in Subsections A and D; substituted "willful" for "wilful" in Paragraphs A(5), (7) and (9); and deleted Subsection E which read: "The Uniform Licensing Act [61-1-1 to 61-1-31 NMSA 1978] shall apply with regard to the procedure for denial, revocation, suspension or refusal to continue a license pursuant to this article."
