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HOUSE BILL 574
57
TH LEGISLATURE
-
STATE
OF
NEW
MEXICO
-
FIRST SESSION
,
2025
INTRODUCED BY
Yanira Gurrola and Sarah Silva and Raymundo Lara
AN ACT
RELATING TO UNFAIR BUSINESS PRACTICES; AMENDING THE UNFAIR
PRACTICES ACT; ADDING PROVIDING IMMIGRATION CONSULTATIONS OR
SERVICES WITHOUT HOLDING A LICENSE TO PRACTICE LAW OR WITHOUT
BEING UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF A LICENSED ATTORNEY, INCLUDING
HOLDING ONESELF OUT AS A "NOTARIO" OR "NOTARIO PUBLICO", TO THE
DEFINITION OF "UNFAIR OR DECEPTIVE TRADE PRACTICE".
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
SECTION 1. Section 57-12-2 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1967,
Chapter 268, Section 2, as amended) is amended to read:
"57-12-2. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Unfair Practices
Act:
A. "person" means, where applicable, natural
persons, corporations, trusts, partnerships, associations,
cooperative associations, clubs, companies, firms, joint
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ventures or syndicates;
B. "seller-initiated telephone sale" means a sale,
lease or rental of goods or services in which the seller or the
seller's representative solicits the sale by telephoning the
prospective purchaser and in which the sale is consummated
entirely by telephone or mail, but does not include a
transaction:
(1) in which a person solicits a sale from a
prospective purchaser who has previously made an authorized
purchase from the seller's business; or
(2) in which the purchaser is accorded the
right of rescission by the provisions of the federal Consumer
Credit Protection Act, 15 U.S.C. 1635, or regulations issued
pursuant thereto;
C. "trade" or "commerce" includes the advertising,
offering for sale or distribution of any services and any
property and any other article, commodity or thing of value,
including any trade or commerce directly or indirectly
affecting the people of this state;
D. "unfair or deceptive trade practice" means an
act specifically declared unlawful pursuant to the Unfair
Practices Act, a false or misleading oral or written statement,
visual description or other representation of any kind
knowingly made in connection with the sale, lease, rental or
loan of goods or services or in the extension of credit or in
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the collection of debts by a person in the regular course of
the person's trade or commerce, that may, tends to or does
deceive or mislead any person and includes:
(1) representing goods or services as those of
another when the goods or services are not the goods or
services of another;
(2) causing confusion or misunderstanding as
to the source, sponsorship, approval or certification of goods
or services;
(3) causing confusion or misunderstanding as
to affiliation, connection or association with or certification
by another;
(4) using deceptive representations or
designations of geographic origin in connection with goods or
services;
(5) representing that goods or services have
sponsorship, approval, characteristics, ingredients, uses,
benefits or quantities that they do not have or that a person
has a sponsorship, approval, status, affiliation or connection
that the person does not have;
(6) representing that goods are original or
new if they are deteriorated, altered, reconditioned,
reclaimed, used or secondhand;
(7) representing that goods or services are of
a particular standard, quality or grade or that goods are of a
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particular style or model if they are of another;
(8) disparaging the goods, services or
business of another by false or misleading representations;
(9) offering goods or services with intent not
to supply them in the quantity requested by the prospective
buyer to the extent of the stock available, unless the
purchaser is purchasing for resale;
(10) offering goods or services with intent
not to supply reasonable expectable public demand;
(11) making false or misleading statements of
fact concerning the price of goods or services, the prices of
competitors or one's own price at a past or future time or the
reasons for, existence of or amounts of price reduction;
(12) making false or misleading statements of
fact for the purpose of obtaining appointments for the
demonstration, exhibition or other sales presentation of goods
or services;
(13) packaging goods for sale in a container
that bears a trademark or trade name identified with goods
formerly packaged in the container, without authorization,
unless the container is labeled or marked to disclaim a
connection between the contents and the trademark or trade
name;
(14) using exaggeration, innuendo or ambiguity
as to a material fact or failing to state a material fact if
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doing so deceives or tends to deceive;
(15) stating that a transaction involves
rights, remedies or obligations that it does not involve;
(16) stating that services, replacements or
repairs are needed if they are not needed;
(17) failing to deliver the quality or
quantity of goods or services contracted for;
(18) violating the Tobacco Escrow Fund Act;
[or]
(19) providing immigration consultations or
services without holding a license to practice law or without
being under the supervision of a licensed attorney, including
holding oneself out as a "notario" or "notario publico" in
violation of Subsection C of Section 14-14A-24 NMSA 1978; or
[(19)] (20) offering or providing unposted or
unadvertised pricing or service based on the buyer's gender or
perceived gender identity; provided, however, that this
provision does not apply to persons regulated by the office of
superintendent of insurance pursuant to the New Mexico
Insurance Code; and
E. "unconscionable trade practice" means an act or
practice in connection with the sale, lease, rental or loan, or
in connection with the offering for sale, lease, rental or
loan, of any goods or services, including services provided by
licensed professionals, or in the extension of credit or in the
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collection of debts that to a person's detriment:
(1) takes advantage of the lack of knowledge,
ability, experience or capacity of a person to a grossly unfair
degree; or
(2) results in a gross disparity between the
value received by a person and the price paid."
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