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HOUSE BILL 61
57
TH LEGISLATURE
-
STATE
OF
NEW
MEXICO
-
FIRST SESSION
,
2025
INTRODUCED BY
Christine Chandler
AN ACT
RELATING TO CONSUMER PROTECTION; AMENDING DEFINITIONS IN THE
UNFAIR PRACTICES ACT; INCREASING THE CIVIL PENALTY FOR
VIOLATIONS TO THAT ACT.
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
ventures or syndicates;
B. "seller-initiated telephone sale" means a sale,
lease or rental of goods or services in which the seller or the
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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,
the sale, lease, rent or loan, the offering for sale, lease,
rent or loan, the extension of credit or collection of debts or
the distribution of any services, including services provided
by licensed professionals , [and] any property, tangible or
intangible, real, personal or mixed , 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 or other unfair methods of
competition or unfair or deceptive acts or practices in the
regular course of trade or commerce 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;
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(7) representing that goods or services are of
a particular standard, quality or grade or that goods are of a
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;
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(14) using exaggeration, innuendo or ambiguity
as to a material fact or failing to state a material fact if
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) 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
collection of debts] trade or commerce 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
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degree; or
(2) results in a gross disparity between the
value received by a person and the price paid or value
exchanged."
SECTION 2. Section 57-12-11 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1970,
Chapter 38, Section 2) is amended to read:
"57-12-11. CIVIL PENALTY.--In any action brought under
Section [49-15-7 NMSA 1953 ] 57-12-8 NMSA 1978, if the court
finds that a person is willfully using or has willfully used a
method, act or practice declared unlawful by the Unfair
Practices Act, the attorney general, upon petition to the
court, may recover on behalf of the state [of New Mexico ] a
civil penalty [of] not exceeding [five thousand dollars
($5,000)] ten thousand dollars ($10,000) per violation and an
additional amount not exceeding twenty-five thousand dollars
($25,000) per violation if an unfair or deceptive trade
practice or unconscionable trade practice arises out of a
disaster or state of emergency as declared by a federal, state
or local official. The attorney general may also recover the
costs of investigation and enforcement whenever a court imposes
a civil liability."
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