New Mexico Pawnbrokers Act

New Mexico Statutes Annotated 
Chapter 56. Commercial Instruments and Transactions
Article 12. Pawnbrokers
§ 56-12-3. Purpose
§ 56-12-4. Permits required; inspection fee; penalty
§ 56-12-5. Administration; applicability of other laws
§ 56-12-6. Pawnbroker; bond required
§ 56-12-7. Application for permit; requirements
§ 56-12-8. Suspension or revocation of permit; notice; hearing
§ 56-12-10. Pawn ticket
§ 56-12-11. Default; disposition of pledged property
§ 56-12-12. Record of disposition of pledged property
§ 56-12-13. Pawn service charge
§ 56-12-14. Prohibited practices
§ 56-12-15. General penalties
§ 56-12-16. Forfeiture

§ 56-12-3. Purpose

The purpose of the Pawnbrokers Act is to:
A. prevent frauds, unfair practices, discriminations against, impositions on or abuses of the citizens of New Mexico;
B. exercise the police power of the state to insure a sound system of making pawn transactions and acquiring and disposing of tangible personal property by and through pawnshops and to prevent unlawful pawn transactions, particularly in stolen property, through regulating pawnbrokers and certain persons employed by or in pawnshops;
C. ensure financial responsibility to the state and to the public;
D. ensure compliance with federal, state and local laws, rules, regulations and ordinances;
E. assist local governments in the exercise of their police power; and
F. to protect from exploitation, abuse or its own improvidence that segment of society in this state which relies from time to time for its need upon money or credit extended by pawnbrokers and given upon the security of native art, handicraft or movable personal possessions.

§ 56-12-4. Permits required; inspection fee; penalty

A. In addition to any occupational or other license required by the local government, every pawnbroker shall obtain a pawnbroker permit from his local government, and that permit shall be conspicuously displayed in the pawnbroker's place of business. Said permit will expire on July 1 of each year and must be renewed by that date. Upon obtaining the permit, every pawnbroker shall register with the local law enforcement agency.
B. The local government may impose upon pawnbrokers a pawnbroker permit fee, in an amount to be set by the local government, to cover the expense of administration of the Pawnbrokers Act. No person who has been convicted of a felony shall be eligible for a permit.
C. Doing business as a pawnbroker without a permit constitutes a violation of this section and is subject to the general penalty provisions of the Pawnbrokers Act.

§ 56-12-5. Administration; applicability of other laws

A. The local government shall adopt such rules and regulations as necessary for the equitable administration of the Pawnbrokers Act.
B. Nothing in the Pawnbrokers Act shall be construed to prohibit a local government from enacting additional requirements governing pawnbrokers, not inconsistent with that act.

§ 56-12-6. Pawnbroker; bond required

No person shall engage in business as a pawnbroker without having executed and delivered a bond to his local government in the sum of five thousand dollars ($5,000). The bond shall be in a form approved by the local government and shall be conditioned upon the conduct of the pawnbroker's business according to the provisions of the Pawnbrokers Act. The bond shall be for the benefit of each and every person damaged by a breach of any condition set forth in the bond. Every pawnbroker shall provide the local government with thirty days' notice in writing of the cancellation of the bond.

§ 56-12-7. Application for permit; requirements

A. Each application for an original or a renewal permit shall be submitted in writing to the local government and contain such information as is required by the local government and be accompanied by the applicable permit fee amount.
B. Each application shall be accompanied by the name, social security number, address and date of birth of each agent, servant and employee of the applicant engaged in the business of pawn transactions. Changes in such list must be indicated on each renewal application.
C. Every pawnbroker shall furnish with each application for an original or renewal permit proof of execution and delivery of the bond to the local government.

§ 56-12-8. Suspension or revocation of permit; notice; hearing

A. The local government authority may institute proceedings for the suspension or revocation of any permit issued pursuant to the Pawnbrokers Act upon the filing of a written complaint by the local law enforcement agency, the designated representative of that local law enforcement agency or the attorney general, charging the permit holder or an employee thereof, of having violated any provision of the Pawnbrokers Act.
B. The local government authority shall serve written notice upon the permitholder of the alleged violation. The notice requirement is satisfied if personal service of the notice is had upon the holder of the permit or is posted in a conspicuous place upon the permitholder's place of business.
C. The local government authority shall set a date for hearing on the complaint not more than ten days, nor less than five days, after the date of notice unless waived by all parties thereto. The notice provided for in Subsection B of this section shall specify the date and time of the hearing.
D. The permitholder and any other interested person shall have the right to appear at this administrative hearing and to produce evidence. The rules of evidence shall not apply. If, after holding this hearing, the local government authority determines that the permitholder is in violation of the provisions of the Pawnbrokers Act as charged in the complaint, the local government authority shall issue a written order. The order may suspend the permit for a stated period of time or permanently revoke the permit. The local government authority shall cause such order to be served upon the permitholder and filed in the office of the clerk for public inspection within five business days after the hearing. Service of the order on the permitholder shall be as specified in Subsection B of this section, and the official serving the order shall have the authority to remove the permit from the premises and deliver that permit to the local government authority. This hearing shall be the final administrative remedy.

§ 56-12-10. Pawn ticket

A. Every pawnbroker shall at the time of each pawn transaction deliver to the person pawning any good, a ticket signed by the pawnbroker containing the substance of the entry required to be made in his report pursuant to Section 9 of the Pawnbrokers Act.
B. The holder of such ticket shall be presumed to be the person entitled to redeem the pledge and the pawnbroker shall deliver such article to the person so presenting such ticket on payment of principal and all lawful charges.
C. The pawn ticket required by this section shall further contain all disclosures of credit terms required to be disclosed to the pledgor by the federal Truth in Lending Act.1

§ 56-12-11. Default; disposition of pledged property

A. Except as otherwise specified in this section, upon default by the pledgor, the pawnbroker shall comply with the requirements of Chapter 55, Article 9 NMSA 1978 in the disposition of the pledged goods.
B. If there is a conflict between a specific provision of the Pawnbrokers Act and a more general provision of Chapter 55, Article 9 NMSA 1978, the more specific provision of the Pawnbrokers Act shall control.
C. Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsection A of this section, the pawnbroker shall not dispose of the pledged property, except by redemption, until at least ninety days after the indebtedness has become due.
D. Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsection A of this section, if the pawnbroker disposes of the pledged property by sale in the regular course of business, such sale shall conform to the requirements of Chapter 55, Article 9 NMSA 1978 and, if a surplus remains after sale of the pledged property, the pawnbroker shall make a record of the sale and the amount of the surplus and notify the pledgor by first class mail sent to the pledgor's last known address of the amount of the surplus and the pledgor's right to claim it at a specified location within ninety days of the date of mailing of the notice if the surplus is one hundred dollars ($100) or less or within twelve months of the date of mailing of the notice if the surplus is greater than one hundred dollars ($100). In the event that the first class mail addressed to any person is returned unclaimed to the pawnbroker, then the pawnbroker shall post and maintain on a conspicuous public part of the pawnbroker's premises an appropriately entitled list naming each such person. Ninety days or twelve months, as applicable, after the date of the mailing or posting, whichever is later, the pawnbroker may retain any surplus remaining unclaimed by the pledgor as the pawnbroker's own property.

§ 56-12-12. Record of disposition of pledged property

Every pawnbroker shall keep a permanent record, fully itemized, of all pledged property disposed of following default by the pledgor. The record shall include the following:
A. the number of the pawn transaction;
B. the name and address of the pledgor;
C. the date of the pawn transaction and the date of the last payment received as service charge or on principal;
D. the date of disposition of the pledged property pursuant to Section 11 of the Pawnbrokers Act;
E. the method of disposition of the pledged property; and
F. the amount and disposition of any surplus following disposition of the pledged property.

§ 56-12-13. Pawn service charge

A. For the first thirty-day period of the pawn transaction, a pawnbroker may charge seven dollars fifty cents ($7.50) or ten percent of the amount loaned, whichever is greater, provided that such charge shall not be made on the refinancing of an existing loan or credit transaction. A loan or extension of credit shall be considered to be refinancing of an existing loan if any part of the proceeds of the subsequent loan is applied toward the payment of a prior loan with the same pawnbroker.
B. For the remaining period of the pawn transaction, including any refinancing, no pawnbroker shall charge directly, indirectly or by any subterfuge a pawn service charge in connection with any pawn transaction at a rate in excess of four percent per month on the unpaid principal balance of the loan or extension of credit.
C. The foregoing pawn service charges are limiting maximums and nothing herein shall be construed to prohibit a pawnbroker from contracting for or receiving a lesser rate than here established.

§ 56-12-14. Prohibited practices

A pawnbroker shall not:
A. knowingly enter into a pawn transaction with a person under the age of eighteen years or under the influence of alcohol, any narcotic, drug, stimulant or depressant;
B. make any agreement requiring the personal liability of a pledgor in connection with the pawn transaction;
C. accept any waiver, in writing or otherwise, of any right or protection accorded a pledgor under the Pawnbrokers Act;
D. fail to exercise reasonable care to protect pledged goods from loss or damage;
E. fail to return a pledged good to a pledgor upon payment of the full amount due to the pawnbroker on the pawn transaction. In the event a pledged good is lost or damaged while in the possession of the pawnbroker, the pawnbroker shall compensate the pledgor for the reasonable value of the lost or damaged good;
F. make any charge for insurance in connection with a pawn transaction;
G. purchase or otherwise receive any item of property from which the manufacturer's name plate, serial number or identification mark has been obviously defaced, altered, covered or destroyed;
H. purchase or otherwise receive any item of property which the permitholder knows is not lawfully owned by the person offering the same;
I. enter into a pawn transaction in which the unpaid principal balance exceeds two thousand dollars ($2,000); or
J. require that any of the proceeds of any cash loan be spent at the pawnbroker's place of business or in any other manner directed by the pawnbroker.

§ 56-12-15. General penalties

Any permitholder who is found guilty of a violation of any provision of the Pawnbrokers Act shall be guilty of a petty misdemeanor. Any permitholder who violates any provision of the Pawnbrokers Act shall be subject to having his permit revoked or suspended by the local government pursuant to the provisions of Section 8 of the Pawnbrokers Act. Revocation or suspension of such permit will not bar prosecution of the permitholder under the penal provisions of the Pawnbrokers Act. Criminal prosecution will not bar proceedings to revoke or suspend the holder's permit.

§ 56-12-16. Forfeiture

The violation of any provision of the Pawnbrokers Act in any covered transaction shall be deemed a forfeiture of the entire amount of the pawn service charge contracted for or allowable under the transaction. In the event a pawn service charge in excess of the amounts allowable under the Pawnbrokers Act has been paid in any covered transaction, the person by whom it has been paid, or has1 legal representative, may recover back by civil action triple the amount of service charge paid. Any civil action under this section shall be commenced within two years from the date the usurious transaction was consummated.

N.M. Stat. Ann. §§ 56-12-3 - 56-12-16