New Mexico Fraudulent Telemarketing Act
NM Stat § 30-50-1 - § 30-50-4
NM Stat § 57-12-22
New Mexico Statutes
Chapter 30 - Criminal Offenses
Article 50 - Fraudulent Telemarketing
30-50-1. Short title.
30-50-2. Purpose.
30-50-3. Definitions.
30-50-4. Fraudulent telemarketing; penalties.
30-50-1. Short title.
This act [30-50-1 to 30-50-4 NMSA 1978] may be cited as the "Fraudulent Telemarketing Act".
History: Laws 1995, ch. 37, § 1.
ANNOTATIONS
Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — Validity, construction, and application of state statute or law pertaining to telephone solicitation, 44 A.L.R.5th 619.
30-50-2. Purpose.
The purpose of the Fraudulent Telemarketing Act is to protect consumers from fraudulent telemarketing.
History: Laws 1995, ch. 37, § 2.
30-50-3. Definitions.
As used in the Fraudulent Telemarketing Act:
A. "telemarketing" means:
(1) being employed by or associating with any company, organization, sole proprietorship or economic venture that uses the telephone on a regular basis as a primary instrument to obtain money from the people to whom information is transmitted by telephone communication; or
(2) representing oneself to a person from whom money is requested as being associated with any company, organization, sole proprietorship or economic venture that can be reasonably understood as using the telephone on a regular basis as a primary instrument to obtain money from the people to whom information is transmitted by telephone communication; and
B. "telephone communication" means any communication by words, fax, computer modem, video or other type of transmission that is carried in whole or in part through the local, long distance or cellular telephone network.
History: Laws 1995, ch. 37, § 3.
30-50-4. Fraudulent telemarketing; penalties.
A person who knowingly and willfully engages in telemarketing to or from a telephone located in New Mexico with the intent to embezzle or to obtain money, property or any thing of value by fraudulent pretenses, representations or promises in the course of a telephone communication, when the:
A. money, property or thing has a value of two hundred fifty dollars ($250) or less, is guilty of a petty misdemeanor;
B. money, property or thing has a value of more than two hundred fifty dollars ($250) but not more than five hundred dollars ($500), is guilty of a misdemeanor;
C. money, property or thing has a value of more than five hundred dollars ($500) but not more than two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500), is guilty of a fourth degree felony;
D. money, property or thing has a value of more than two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) but not more than twenty thousand dollars ($20,000), is guilty of a third degree felony; or
E. money, property or thing has a value of more than twenty thousand dollars ($20,000), is guilty of a second degree felony.
History: Laws 1995, ch. 37, § 4; 2006, ch. 29, § 26.
ANNOTATIONS
The 2006 amendment, effective July 1, 2006, in Subsection A, changed the value from less than $250 to $250 or less and changed the crime from a misdemeanor to a petty misdemeanor; in Subsection B, changed the damage from $250 or more, but not more than $2,500, and to more than $250, but not more than $500 and changed the crime from a fourth degree felony to a misdemeanor; added Subsection C to provide that if the value is more than $500, but less than $2,500, the crime is a fourth degree felony; provided in Subsection D (formerly Subsection C) that the value is more than $2,500, but not more than $20,000; deleted the reference to sentencing pursuant to Section 31-19-1 NMSA 1978 in Subsection A; and deleted the reference to sentencing pursuant to Section 31-18-15 NMSA 1978 in Subsections B, D (formerly Subsection C) and E (formerly Subsection D).
NM Stat § 57-12-22
New Mexico Statutes
Chapter 57 - Trade Practices and Regulations
Article 12 - Unfair Trade Practices
57-12-22. Telephone solicitation sales; automated telephone dialing systems for sales restricted; disclosure and other requirements established for authorized telephone solicitation sales; prohibited telephone solicitation.
A. A person shall not utilize an automated telephone dialing or push-button or tone-activated address signaling system with a prerecorded message to solicit persons to purchase goods or services unless there is an established business relationship between the persons and the person being called consents to hear the prerecorded message.
B. It is unlawful under the Unfair Practices Act for a person to make a telephone solicitation for a purchase of goods or services:
(1) without disclosing within fifteen seconds of the time the person being called answers the name of the sponsor and the primary purpose of the contact;
(2) that misrepresents the primary purpose of a telephone solicitation of a residential subscriber as a "courtesy call", a "public service information call" or some other euphemism;
(3) under the guise of research or a survey when the real intent is to sell goods or services;
(4) without disclosing, prior to commitments by customers, the cost of the goods or services, all terms, conditions, payment plans and the amount or existence of any extra charges such as shipping and handling;
(5) that are received before 9:00 a.m. or after 9:00 p.m.;
(6) using automatic dialing equipment unless the telephone immediately releases the line when the called party disconnects;
(7) using automatic dialing equipment that dials and engages the telephone numbers of more than one person at a time but allows the possibility of a called person not being connected to the calling person for some period not exceeding that established by the federal trade commission at 16 C.F.R. Sections 310(b)(1)(iv) and 310.4(b)(4); and
(8) in which credit card numbers are requested before the prospective purchaser expresses a desire to use a credit card to pay for the purchase.
C. It is unlawful for a person to:
(1) make a telephone solicitation of a residential subscriber whose telephone number has been on the national do-not-call registry, established by the federal trade commission, for at least three months prior to the date the call is made; or
(2) use a method to block or otherwise intentionally circumvent a residential subscriber's use of a caller identification service pursuant to the Consumer No-Call Act [repealed].
D. As used in this section:
(1) "established business relationship" means a relationship that:
(a) was formed, prior to a telephone solicitation, through a voluntary, two-way communication between a seller or telephone solicitor and a residential subscriber, with or without consideration, on the basis of an application, purchase, ongoing contractual agreement or commercial transaction between the parties regarding products or services offered by the seller or telephone solicitor; and
(b) currently exists or has existed within the immediately preceding twelve months;
(2) "local exchange company" means a telecommunications company that provides the transmission of two-way interactive switched voice communications within a local exchange area;
(3) "residential subscriber" means a person who has subscribed to residential telephone service from a local exchange company or the other persons living or residing with such person; and
(4) "telephone solicitation" means a voice or telefacsimile communication over a telephone line for the purpose of encouraging the purchase or rental of or investment in property, goods or services and includes a communication described in this subsection through the use of automatic dialing and recorded message equipment or by other means, but "telephone solicitation" does not include a communication:
(a) to a residential subscriber with that subscriber's prior express invitation or permission;
(b) by or on behalf of a person with whom a residential subscriber has an established business relationship;
(c) made for the sole purpose of urging support for or opposition to a political candidate or ballot issue;
(d) made for the sole purpose of conducting political polls or soliciting the expression of opinions, ideas or votes; or
(e) by a person who is a duly licensed real estate broker pursuant to Section 61-29-11 NMSA 1978, who is a resident of the state and whose telephone call to the consumer is for the sole purpose of selling, exchanging, purchasing, renting, listing for sale or rent or leasing real estate in accordance with the provisions for which he or she is licensed and not in conjunction with any other offer.
History: Laws 1989, ch. 309, § 2; 2003, ch. 167, § 10.
ANNOTATIONS
Bracketed material. — The bracketed material was inserted by the compiler and is not part of the law. The Consumer No-Call Act, 57-12A-1 to 57-12A-7 NMSA 1978, was repealed on July 25, 2003, the date the federal communications commission adopted the delivery restrictions rules, 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200 (2004).
The 2003 amendment, effective July 1, 2003, added "prohibited telephone solicitation" in the section heading; in Subsection A, substituted "established" for "existing" following "there is an"; rewrote Subsection B; and added Subsections C and D.
Section applies to cellular telephone users as well as landline telephone users. — Where plaintiff, a consumer who received robo-calls designed to sell a type of discounted medical benefit plan, brought an action against a telemarketer and its purported agent, alleging that defendants violated the New Mexico Unfair Practices Act, §§ 57-12-1 through 57-12-26 NMSA 1978 (NMUPA), by repeatedly calling her cellular telephone and refusing to identify themselves, and where defendants moved to dismiss, arguing that § 57-12-22(C)(1) only prohibits calls to landline telephones and not to cellular telephones, defendant's motion to dismiss was denied because the plain meaning of this section prohibits calls to all telephone numbers on the national do-not-call registry regardless of whether the telephone number belongs to a wireless telephone or a landline telephone. The purpose of this section of the NMUPA is to reduce unwanted telephone solicitation. Mohon v. Agentra LLC, 400 F. Supp. 3d 1189 (D. N.M. 2019).
Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — Validity, construction, and application of state statute or law pertaining to telephone solicitation, 44 A.L.R.5th 619.
For more information, see here: https://nmonesource.com/nmos/nmsa/en/item/4371/index.do#!fragment/zoupio-_Toc98843975/BQCwhgziBcwMYgK4DsDWszIQewE4BUBTADwBdoAvbRABwEtsBaAfX2zgE4AOLgFgGYOAdgCsASgA0ybKUIQAiokK4AntADk6iREJhcCRcrWbtu-SADKeUgCE1AJQCiAGUcA1AIIA5AMKOJpGAARtCk7GJiQA
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