A. Notwithstanding any provision of the New Mexico Small Loan Act of 1955, lawful fees, if any, actually and necessarily paid out by the licensee to a public officer for the filing, recording or releasing in a public office of an instrument securing the loan may be charged to the borrower.
B. Notwithstanding any provision in a note or other loan contract taken or received under the New Mexico Small Loan Act of 1955, attorney fees shall not be charged or collected unless the note or other contract has been submitted in good faith to an attorney for collection who is not a salaried employee of the holder of the contract, after the licensee has made a diligent and good faith effort to collect and has failed.
C. Notary fees incident to the taking of a lien to secure a small loan or releasing such a lien shall not be charged or collected by a licensee, an officer, agent or employee of a licensee or anyone within an office, room or place of business in which a small loan office is conducted.
D. Delinquency fees shall not exceed five cents ($.05) for each one dollar ($1.00) of each installment more than ten days in arrears; provided that the total of delinquency charges on any such installment shall not exceed ten dollars ($10.00) and that only one delinquency charge shall be made on any one installment regardless of the period during which the installment remains unpaid.
History: 1953 Comp., § 48-17-47, enacted by Laws 1955, ch. 128, § 18; 2007, ch. 86, § 11; 2019, ch. 201, § 13.
ANNOTATIONSThe 2019 amendment, effective January 1, 2020, provided that attorney fees shall not be charged to a borrower in connection with collection efforts, unless the loan contract has been submitted to an attorney for collection who is not a salaried employee of the holder of the contract; in Subsection B, after "attorney for collection", deleted "and" and added "who is not a salaried employee of the holder of the contract", after "after", added "the licensee has made a", and after "effort to collect", deleted "on the part of the licensee" and added "and".
Applicability. — Laws 2019, ch. 201, § 17 provided that the provisions of this act apply to loans subject to the New Mexico Small Loan Act of 1955 and the New Mexico Bank Installment Loan Act of 1959 that are executed on or after January 1, 2020.
The 2007 amendment, effective November 1, 2007, deletes Subsection (C) relating to court costs and enacts a new Subsection D that provides that only one delinquency charge may be made on any one installment and that delinquency fees shall not exceed five cents for each dollar of each installment more than ten days in arrears, but not to exceed a total of $10.00.
Severability clause. — Laws 2007, ch. 86, § 23 provides that if any part or application of this act is held invalid, the remainder or its application to other situations or persons shall not be affected.
Allowable charges for loans. — Apart from interest charges on loans, only the fees described in 58-15-20 NMSA 1978 may be charged for loans under the Small Loan Act. 1985 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 85-01.
Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 53A Am. Jur. 2d Money Lenders and Pawnbrokers §§ 14 et seq., 26 et seq., 53.
Fees and charges: construction, application and effect of provisions of small loan acts regarding fees, charges, etc., in addition to interest, 143 A.L.R. 1323.
58 C.J.S. Money Lenders §§ 2, 5.