A. Any person who knowingly and willfully violates a provision of the Manufactured Housing Act or any rule, regulation or administrative order of the committee or division in a manner that threatens the health or safety of any purchaser or consumer is guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) or shall be confined in the county jail not longer than one year or both.
B. In any action brought to enforce any provision of the Manufactured Housing Act, the division, upon petition to the court, may recover on behalf of the state a civil penalty not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each violation, except that the maximum civil penalty may not exceed one million dollars ($1,000,000) for any related series of violations occurring within one year from the date of the first violation.
C. Failure by a manufacturer or dealer to comply with the warranty provisions of the Manufactured Housing Act or any implied warranties or the violation of any provision of the Manufactured Housing Act by any person is an unfair or deceptive trade practice in addition to those practices defined in the Unfair Practices Act [Chapter 57, Article 12 NMSA 1978] and is actionable pursuant to the Unfair Practices Act. As such, the venue provisions and all remedies available in the Unfair Practices Act apply to and are in addition to the remedies in the Manufactured Housing Act.
D. The director may issue a license to an applicant who at any time within one year prior to making an application has acted as an unlicensed dealer, broker, salesperson, repairman, manufacturer or installer in New Mexico without a license as required by the division if:
(1) the applicant in addition to all other requirements for licensure pays an additional fee as follows:
(a) in an amount up to ten percent of the contract price or the value of the unlicensed work in the discretion of the committee; or
(b) if the applicant has bid or offered a price on a project and was not the successful bidder or offeror, the fee shall be at least one percent but not more than five percent of the total bid amount in the discretion of the committee; and
(2) the director is satisfied that no incident of unlicensed work:
(a) caused monetary damage to any person; or
(b) resulted in an unresolved consumer complaint being filed against the applicant.
E. Any unlicensed person who has performed unlicensed work may settle the claims against that unlicensed person without becoming licensed if the administrative claims arise from that person's first offense and that person pays an administrative fee calculated pursuant to Paragraph (1) of Subsection D of this section. In addition to the administrative fee, an additional ten percent of the amount of the administrative fee shall be assessed as a service fee.
F. If the total fee to be paid by the unlicensed person pursuant to the provisions of Subsection D or E of this section is twenty-five dollars ($25.00) or less, the fee may be waived by the director.
History: 1978 Comp., § 60-14-19, enacted by Laws 1983, ch. 295, § 24; 2007, ch. 62, § 2.
ANNOTATIONSThe 2007 amendment, effective June 15, 2007, added Subsections D, E and F to provide for the issuance of licenses to applicants who have acted without a required license; settlement of claims against unlicensed persons; and for waiver of the fee to be paid by an unlicensed person if the fee is $25.00 or less.