Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Consumer Protection Price Gouging topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee approves substitute to broaden consumer protections, clarify price‑gouging and include real property under AG enforcement
Summary
The committee adopted a substitute for HB 61 to expand the Unfair Practices Act to cover certain real-property-related transactions and to clarify price‑gouging and unconscionable practices; the substitute passed out of committee on a 6-4 vote.
The House Commerce & Economic Development Committee voted 6-4 to approve a committee substitute for House Bill 61, which updates the Unfair Practices Act to broaden definitions of trade and commerce, add certain real-property transactions into the attorney general’s enforcement scope and clarify price‑gouging penalties for emergencies.
Julie Mead, general counsel at the New Mexico Department of Justice, said the substitute reflects stakeholder discussions and narrows language relating to licensed professionals after meetings with the medical community and other stakeholders. Committee members heard that the change would allow the attorney general to pursue systemic scams and deceptive practices tied to housing and property—examples cited in the hearing included prolonged utilities or habitability failures at multiple manufactured-home parks.
AARP New Mexico testified in support, saying the bill strengthens protections for older adults against fraud and price gouging during emergencies and periods of scarcity. The New Mexico Medical Society told the committee the substitute language addressed its earlier concerns about licensed professionals being unintentionally swept into a broader unfair-practices definition.
Sponsor and witnesses told the panel the substitute is not intended to replace construction-defect processes (such as the 2023 right-to-repair law) or to create an alternative for individualized contract disputes; instead, the Department of Justice said the enforcement authority is intended for systemic and deceptive practices that harm consumers broadly.
After public testimony and committee discussion, the committee approved the Commerce and Economic Development Committee substitute for HB 61 and reported the bill out with the substitute language.
