New Mexico Statutes
Article 17 - Continuing Care
Section 24-17-18 - Report to attorney general; civil action; civil penalties.

A. A person may report an alleged violation of the Continuing Care Act or rules promulgated pursuant to that act to the attorney general or to the aging and long-term services department.
B. Any time after the aging and long-term services department issues a notice of violation, the department may send the attorney general a written report alleging a possible violation of the Continuing Care Act or any rule adopted pursuant to that act.
C. Upon receipt of a report from any source alleging a violation of the Continuing Care Act or rules promulgated pursuant to that act, the attorney general shall promptly review the allegation. Upon finding that an allegation received pursuant to this subsection is credible, the attorney general shall file an appropriate action against the alleged violator in a court of competent jurisdiction.
D. Upon finding violations of any provisions of the Continuing Care Act or any rule adopted pursuant to that act, the court may impose a civil penalty in the amount of five dollars ($5.00) per resident or up to five hundred dollars ($500), in the discretion of the court, for each day that the violation remains uncorrected after the compliance date stipulated in a notice of violation issued pursuant to the Continuing Care Act.
History: Laws 1991, ch. 263, § 7; 2021, ch. 56, § 6.
The 2021 amendment, effective June 18, 2021, allowed any person to report violations of the Continuing Care Act or rules promulgated pursuant to the act, and required the attorney general to accept and review alleged violations of the Continuing Care Act reported from any source; added a new Subsection A and subsection designations "B" through "D"; in Subsection B, substituted references to the "state agency on aging" with the "aging and long-terms services department"; and in Subsection C, after "report", added "from any source alleging a violation of the Continuing Care Act or rules promulgated pursuant to that act", and after "attorney general shall promptly", deleted "conduct an investigation to determine whether grounds exist for formally finding a violation. If the attorney general makes that finding, he" and added "review the allegation. Upon finding that an allegation received pursuant to this subsection is credible, the attorney general".