Any person that knowingly receives or charges a rate of interest greater than that allowed under the Residential Home Loan Act shall forfeit the entire amount of interest that the evidence of indebtedness specifies. If any interest has been paid by the debtor to a person that knowingly received or charged a rate that was in excess of the rate of interest allowed under the Residential Home Loan Act, then the debtor may recover by civil action twice the amount of the interest paid plus his costs of suit and attorney's fees. If any person, other than an institutional lender as defined in Section 4 [repealed] of the Residential Home Loan Act, receives or charges a rate of interest greater than that allowed under the Residential Home Loan Act, but such charging or receipt was under mistake or otherwise without knowledge of the violation, then the evidence of indebtedness is enforceable except that the lender cannot charge or receive more than the maximum rate of interest permitted under the Residential Home Loan Act, and the debtor may recover by civil action only the excess interest plus his costs of suit and attorney's fees. Any action brought under this section must be commenced within two years of the date the evidence of indebtedness was signed by the debtor.
History: Laws 1980, ch. 64, § 8.
Bracketed material. — The bracketed material was inserted by the compiler and is not part of the law.
Section 4 of the Residential Home Loan Act, referred to in the next-to-last sentence in this section, refers to Laws 1980, ch. 64, § 4, which was compiled as 56-8-25 NMSA 1978. That section and 56-8-26 to 56-8-28 NMSA 1978 were repealed by Laws 1981, ch. 263, § 4, effective July 1, 1981.
Statutory limitation on interest rates. — With the repeal of Sections 56-8-25 to 56-8-28 NMSA 1978, there are no longer any interest rate limitations in the Residential Home Loan Act (Sections 56-8-22 to 56-8-30 NMSA 1978). 1985 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 85-01.
Structure New Mexico Statutes
Chapter 56 - Commercial Instruments and Transactions
Article 8 - Money, Interest and Usury
Section 56-8-1 - [Lawful money; definition; application.]
Section 56-8-2 - [Denominations to be reduced to lawful basis in actions.]
Section 56-8-3 - Interest rate; no written contract.
Section 56-8-4 - Judgments and decrees; basis of computing interest.
Section 56-8-5 - Interest; open accounts.
Section 56-8-6 - Grain purchase contracts; disclosure regarding act of God clause.
Section 56-8-7 - Procuring loans; rate of commission; exceptions.
Section 56-8-8 - [Excessive commission for procuring loan; penalty.]
Section 56-8-9 - Excessive charges prohibited; applicability of maximum rates; definition.
Section 56-8-10 - Farm, ranch and agriculture loans.
Section 56-8-12 - Loans by agent; liability of principal.
Section 56-8-13 - Penalties and forfeitures.
Section 56-8-14 - Criminal penalty.
Section 56-8-15 to 56-8-20 - Repealed.
Section 56-8-21 - Usury; corporations and limited partnerships.
Section 56-8-22 - Short title.
Section 56-8-23 - Purpose of act.
Section 56-8-24 - Definitions.
Section 56-8-25 to 56-8-28 - Repealed.