SENATE CORPORATIONS AND TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
SENATE BILL 1118
47th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2005
AN ACT
RELATING TO THE PUBLIC PEACE, HEALTH, SAFETY AND WELFARE; PROVIDING FOR THE RECOVERY OF DEFICIENCIES FOR CERTAIN LIENS; CREATING A NEW EXEMPTION IN THE MOTOR VEHICLE QUALITY ASSURANCE ACT; AMENDING SECTIONS OF THE NMSA 1978.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
Section 1. Section 48-3-19 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1937, Chapter 150, Section 1, as amended) is amended to read:
"48-3-19. LIEN FOR TOWING, STORAGE OR WRECKER SERVICE FOR AUTOMOBILES.--All garage owners and persons engaged in the business of towing [automobiles] or storing automobiles or furnishing wrecker service shall have a lien on all automobiles towed, stored or upon which wrecker service is performed when [such] the towing, storage or wrecker service is furnished or performed at the request or with the consent of any person lawfully in possession of [such] the automobile, for the reasonable value of [such] the services and for costs incurred in enforcing the lien. If the proceeds from the foreclosure of a lien and the sale of the automobile are insufficient to satisfy the amount of the lien after payment of the reasonable expenses of foreclosing the lien, the registered owner of the automobile shall be liable for any deficiency. A peace officer who requests towing, storage or wrecker service for a wrecked, abandoned or stolen vehicle shall be deemed a person lawfully in possession of [such] the vehicle within the meaning of this section. The lien created under this section shall be perfected under [Section 61-3-11 and 61-3-12 New Mexico Statutes Annotated, 1953 Compilation] Sections 48-3-13 and 48-3-14 NMSA 1978."
Section 2. Section 57-16A-2 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1985, Chapter 220, Section 2, as amended) is amended to read:
"57-16A-2. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Motor Vehicle Quality Assurance Act:
A. "collateral charges" means additional charges to a consumer not directly attributed to a manufacturer's suggested retail price label for a new motor vehicle and includes all taxes, license, title and registration fees and other governmental charges related to the purchase of the vehicle;
B. "comparable motor vehicle" means an identical or reasonably equivalent motor vehicle;
C. "consumer" means the purchaser, other than for purposes of resale, of a new or used motor vehicle normally used for personal, family or household purposes, a person to whom such a motor vehicle has been transferred during the duration of an express warranty applicable to the motor vehicle and any other person entitled by the terms of the warranty to enforce the obligations of the warranty;
D. "express warranty" means a written affirmation of the fact of promise made by a manufacturer to a consumer in connection with the sale of a new or used motor vehicle that relates to the nature of the material or workmanship or to a specified level of performance over a specified period of time, including any terms or conditions precedent to the enforcement of obligations pursuant to the warranty;
E. "manufacturer" means a person engaged in the manufacturing, assembling, importing or distributing of a motor vehicle as a regular business;
F. "motor vehicle" means a passenger motor vehicle, including an automobile, pickup truck, motorcycle or van normally used for personal, family or household purposes, that is sold and registered in this state and whose gross vehicle weight is less than ten thousand pounds;
G. "used motor vehicle" means a motor vehicle that has been sold, bargained or exchanged or a motor vehicle that is the subject of a title that has been transferred from the person who first acquired the motor vehicle from the manufacturer, importer or dealer or agent of the manufacturer or importer and that has been placed in bona fide consumer use; and
H. "used motor vehicle dealer" means a person or business that sells or offers for sale a used motor vehicle after selling or offering for sale four or more used motor vehicles in the previous twelve months but does not include:
(1) a bank or financial institution;
(2) an insurance company;
(3) a business selling a used motor vehicle to an employee of the business; [or]
(4) a lessor selling a leased vehicle to the lessee of the vehicle or to an employee of the lessee of the vehicle; or
(5) garage owners and persons licensed and engaged in the business of towing or storing automobiles or furnishing wrecker services engaged in selling a used motor vehicle to recover the cost of repairing, storing or towing that motor vehicle pursuant to the provisions of Sections 48-3-19 through 48-3-21 NMSA 1978."
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