New Mexico Administrative Code › Title 14 - HOUSING AND CONSTRUCTION › Chapter 12 - MANUFACTURED HOUSING › Part 4 - BONDS AND TRUST ACCOUNTS › Section 14.12.4.15 - CONSUMER PROTECTION BOND PROCEDURES

Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 13, July 16, 2024
A. A person claiming to be injured by an
				alleged violation of the act or these regulations or by reason of any other
				cause set forth in the Manufactured Housing Act, NMSA 1978, Section
				60-14-6,
				may file with the division a written complaint which states the name and
				address of the bondholder whose bond has been claimed against and includes a
				concise statement of the cause of the alleged injury. If it is determined by
				the division that the complaint is insufficient or defective, the complainant
				shall be promptly notified and may be permitted to amend the complaint, in the
				sole discretion of the division.
B.
				Upon receipt of a written complaint, the division shall investigate, by
				telephone or by in person contact, within thirty (30) days of receipt of the
				complaint to determine whether cause exists to investigate further. If such
				cause exists, an on-site inspection may be made within thirty (30) days of such
				determination. The on-site inspection is not mandatory. The complainant should
				be available to the investigator during reasonable business hours during the
				investigation period.
C. The
				division shall give written notice to the bondholder within ten (10) days of
				receipt of the complaint. The notice shall request correction of the violations
				within forty (40) days of the division's receipt of the complaint. The letter
				may also request investigation according to Subpart I of the Federal
				Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards, Federal Procedural and
				Enforcement Regulations, which require investigation of class or re-occurrences
				of non-conformance to the Federal Standards.
D. Any notice or decision required pursuant
				to this regulation may be served either personally or by regular, or certified
				mail, return receipt requested, directed to the bondholder's last known address
				as shown by the records of the division. If the notice or decision is served
				personally, service shall be made in the same manner as is provided in the
				Rules of Civil Procedure for the New Mexico district courts. Where the notice
				or decision is served by certified mail, it shall be deemed to have been served
				on the date shown on the return receipt showing delivery, or on the date of the
				last attempted delivery of the notice or decision to the addressee or refusal
				of the addressee to accept delivery of the notice or decision.
E. If the committee determines that there is
				no cause for the complaint, the complaint shall be dismissed. The division
				shall retain all information on which the decision was based in its consumer
				complaint files for five (5) years after closing the case. This information
				should include (a) the determination; (b) who made the determination; and (c)
				how the determination was made.
F.
				If committee determines that there is cause for the complaint, the division
				should attempt to achieve a satisfactory resolution of the complaint through
				correspondence or informal conference.
G. If the committee determines that the items
				requested to be corrected by the complainant are the responsibility of the
				manufacturer, and that these items are required to be corrected under the
				Federal Regulations, the manufacturer will be requested to submit, in writing,
				a notification or correction plan to the director of the division within twenty
				(20) days of receipt of the request and as required under Subpart I of the
				federal regulations. The plan should include, but not be limited to, a list of
				manufactured homes affected, method of correction, content of notification
				notice to consumer and the requirements as detailed under Subpart I of the
				federal regulations. If a plan is submitted to the division, the division
				should approve or modify the plan and send it back to the manufacturer for
				remedial action in the case. If, within twenty (20) days, there does not seem
				to be a reoccurrence of the same deficiencies, no formal plan needs to be
				submitted if the division has granted waiver to the plan. The manufacturer
				shall have sixty (60) days to notify and correct, and an additional thirty (30)
				days to submit closeout reports of all action taken by the
				manufacturer.
H. The division may
				charge a re-inspection fee of sixty-five dollars ($65.00) each time a re-
				inspection is performed in connection with a consumer complaint. On those
				consumer complaints, which the division investigates but are not prosecuted by
				the division, no fee will be charged. The fee, if assessed, shall be charged to
				the dealer, manufacturer, installer/repairman, or broker as
				appropriate.
I. If the complaint is
				not substantially resolved by the foregoing method, the division may send the
				complaint to the committee for bond attachment proceedings consistent with the
				procedure set forth herein.
J. If
				the matter is referred to the committee for bond revocation proceedings, the
				division shall serve upon the bondholder a written notice containing a
				statement (1) that the committee has sufficient evidence which, if not rebutted
				or explained, will justify the committee taking the contemplated action; (2)
				indicating the general nature of the evidence against the bondholder; (3) the
				statutes and regulations authorizing the committee to take the contemplated
				action; (4) that the bondholder may request a hearing on the matter within
				twenty (20) days after service of the notice; and (5) the rights of a person
				entitled to hearing as provided under the Uniform Licensing Act, Section
				61-1-8
				NMSA 1978.
K. If the bondholder
				does not mail a request for a hearing within the time and in the manner
				required by this section, the committee may take the action contemplated in the
				notice, and such action shall be final.
L. If the bondholder timely requests a
				hearing, the division shall notify the bondholder of the time and place of
				hearing, the name of the hearing officer, if any, and the statutes and
				regulations authorizing the committee to take the contemplated action. The
				notice shall set the hearing within a reasonable time after the division's
				receipt of the request for hearing, but in no event later than sixty (60) days
				thereafter.
M. The committee shall
				conduct the hearing, or may appoint a hearing officer to do so.
N. A bondholder may be represented by
				counsel, may be represented by a licensed member of his or her profession or
				occupation, or both; and may present all relevant evidence by means of
				witnesses and books, papers, documents and other evidence; to examine all
				opposing witnesses who appear on any matter relevant to the issues;
O. Upon written request to another party, any
				party may ask to: (1) obtain the names and addresses of witnesses who will or
				may be called by the other party to testify at the hearing; and (2) inspect and
				copy any documents or items which the other party will or may introduce in
				evidence at the hearing. The division and the committee have no power to force
				the parties to comply with such requests.
P. The party to whom such a request is made
				should comply with it within ten (10) days after the mailing or delivery of the
				request. No such request should be made less than fifteen (15) days before the
				hearing.
Q. The committee has the
				discretion to grant continuances, to take testimony or to examine witnesses.
				The committee may also hold conferences before or during the hearing for the
				settlement or simplification of the issues.
R. The division shall present the case
				against the bondholder.
S. The
				committee may admit any evidence and may give probative effect to evidence that
				is of a kind commonly relied on by reasonably prudent people in the conduct of
				serious affairs. The committee may in its discretion exclude incompetent,
				irrelevant, immaterial and unduly repetitious evidence.
T. The committee may take notice of
				judicially cognizable facts and in addition may take notice of general,
				technical or scientific facts within their specialized knowledge. When the
				committee takes notice of a fact, the bondholder should be notified either
				before or during the hearing of the fact so noticed and its source and shall be
				afforded an opportunity to contest the fact so noticed.
U. The committee members may use their
				experience, technical competence and specialized knowledge in the evaluation of
				evidence presented to them.
V. The
				record may be preserved by audio or video recording or both.
W. Whether conducted by the committee or by a
				hearing officer, after a hearing has been completed, all members who were not
				present throughout the hearing should familiarize themselves with the record,
				including the hearing officer's report, before participating in the
				decision.
X. A decision based on
				the hearing shall be made by a quorum of the committee and signed by the person
				designated by the committee within ninety (90) days after the
				hearing.
Y. Within fifteen days
				(15) after the decision is rendered and signed, the division shall serve upon
				the bondholder a copy of the written decision.
Z. If a person who has requested a hearing
				does not appear, and no continuance has been granted, the committee may hear
				the evidence of such witnesses as may have appeared, and the committee may
				proceed to consider the matter and dispose of it on the basis of the evidence
				before it. Where because of accident, sickness or other cause a person fails to
				request a hearing or fails to appear for a hearing which he has requested, the
				person may within a reasonable time apply to the committee to reopen the
				proceeding, and the committee upon finding sufficient cause shall immediately
				fix a time and place for a hearing and give the person notice as required
				above. At the time and place fixed, a hearing shall be held in the same manner
				as would have been employed if the person had appeared in response to the
				original notice of hearing.
AA.
				These procedures do not grant a statutory right of review.