Opinion ID: 215429
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 17

Heading: Plaintiffs failed to state claims against the Insurer Defendants under the New Mexico Unfair Practices Act

Text: Plaintiffs alleged that the Insurer Defendants violated the New Mexico Unfair Practices Act, N.M. Stat. §§ 57-12-1 through 57-12-26 (UPA). That act makes unlawful [u]nfair or deceptive trade practices and unconscionable trade practices in the conduct of any trade or commerce. N.M. Stat. § 57-12-3. Like the New Mexico Antitrust Act, however, the UPA does not apply to actions or transactions expressly permitted under laws administered by a regulatory body of New Mexico ..., but all actions or transactions forbidden by the regulatory body, and about which the regulatory body remains silent, are subject to the Unfair Practices Act. Id. § 57-12-7 (emphasis added); see also Quynh Truong v. Allstate Ins. Co., 147 N.M. 583, 227 P.3d 73, 81-82 (2010). The New Mexico Title Insurance Act expressly permitted the practices which Plaintiffs' challenge herecharging the same premium, offering the same coverage, using state-mandated forms to sell title insurance, and charging premium rates approved by the superintendent of insurance. See Valdez, 54 P.3d at 74-76 (holding N.M. Stat. § 57-12-7 precluded claims challenging rates charged for collect calls made by inmates in New Mexico prisons because the PRC expressly permitted those rates as part of its regulation of telephone service). The district court, therefore, did not err in dismissing Plaintiffs' claims asserted against the Insurer Defendants under the Unfair Practices Act.