New Mexico Statutes 58-21A-9. Civil action
A. A borrower harmed by a violation of the Home Loan Protection Act may bring a civil action to recover:
Terms Used In New Mexico Statutes 58-21A-9
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
- Finance charge: The total cost of credit a customer must pay on a consumer loan, including interest. The Truth in Lending Act requires disclosure of the finance charge. Source: OCC
- Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
(1) actual damages, including consequential and incidental damages;
(2) statutory damages equal to two times the finance charge paid under the loan and forfeiture of the remaining interest under the loan;
(3) punitive damages, when the violation was malicious or reckless; (4) costs and reasonable attorney fees; and
(5) injunctive, declaratory and such other equitable relief as the court deems appropriate in an action to enforce compliance with the Home Loan Protection Act.
B. The civil action and remedies provided in this section are not exclusive and are in addition to any other action or remedies available to a borrower under applicable law.
C. A creditor is not liable in an action brought pursuant to this section if:
(1) within thirty days of the home loan closing and prior to receiving any notice from the borrower of the violation, the creditor has made appropriate restitution to the borrower, and appropriate adjustments are made to the loan; or
(2) the violation was not intentional and resulted from a bona fide error in fact notwithstanding the maintenance of procedures reasonably adopted to avoid such errors and within sixty days of the loan closing and prior to receiving any notice from the borrower of the violation, the borrower is notified of the violation, appropriate restitution is made to the borrower and appropriate adjustments are made to the loan.