NM Attorney General and CFPB Consumer Complaint Pack - New Mexico

NEW MEXICO ATTORNEY GENERAL AND CFPB CONSUMER COMPLAINT PACK

Use the live intake. This pack helps organize facts and attachments. It does not replace the New Mexico Department of Justice (NMDOJ), Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), or Federal Trade Commission (FTC) form. Recheck each linked page immediately before submission.

1. ROUTING AND SAFETY GATE

1.1 Choose the destination

• NMDOJ: New Mexico consumer or business conduct, including a possible New Mexico Unfair Practices Act (NMUPA) issue.
• CFPB: A listed consumer-financial product or service, such as a bank account, credit card, consumer report, debt collection, mortgage, student loan, money transfer, payday or personal loan, prepaid card, or vehicle loan or lease.
• FTC ReportFraud: Fraud, scams, or bad business practices.
• Another regulator: Use the current USA.gov complaint guide or the regulated entity's official regulator lookup. Do not rely on a saved phone number or address without rechecking it.

1.2 Before sharing records

☐ Remove information the intake does not request, including full account numbers, passwords, authentication codes, unrelated medical records, and third-party identifiers.

☐ Preserve unredacted originals separately.

☐ Identify privileged, confidential, sealed, or legally restricted material and obtain counsel's advice before disclosure.

☐ If there is immediate danger, suspected identity theft, an active scam, a threatened foreclosure or repossession, or a court deadline, seek the appropriate emergency, law-enforcement, legal-aid, or court assistance; an administrative complaint is not emergency relief.

☐ Do not assume an agency complaint pauses a statute of limitations, court deadline, payment obligation, eviction, foreclosure, repossession, collection case, or appeal period.

2. MASTER FACT AND EVIDENCE WORKSHEET

2.1 Complainant

• Full name: [________________________________]
• Address: [________________________________]
• Phone / email: [________________________________]
• Preferred contact method: [________________________________]
• Filing for another person? [yes / no]. Relationship and written authority: [________________________________]
• Attorney or representative, if any: [________________________________]

2.2 Business or entity

• Legal name and DBA: [________________________________]
• Address, website, phone, and email: [________________________________]
• Account, contract, order, claim, or reference number—redacted where appropriate: [________________________________]
• Product / service and regulator, if known: [________________________________]

2.3 Transaction and chronology

• Transaction / first-contact date: [__/__/____]
• Amount paid, charged, withheld, or disputed: $[____________]
• Payment method: [________________________________]
• Location / channel: [in person / phone / mail / online / other]
• Short chronology with dates, people, exact statements, and actions:

[____________________________________________________________]

[____________________________________________________________]

2.4 Harm and requested resolution

• Financial loss and calculation: [________________________________]
• Credit, property, service, privacy, or other harm: [________________________________]
• Resolution requested: [refund / correction / cancellation / repair / replacement / stop contact / other]
• Exact requested amount or action and basis: [________________________________]

2.5 Prior resolution efforts

• Contact dates, methods, and recipients: [________________________________]
• Business responses and reference numbers: [________________________________]
• Reason further direct contact is unsafe, impractical, or inappropriate, if applicable: [________________________________]

2.6 Evidence index

3. NMDOJ SUBMISSION PACKET

The current NMDOJ page recommends its Guided Help tool, also offers an electronic complaint-and-tip system, and provides a paper Complaint/Information Form. The paper form asks for complainant and business information, an explanation, the requested remedy, a signature, and a date. It does not contain the former draft's penalty-of-perjury declaration.

The official form also states that NMDOJ and the Attorney General cannot represent an individual or provide legal advice. A complaint is a request for agency review, not a private lawsuit or an attorney-client relationship.

3.1 Optional cover sheet for a paper submission

[COMPLAINANT NAME]

[ADDRESS]

[PHONE] | [EMAIL]

Date: [__/__/____]

New Mexico Department of Justice

408 Galisteo Street

Santa Fe, NM 87501

Re: Complaint concerning [BUSINESS / ENTITY]

To NMDOJ Intake:

I submit the enclosed official Complaint/Information Form and supporting records concerning [BUSINESS / ENTITY]. The attached chronology describes [one-sentence issue]. I request [specific remedy or agency review].

My attachment index identifies the records supporting each material fact. I can be contacted at [PHONE / EMAIL] if additional information is requested.

Sincerely,

[________________________________]

[COMPLAINANT NAME]

Attachments: [________________________________]

3.2 NMUPA issue-spotting worksheet

Do not state that a violation occurred unless counsel has evaluated all elements and facts. Section 57-12-2(D) generally addresses specified unlawful acts and knowing false or misleading representations connected with covered trade or commerce that may, tend to, or do deceive or mislead.

Potential provisions to discuss with New Mexico counsel:

• ☐ § 57-12-2(D)(5): represented sponsorship, approval, characteristics, ingredients, uses, benefits, or quantities that goods or services do not have, or represented a status, affiliation, or connection a person does not have.
• ☐ § 57-12-2(D)(7): represented goods or services as one standard, quality, or grade when they were another.
• ☐ § 57-12-2(D)(14): used exaggeration, innuendo, or ambiguity about a material fact, or omitted a material fact in a way that deceives or tends to deceive.
• ☐ § 57-12-2(D)(15): stated that a transaction involved rights, remedies, or obligations that it did not involve.
• ☐ § 57-12-2(D)(17): failed to deliver the quality or quantity of goods or services contracted for.
• ☐ § 57-12-2(D)(20): charged an applicant fee in violation of the Uniform Owner-Resident Relations Act.
• ☐ § 57-12-2(E)(1): took advantage of a person's lack of knowledge, ability, experience, or capacity to a grossly unfair degree, to that person's detriment.
• ☐ § 57-12-2(E)(2): caused, to a person's detriment, a gross disparity between value received and price paid.
• ☐ Other current provision or law identified by counsel: [________________________________]

Facts supporting the selected provision—not conclusions:

[____________________________________________________________]

3.3 Public and private remedies are different

• Under §§ 57-12-8 and 57-12-11, the Attorney General may bring a public-interest action, seek injunctive relief and restitution, and petition for a civil penalty not exceeding $5,000 per willful violation. A complainant does not personally impose or collect that public penalty by checking a box.
• Under § 57-12-9, the Attorney General may accept a written assurance of discontinuance instead of beginning or continuing an action. The former draft incorrectly cited § 57-12-13, which concerns regulations.
• Section 57-12-10 describes separate private remedies. Depending on facts and standing, Subsection B permits actual damages or $100, whichever is greater, and permits up to three times actual damages or $300, whichever is greater, after a willfulness finding. Subsection C addresses fees and costs for a prevailing complaining party and for a charged party when the complaint was groundless.
• Sections 57-12-10(F) and (G) concern an early-mediation request after service of the summons and complaint in a private court action. They do not create a general NMUPA pre-suit demand or 30-day cure requirement.

Only counsel should advise whether a private action is available, who has standing, what deadline and accrual rule applies, and how an administrative filing affects strategy.

4. CFPB COMPLAINT PREPARATION

4.1 Current intake checks

☐ Confirm the product or service appears on the current CFPB complaint page.

☐ Follow any product-specific prerequisite displayed by the live intake. The CFPB page gives special pre-filing instructions for inaccurate or incomplete consumer-report information.

☐ Include the key facts, most important dates and amounts, prior communications, the company, and requested resolution.

☐ Attach only supporting records. The current page states a 50-page attachment limit.

☐ Include everything needed: the current page says a consumer generally cannot submit a second complaint about the same problem.

☐ Provide the requested contact information and address. If filing for another consumer, disclose the relationship and attach written authorization when appropriate.

4.2 Narrative draft

I am submitting a complaint about [COMPANY] concerning [PRODUCT / SERVICE].

On [DATE], [describe the event in clear chronological order]. The most important communications were [DATES / PEOPLE / METHOD / EXACT STATEMENTS]. I contacted the company on [DATES], and it responded [RESPONSE OR NO RESPONSE].

The resulting harm is [AMOUNT AND OTHER HARM]. The supporting documents are [LIST]. I request [SPECIFIC RESOLUTION].

4.3 What the current CFPB page says happens next

• The CFPB routes a complaint to the company or, when another agency is better able to assist, to that agency.
• Companies generally respond in 15 days; in some cases a company identifies its response as in progress and provides a final response in 60 days.
• Complaint data without information that directly identifies the consumer is published in the Consumer Complaint Database. With consent, the CFPB also publishes the consumer's narrative after taking steps to remove personal information.
• The consumer has 60 days after the company responds to provide feedback.

These are general agency-process statements, not guaranteed outcomes in an individual matter. Follow the live consent and data-sharing disclosures rather than using preselected authorization language from this pack.

5. FTC REPORTFRAUD NARRATIVE — OPTIONAL

Use the current FTC intake for fraud, scams, or bad business practices. Reuse the verified facts, not unsupported legal conclusions.

• Type of fraud / scam / practice: [________________________________]
• Date and amount: [________________________________]
• How contact occurred: [phone / text / email / website / social media / mail / other]
• Names, usernames, phone numbers, emails, websites, wallet addresses, and payment destinations used by the actor: [________________________________]
• What happened and what was promised: [________________________________]
• What was paid or disclosed: [________________________________]
• Steps already taken with a bank, card issuer, platform, carrier, law enforcement, or identity-theft service: [________________________________]

6. DATA-BREACH ROUTING NOTE

Do not treat an individual consumer complaint as a business's statutory breach notice. Section 57-12C-10 applies when a person is required to notify more than 1,000 New Mexico residents from one security breach; that person must notify the Attorney General and nationwide consumer reporting agencies within the statute's timing rules. Other Article 12C coverage, risk, exemption, content, and delay provisions also matter.

If the complaint concerns compromised information, record the discovery date, data involved, encryption status, number of known New Mexico residents, notices received, and identity-theft or fraud indicators for counsel and the appropriate intake.

7. FINAL SUBMISSION AND FOLLOW-UP CHECKLIST

☐ Agency and live form selected.

☐ Narrative is factual, chronological, concise, and consistent across agencies.

☐ Requested resolution is specific.

☐ Attachments are indexed, legible, relevant, and appropriately redacted.

☐ Names, dates, amounts, account references, and company identity cross-checked.

☐ Submission disclosures and certifications read before signing.

☐ Copy of the exact submission, attachments, confirmation, and delivery evidence retained.

☐ Court, contractual, dispute, preservation, and limitation deadlines calendared separately.

☐ Company or agency response reviewed and follow-up recorded: [________________________________]

8. CURRENT OFFICIAL SOURCES

• NMDOJ — Submit a Complaint
• NMDOJ — official Complaint/Information Form
• NMDOJ — current office locations
• New Mexico Compilation Commission / NMOneSource — current NMSA Chapter 57 PDF
• CFPB — Submit a complaint and current process
• Office of the Law Revision Counsel — 12 U.S.C. § 5534
• FTC — ReportFraud
• USA.gov — Complaints about consumer products and services

Current official sources and every citation in this file were checked on August 14, 2026. Citation-index leads for the core NMUPA sections included 2025 H.B. 61 and S.B. 318 and 2026 H.B. 244; each was postponed indefinitely. Current § 57-12-2 includes Paragraph D(20), enacted in 2025.