HOUSE BILL 344

54th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2019

INTRODUCED BY

Jane E. Powdrell-Culbert and Phelps Anderson

 

 

 

 

 

AN ACT

RELATING TO CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRIES; MAKING IT A FELONY FOR A CONTRACTOR TO FAIL TO PAY A SUBCONTRACTOR.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     SECTION 1. Section 60-13-52 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1977, Chapter 377, Section 6, as amended) is amended to read:

     "60-13-52. [PENALTY--MISDEMEANOR] PENALTIES--CRIMINAL ENFORCEMENT.--

          A. Any person who acts in the capacity as a contractor within the meaning of the Construction Industries Licensing Act without a license required by that act and any person who [holds himself out as] makes any representation as being a sales representative of a contractor, which contractor is without a license as required by that act, is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction [therefor] the court shall:

                (1) where the dollar value of the contracting work is five thousand dollars ($5,000) or less, sentence the person to be imprisoned in the county jail for a term of ninety days or to the payment of a fine of not less than three hundred dollars ($300) [nor] or more than five hundred dollars ($500) or to both [such] imprisonment and fine in the discretion of the court; and

                (2) where the dollar value of the contracting work exceeds five thousand dollars ($5,000), sentence the person to be imprisoned in the county jail for a term of six months or to the payment of a fine of ten percent of the dollar value of the contracting work or to both [such] imprisonment and fine in the discretion of the court.

          B. [Any] A person who acts in the capacity as a journeyman within the meaning of the Construction Industries Licensing Act without holding a valid certificate of competence issued by the division is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction [therefor] the court shall sentence the person to be imprisoned in the county jail for a term of ninety days or to payment of a fine of not less than one hundred dollars ($100) [nor] or more than three hundred dollars ($300) or to both [such] imprisonment and fine.

         C. [Any] A person who, after having been convicted and sentenced in accordance with the provisions of either Subsection A or Subsection B of this section, is again convicted pursuant to the provisions of this section shall be sentenced to twice the applicable penalty imposed by the provisions of this section.

         D. In the case of a first conviction under Subsection A or B of this section, the court may impose a deferred sentence on the condition that the person comply with the provisions for licensure pursuant to Subsection D of Section 60-13-14 NMSA 1978.

         E. It is unlawful for a contractor to knowingly fail to compensate a validly licensed subcontractor for work performed pursuant to a contract or fail to pay, as required by contract, for materials or supplies furnished for use in the construction, alteration or repair of a building or other improvement.

         F. A contractor who violates Subsection E of this section when the unpaid amount:

             (1) is not more than two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500), is guilty of a fourth degree felony;

             (2) is over two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) but not more than twenty thousand dollars ($20,000), is guilty of a third degree felony; or

             (3) is more than twenty thousand dollars ($20,000), is guilty of a second degree felony."

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