What New Mexico law means for your calls, email and invoices

New Mexico does not license a service company's website or phone line, but a set of Unfair Practices Act sections and a few tax and data rules sit on top of how you sell. This page walks through the ones a contractor, cleaner or lawn company will actually run into. It is general information as of October 2026, not legal advice, and every rule below should be confirmed with the agency or an attorney before you rely on it.

Sales calls: the 9 p.m. cutoff and the 15-second rule

New Mexico's telephone solicitation rules live in NMSA 57-12-22, part of the Unfair Practices Act. A telephone solicitation under that section means a voice or fax communication over a phone line meant to encourage a purchase. It does not include a call to someone who gave prior express invitation or permission, or a call by a business with which the person has an established business relationship. The statute defines that relationship as a voluntary two-way communication based on an application, purchase or contract that exists now or existed in the previous twelve months.

If your outbound call is covered, section 57-12-22(B) makes these things unlawful:

• failing to name the sponsor and the primary purpose within fifteen seconds after the person answers;
• calling a residential subscriber under the label of a courtesy call or public service call, or under the guise of a survey when the aim is to sell;
• not disclosing the cost, terms, payment plans and extra charges before the customer commits;
• calls received arriving ahead of 9:00 a.m. or past 9:00 p.m.; and
• asking for a credit card number before the customer says they want to pay by card.

Subsection C adds a rule that matters for any marketing list. It is unlawful to solicit a residential subscriber whose number has been on the national do-not-call registry for at least three months. New Mexico once had its own Consumer No-Call Act, but the compiler's notes on NMOneSource say it was repealed on July 25, 2003, so the state rule now points to the federal list. Federal courts in New Mexico have read the registry rule to cover cell phones as well as landlines, per the annotations to the section.

Prerecorded messages get their own limit. Under 57-12-22(A), you may not use an automatic dialing system with a prerecorded message to solicit sales unless you have an established business relationship with the person and they consent to hear the message. That matters for any outbound voice blast or AI caller that plays a script. The section defines solicitation by voice or fax, so it does not name text messages. Texting rules come from federal law, covered in our TCPA guide.

Three business days to cancel a door-to-door or seller-initiated phone sale

NMSA 57-12-21 makes it an unfair practice to skip the cancellation paperwork on a door-to-door sale. The statute defines that term broadly: a sale of consumer goods or services for $25 or more where the seller personally solicits the sale, including after an invitation from the buyer, and the buyer agrees somewhere other than the seller's place of business. It states that a door-to-door sale includes seller-initiated telephone sales.

When it applies, you must give the buyer a completed contract or receipt in the language used in the sales talk, with a bold ten-point statement of the right to cancel before midnight of the third business day, plus a detachable Notice of Cancellation in duplicate. You must also tell the buyer about the right to cancel out loud. The statute counts business days as every day except Sunday and listed holidays. For phone-initiated sales, the period does not start until the buyer has been told of the right and received the notice. Refunds are due within ten business days after you receive a valid cancellation.

The statute lists exclusions. The ones most relevant to a service company are:

• a buyer-initiated emergency, if the buyer writes and signs a dated statement in their own handwriting describing the emergency and waiving the three-day right; and
• a visit the buyer asked for to repair or maintain the buyer's personal property. If you sell extra goods or services during that visit beyond necessary replacement parts, those additional sales fall back inside the cancellation rule.

The practical point for an online quote: a customer who fills in your web form may still be signing your estimate at their house, which is a place other than your place of business. Build the notice into the contract template you send for signature at the property, and note the cancellation date on the quote record.

Unsolicited email: the ADV: subject line and the federal override

NMSA 57-12-23 is unusual. It says no person conducting business in New Mexico may email an unsolicited advertisement unless the message gives a toll-free number or a working sender-operated return address to opt out, repeats that notice in the first text of the body, and starts the subject line with the characters "ADV:". Ads for goods restricted to adults need "ADV:ADLT". After a recipient asks to stop, the sender may not send more. A violation is an unfair or deceptive trade practice. The statute defines an unsolicited advertisement as one sent to someone with whom the sender has no existing business or personal relationship, or one that was not requested or consented to.

Federal law overlaps. In 15 U.S.C. 7707(b), CAN-SPAM overrides state laws that expressly regulate sending commercial email, except state rules against falsity or deception. We found no New Mexico court decision in the sources we checked on how that preemption applies to the ADV: label, and the statute remains printed in the current code. A conservative sender who mails cold ads to New Mexico addresses can ask an attorney whether to add the label. The definition has two prongs joined by "or": no existing business or personal relationship, or not sent at the recipient's request or with consent. So even customer mail is a question for counsel if it was never requested. Either way, follow federal rules on identification, a physical address and a working unsubscribe. See our guide on email marketing for service companies for the setup.

Gross receipts tax: a separate line on the invoice

New Mexico taxes the business, not the customer, through its gross receipts tax. The Taxation and Revenue Department lists "performing services in New Mexico" among taxable receipts. It says it is common to pass the tax on to the buyer and that doing so requires the tax to be separately stated on the invoice. The rate varies by state, county and city, and the Department publishes a location code and rate map. It says businesses generally use the rate where their goods or service are delivered, with exceptions for some professional services.

That affects online payment and quote pages. A flat "$150 mowing" price that silently folds in GRT leaves you unable to show the tax line the Department expects when you pass it on. Decide whether your published prices include GRT or add it, then make invoices match. Our sales tax on services guide compares this with other states.

Recording calls in New Mexico

NMSA 30-12-1 makes it a misdemeanor to read, interrupt, take or copy a telephone or telegraph message without the consent of a sender or intended recipient. A party to the call can therefore consent to recording it. Customers calling from all-party states change the picture, so play a short notice at the start of recorded lines. The wording is in our guide to recording business calls.

Social Security numbers and the 45-day breach clock

Two sets of privacy rules apply even to a small company. The Privacy Protection Act (NMSA 57-12B) stops a business from requiring a consumer's Social Security number as a condition of buying services, with exceptions for credit applications and where the consumer consents. It also bars printing the number on receipts and requiring its use over the internet without a secure connection. A cleaning or HVAC company has little reason to ask for one on a web form.

The Data Breach Notification Act (NMSA 57-12C) covers anyone who owns or licenses personal identifying information of a New Mexico resident, defined as a name plus items such as a Social Security, driver's license or card number with its security code. You must keep reasonable security practices, dispose of records properly, and require service providers to do the same by contract. After a breach, residents must be notified in the most expedient time possible and no later than 45 calendar days after discovery, unless a risk assessment finds no significant risk of identity theft or similar misuse. If more than 1,000 New Mexico residents are notified, the Attorney General and the national credit bureaus must be told too. For a knowing or reckless violation, a court may impose a civil penalty of the greater of $25,000 or $10 per failed notice, capped at $150,000 for failed notification.

We did not find a New Mexico statute that sets a comprehensive consumer privacy regime with a revenue or consumer-count threshold, or one that regulates card surcharges, in the sources we read. If that changes, the state's legislature site is the place to check.

What this means for your setup

Website. Put the GRT treatment on your price pages and invoices, and build the cancellation notice into any contract signed at a customer's home. Keep forms from collecting Social Security numbers. Our website service covers quote and contract flows.

Business phone line. Stop outbound calls at 9 p.m., scrub cold lists against the national registry, and open each sales call by naming your company and the reason. Recording is allowed with one party's consent, plus a notice for out-of-state callers.

AI receptionist. Answering inbound calls is a different thing from soliciting. An AI voice that makes outbound sales calls with a recorded script needs an existing relationship and the caller's consent under 57-12-22(A). See our AI receptionist page.

Email. Keep opt-out links working and keep customers and cold prospects on separate lists. Confirm the ADV: question with counsel before sending cold ads. For your setup in the state generally, see starting a service business in New Mexico.

Frequently asked questions