New Mexico gift card laws require covered cards to stay valid for at least five years and prohibit nearly all fees that would eat into the balance, including dormancy and service charges. The rules live in Section 57-12-26 of the state statutes, part of the Unfair Practices Act, so a violation is automatically a deceptive trade practice that a consumer can sue over.1Justia. New Mexico Code 57-12-26 – Gift Certificates; Expiration; Fees; Penalties The protections are strong, but they do not reach every card you can buy at a New Mexico store.
Which Cards the State Law Covers
The statute uses the term “gift certificate,” defined broadly enough to include physical gift cards, electronic stored-value cards, and merchandise credits. A card qualifies if the issuer took payment for its full face value and the holder can redeem it for goods or services from a particular seller.1Justia. New Mexico Code 57-12-26 – Gift Certificates; Expiration; Fees; Penalties
The exclusions are where most people get surprised. The state law does not cover:
- Cards redeemable at multiple unaffiliated sellers. Visa, Mastercard, and American Express gift cards sold at the pharmacy or grocery store fall outside the statute, as do mall cards good at dozens of different stores.1Justia. New Mexico Code 57-12-26 – Gift Certificates; Expiration; Fees; Penalties
- Promotional and incentive cards you did not pay for, such as a “buy one get one” bonus card or a loyalty reward. The business can set any expiration it wants on these.1Justia. New Mexico Code 57-12-26 – Gift Certificates; Expiration; Fees; Penalties
- Cards issued by banks, savings and loan associations, credit unions, or licensed money transmitters, which are governed by federal banking regulations instead.1Justia. New Mexico Code 57-12-26 – Gift Certificates; Expiration; Fees; Penalties
- Prepaid cards tied to a checking, savings, or similar account at a regulated financial institution.
If your card is a single-retailer gift card you bought at face value, the state rules below apply. If it is one of the excluded types, skip ahead to the federal section.
How Long a Gift Card Must Last
A covered gift card must carry an expiration date of at least sixty months, or five years, from the issue date.1Justia. New Mexico Code 57-12-26 – Gift Certificates; Expiration; Fees; Penalties The retailer can make it longer, but anything shorter breaks the law.
If no expiration date is conspicuously printed on the card, the law presumes none exists, and the card stays valid until it is redeemed or replaced.1Justia. New Mexico Code 57-12-26 – Gift Certificates; Expiration; Fees; Penalties A business cannot pull an expiration date out of thin air to refuse a card that never had one.
What Fees Are Allowed
New Mexico is strict here. Beyond the initial purchase price (which cannot exceed the card’s face value), an issuer cannot charge any fee tied to the sale, redemption, or replacement of the card. Dormancy and service fees are named specifically, but the statute bars fees “of any kind.”1Justia. New Mexico Code 57-12-26 – Gift Certificates; Expiration; Fees; Penalties Monthly maintenance charges, inactivity penalties, replacement fees for a lost card: none of them are permitted. The full dollar amount you paid stays on the card.
Federal law is weaker on this point. It allows one inactivity fee per month after twelve months of no use, provided the fee is disclosed on the card. For single-retailer New Mexico cards, the state’s blanket ban wins.
Federal Rules for the Cards New Mexico Doesn’t Cover
Because multi-seller cards and bank-issued cards sit outside the state statute, federal rules under Regulation E fill the gap. Funds on a gift card, store gift card, or general-use prepaid card must stay available for at least five years from the date of issuance or the last time money was loaded onto it.2eCFR. 12 CFR 1005.20 – Requirements for Gift Cards and Gift Certificates
Inactivity, dormancy, and service fees are permitted on those cards, but only after twelve months without activity, only if the fee amount, frequency, and reason are clearly stated on the card, and only once per calendar month. The card must also show a toll-free number, and a website if one exists, so you can get a replacement after the plastic expires as long as the underlying funds are still good.2eCFR. 12 CFR 1005.20 – Requirements for Gift Cards and Gift Certificates The printed expiration on the card can be shorter than the life of the money behind it, so call the number before writing off a balance.
What To Do If a Business Breaks the Rules
Because a violation of the gift card statute counts as an unfair or deceptive trade practice, consumers have two realistic options.
Sue the Business
Anyone who loses money because of a violation can bring a civil action and recover actual damages or $100, whichever is greater. If the court finds the business acted willfully, the award can go up to three times actual damages or $300, whichever is greater.3Justia. New Mexico Code 57-12-10 – Private Remedies Those statutory minimums matter: without them, a $25 gift card dispute would never justify a lawsuit.
A consumer who wins is also entitled to attorney fees and court costs, and the court is required to award them, not merely permitted to.3Justia. New Mexico Code 57-12-10 – Private Remedies That mandatory fee-shifting is what makes legal representation realistic for a small claim. The flip side: if a court finds the lawsuit groundless, the business can recover its own attorney fees from the consumer.
File a Complaint with the Attorney General
The New Mexico Attorney General enforces the Unfair Practices Act and can delegate authority to district attorneys. You can file a complaint through the Attorney General’s website or by calling 1-844-255-9210.4New Mexico Department of Justice. Consumer Advisory – AG Balderas Issues Gift Card Advisory A complaint will not necessarily get your money back, but it feeds the office’s enforcement work and can trigger a broader investigation.
Things the Law Does Not Help With
A few common situations fall outside what the gift card statute can fix.
A retailer that closes or files for bankruptcy. A gift card is an unsecured debt from the business to you. In bankruptcy, unsecured creditors sit near the bottom of the line, behind secured lenders and priority claimants, and often recover little. A reorganizing retailer may keep honoring cards for a stretch; a liquidating one usually does not. State consumer protection law does not override federal bankruptcy law, so the practical answer is to use gift cards within a reasonable time rather than treating them as savings.
Cash back for a small remaining balance. Some states require retailers to redeem a card for cash once the balance drops below a set threshold. New Mexico does not. If you have a few dollars left on a card, the retailer can decline to cash it out, though many will as a courtesy if you ask.
Money you sent a scammer in gift cards. No legitimate business or government agency asks to be paid in gift cards. If it has already happened, contact the card’s issuer right away and ask them to reverse the transaction, then report the fraud to the Federal Trade Commission at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.5Federal Trade Commission. Welcome to NCPW 2026 Speed matters more than anything else once the numbers are in a scammer’s hands.