A. There is created a public body politic and corporate, separate and apart from the state, constituting a governmental instrumentality, to be known as the "New Mexico mortgage finance authority", for the performance of essential public functions. The authority shall be composed of seven members. The lieutenant governor, state treasurer and attorney general shall be ex-officio members of the authority with voting privileges. The governor, with the advice and consent of the senate, shall appoint the other four members of the authority, who shall be residents of the state and shall not hold other public office. The four members of the authority appointed by the governor shall be appointed for terms of four years or less staggered so that the term of one member expires on January 1 of each year. Vacancies shall be filled by appointment by the governor for the remainder of the unexpired term. Any member of the authority shall be eligible for reappointment. Each member of the authority appointed by the governor may be removed by the governor for misfeasance, malfeasance or willful neglect of duty after reasonable notice and a public hearing, unless the notice and hearing are, in writing, expressly waived. Each member of the authority appointed by the governor, before entering upon duty, shall take an oath of office to administer the duties of the office faithfully and impartially, and a record of the oath shall be filed in the office of the secretary of state. The governor shall designate a member of the authority to serve as chair for a term that shall be coterminous with the chair's then current term as a member of the authority. The authority shall annually elect one of its members as vice chair. The authority shall also elect or appoint and prescribe the duties of other officers, who need not be members, as the authority deems necessary or advisable, including an executive director and a secretary, who may be the same person. The authority shall fix the compensation of officers. Officers and employees of the authority are not subject to the Personnel Act [Chapter 10, Article 9 NMSA 1978]. The authority may delegate to one or more of its members, officers, employees or agents the powers and duties it may deem proper.

B. All members, officers, employees or agents exercising any voting power or discretionary authority shall be required to have a fiduciary bond in the amount of one million dollars ($1,000,000) for the faithful performance of their duties, the cost of which shall be proper expense of the authority.

C. The executive director shall administer, manage and direct the affairs and business of the authority, subject to the policies, control and direction of the members of the authority. The secretary of the authority shall keep a record of the proceedings of the authority and shall be custodian of all books, documents and papers filed with the authority, the minute book or journal of the authority and its official seal. The secretary shall have authority to make copies of all minutes and other records and documents of the authority and to give certificates under the official seal of the authority to the effect that the copies are true copies and all persons dealing with the authority may rely upon the certificates.

D. Meetings of the authority shall be held at the call of the chair or whenever three members so request in writing. A majority of members in office shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of any business and for the exercise of any power or function of the authority. A vacancy in the membership of the authority shall not impair the rights of a quorum to exercise all the rights and to perform all the duties of the authority. An ex-officio member from time to time may designate in writing another person to attend meetings of the authority and, to the same extent and with the same effect, act in the member's stead.

E. The authority is not created or organized, and its operations shall not be conducted, for the purpose of making a profit. No part of the revenues or assets of the authority shall inure to the benefit of or be distributable to its members or officers or other private persons. The members of the authority shall not receive compensation for their services, but the members of the authority, its officers and employees shall be paid allowed expenses if approved by the authority in accordance with policies adopted by the authority and approved by the Mortgage Finance Authority Act oversight committee.

F. The authority shall be separate and apart from the state and shall not be subject to the supervision or control of a board, bureau, department or agency of the state except as specifically provided in the Mortgage Finance Authority Act. To effectuate the separation of the state from the authority, the use of the terms "state agency" or "instrumentality" in any other law of the state shall not be deemed to refer to the authority unless the authority is specifically named.

History: 1953 Comp., § 13-19-4, enacted by Laws 1975, ch. 303, § 4; 1985, ch. 232, § 1; 1987, ch. 57, § 1; 1995, ch. 9, § 6; 2003, ch. 17, § 1.

Cross references. — For the Mortgage Finance Authority Act oversight committee, see 2-12-5 NMSA 1978.

The 2003 amendment, effective June 20, 2003, in Subsection A, substituted "lieutenant governor" for "director of the financial institutions division of the regulation and licensing department" near the beginning of the third sentence, and inserted "appointment by" following "Vacancies shall be filled by" near the beginning of the sixth sentence; substituted "make copies" for "cause copies to be made" near the beginning of the third sentence of Subsection C; deleted "In order" at the beginning of the second sentence of Subsection F; and substituted "named" for "referred to therein" at the end of the second sentence of Subsection F.

The 1995 amendment, effective June 16, 1995, added the language beginning "the cost of which" at the end of Subsection B and made a minor stylistic change.

Subsection B should be construed as requiring bonding prior to discharge of duties; if the bonding is to insure "faithful performance," then it would have to precede that performance. 1975 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 75-55.