FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 23, 2016
Contact: James Hallinan (505) 660-2216
Albuquerque, NM – Attorney General Hector Balderas announced today that the Office of the Attorney General filed the first of his lawsuits against charities across the state who have failed to come into compliance in their registration and reporting as required by the Charitable Solicitations Act. Today’s six lawsuits are the next step in the Charities Compliance Sweep which began in December of 2017.
“New Mexicans who open their hearts and wallets deserve to know how their hard-earned money is being spent by a charity,” said Attorney General Balderas. “Despite having offered charities the opportunity to voluntarily come into compliance with state law, some have failed to do so, depriving New Mexicans of the ability to make informed choices about where to donate.”
The registration and reporting requirements imposed by the Charitable Solicitations Act and enforced by the Attorney General serve the charitable community and the public by providing easily accessible information to support the charities’ duty of transparency, and to allow the public to view tax forms and other documents on the internet as they determine the best recipient of their charitable donations.
In December, the Attorney General warned non-compliant charities that, should they refuse the chance to voluntarily become compliant, they would face the consequences of formal legal action by the Office of the Attorney General.
Organizations who did not make good on their registration and reporting requirements will be the subject of lawsuits to stop those non-compliant charities from raising money or operating in New Mexico.
Copies of the lawsuits available upon request.
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