How to Get a Lottery Agent License in New Mexico
Surety Bond Professionals is a family owned and operated bonding agency with over 30 years of experience. With access to a broad range of surety markets, our expert agents are ready to assist with all of your New Mexico lottery retailer bond needs.
How Do I Get a Lottery Agent License?
To initiate the process that can lead to the issuance of a retail lottery license (Certificate of Authority) by the New Mexico Lottery Authority (NMLA), fill out the request form on the New Mexico Lottery website. A customer service representative will contact you in the manner you indicated (phone or email) to provide licensing information and guidance.
What Does the Licensing Process Involve?
The application packet contains authorization and release forms that, once you have signed them, will allow the Lottery to conduct certain background checks into your finances and credit history, tax liabilities, and any criminal records. Given the nature of lottery sales, it’s understandable that applicants for a New Mexico Lottery Certificate of Authority must meet high financial responsibility standards. If the background checks reveal any questionable or unresolved credit issues, such as an item in collections or an unresolved court judgment, you may be licensed conditionally and be required to post a security deposit, usually in the form of a surety bond, in an amount that NMLA will establish based on anticipated lottery sales.
Why Is a Lottery Bond Required?
The New Mexico Lottery Authority’s financial responsibility standards are intended to ensure that lottery retailers remit the proceeds from the sale of lottery tickets as required and comply with all other aspects of the New Mexico Lottery Retailer Contract. The security requirement provides a measure of financial protection for the state and the public and a way for any party financially injured by the unlawful or unethical actions of a conditionally licensed lottery retailer to recover damages.
How Does a Lottery Bond Work?
There are three parties to a New Mexico lottery bond: NMLA (the “obligee” requiring the bond), the conditionally licensed lottery retailer (the “principal”), and the bond’s guarantor (the “surety”). In purchasing the bond, the principal guarantees to abide by all NMLA statutes and the terms of the Retailer Contract and to compensate any party who experiences a financial loss because of the principal’s noncompliance.
The surety bond legally obligates the principal to pay all valid claims. But because the surety has guaranteed payment of claims, the surety will pay a claim initially and collect reimbursement from the principal.
What Does a Lottery Bond Cost?
New Mexico lottery bonds are sold on the basis of an annual premium established through an underwriting process that assesses the risk of the surety not being repaid for claims paid on the principal’s behalf. The primary measure of risk is the principal’s personal credit score.
The higher the credit score, the lower the risk to the surety, which deserves a low premium rate, usually only one or two percent. An applicant with lesser credit will be assigned a higher premium rate.
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