HF 792

1st Engrossment - 84th Legislature (2005 - 2006) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to commerce; regulating mortgage originators 
  1.3             and servicers, athlete agents, and the contractor's 
  1.4             recovery fund; amending Minnesota Statutes 2004, 
  1.5             sections 116J.70, subdivision 2a; 326.975, subdivision 
  1.6             1. 
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 116J.70, 
  1.9   subdivision 2a, is amended to read: 
  1.10     Subd. 2a.  [LICENSE; EXCEPTIONS.] "Business license" or 
  1.11  "license" does not include the following:  
  1.12     (1) any occupational license or registration issued by a 
  1.13  licensing board listed in section 214.01 or any occupational 
  1.14  registration issued by the commissioner of health pursuant to 
  1.15  section 214.13; 
  1.16     (2) any license issued by a county, home rule charter city, 
  1.17  statutory city, township, or other political subdivision; 
  1.18     (3) any license required to practice the following 
  1.19  occupation regulated by the following sections:  
  1.20     (i) abstracters regulated pursuant to chapter 386; 
  1.21     (ii) accountants regulated pursuant to chapter 326A; 
  1.22     (iii) adjusters regulated pursuant to chapter 72B; 
  1.23     (iv) architects regulated pursuant to chapter 326; 
  1.24     (v) assessors regulated pursuant to chapter 270; 
  1.25     (vi) athletic trainers regulated pursuant to chapter 148; 
  1.26     (vii) attorneys regulated pursuant to chapter 481; 
  2.1      (viii) auctioneers regulated pursuant to chapter 330; 
  2.2      (ix) barbers and cosmetologists regulated pursuant to 
  2.3   chapter 154; 
  2.4      (x) boiler operators regulated pursuant to chapter 183; 
  2.5      (xi) chiropractors regulated pursuant to chapter 148; 
  2.6      (xii) collection agencies regulated pursuant to chapter 
  2.7   332; 
  2.8      (xiii) dentists, registered dental assistants, and dental 
  2.9   hygienists regulated pursuant to chapter 150A; 
  2.10     (xiv) detectives regulated pursuant to chapter 326; 
  2.11     (xv) electricians regulated pursuant to chapter 326; 
  2.12     (xvi) mortuary science practitioners regulated pursuant to 
  2.13  chapter 149A; 
  2.14     (xvii) engineers regulated pursuant to chapter 326; 
  2.15     (xviii) insurance brokers and salespersons regulated 
  2.16  pursuant to chapter 60A; 
  2.17     (xix) certified interior designers regulated pursuant to 
  2.18  chapter 326; 
  2.19     (xx) midwives regulated pursuant to chapter 147D; 
  2.20     (xxi) nursing home administrators regulated pursuant to 
  2.21  chapter 144A; 
  2.22     (xxii) optometrists regulated pursuant to chapter 148; 
  2.23     (xxiii) osteopathic physicians regulated pursuant to 
  2.24  chapter 147; 
  2.25     (xxiv) pharmacists regulated pursuant to chapter 151; 
  2.26     (xxv) physical therapists regulated pursuant to chapter 
  2.27  148; 
  2.28     (xxvi) physician assistants regulated pursuant to chapter 
  2.29  147A; 
  2.30     (xxvii) physicians and surgeons regulated pursuant to 
  2.31  chapter 147; 
  2.32     (xxviii) plumbers regulated pursuant to chapter 326; 
  2.33     (xxix) podiatrists regulated pursuant to chapter 153; 
  2.34     (xxx) practical nurses regulated pursuant to chapter 148; 
  2.35     (xxxi) professional fund-raisers regulated pursuant to 
  2.36  chapter 309; 
  3.1      (xxxii) psychologists regulated pursuant to chapter 148; 
  3.2      (xxxiii) real estate brokers, salespersons, and others 
  3.3   regulated pursuant to chapters 82 and 83; 
  3.4      (xxxiv) registered nurses regulated pursuant to chapter 
  3.5   148; 
  3.6      (xxxv) securities brokers, dealers, agents, and investment 
  3.7   advisers regulated pursuant to chapter 80A; 
  3.8      (xxxvi) steamfitters regulated pursuant to chapter 326; 
  3.9      (xxxvii) teachers and supervisory and support personnel 
  3.10  regulated pursuant to chapter 125; 
  3.11     (xxxviii) veterinarians regulated pursuant to chapter 156; 
  3.12     (xxxix) water conditioning contractors and installers 
  3.13  regulated pursuant to chapter 326; 
  3.14     (xl) water well contractors regulated pursuant to chapter 
  3.15  103I; 
  3.16     (xli) water and waste treatment operators regulated 
  3.17  pursuant to chapter 115; 
  3.18     (xlii) motor carriers regulated pursuant to chapter 221; 
  3.19     (xliii) professional firms regulated under chapter 319B; 
  3.20     (xliv) real estate appraisers regulated pursuant to chapter 
  3.21  82B; 
  3.22     (xlv) residential building contractors, residential 
  3.23  remodelers, residential roofers, manufactured home installers, 
  3.24  and specialty contractors regulated pursuant to chapter 326; 
  3.25     (xlvi) licensed professional counselors regulated pursuant 
  3.26  to chapter 148B; 
  3.27     (xlvii) residential mortgage originators and residential 
  3.28  mortgage servicers regulated under chapter 58; 
  3.29     (xlviii) athlete agents regulated under chapter 81A; 
  3.30     (4) any driver's license required pursuant to chapter 171; 
  3.31     (5) any aircraft license required pursuant to chapter 360; 
  3.32     (6) any watercraft license required pursuant to chapter 
  3.33  86B; 
  3.34     (7) any license, permit, registration, certification, or 
  3.35  other approval pertaining to a regulatory or management program 
  3.36  related to the protection, conservation, or use of or 
  4.1   interference with the resources of land, air, or water, which is 
  4.2   required to be obtained from a state agency or instrumentality; 
  4.3   and 
  4.4      (8) any pollution control rule or standard established by 
  4.5   the Pollution Control Agency or any health rule or standard 
  4.6   established by the commissioner of health or any licensing rule 
  4.7   or standard established by the commissioner of human services. 
  4.8      Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 326.975, 
  4.9   subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  4.10     Subdivision 1.  [GENERALLY.] (a) In addition to any other 
  4.11  fees, each applicant for a license under sections 326.83 to 
  4.12  326.98 shall pay a fee to the contractor's recovery fund.  The 
  4.13  contractor's recovery fund is created in the state treasury and 
  4.14  must be administered by the commissioner in the manner and 
  4.15  subject to all the requirements and limitations provided by 
  4.16  section 82.43 with the following exceptions: 
  4.17     (1) each licensee who renews a license shall pay in 
  4.18  addition to the appropriate renewal fee an additional fee which 
  4.19  shall be credited to the contractor's recovery fund.  The amount 
  4.20  of the fee shall be based on the licensee's gross annual 
  4.21  receipts for the licensee's most recent fiscal year preceding 
  4.22  the renewal, on the following scale: 
  4.23            Fee           Gross Receipts
  4.24            $100          under $1,000,000
  4.25            $150          $1,000,000 to $5,000,000
  4.26            $200          over $5,000,000
  4.27  Any person who receives a new license shall pay a fee based on 
  4.28  the same scale; 
  4.29     (2) the sole purpose of this fund is to:  (i) compensate 
  4.30  any aggrieved owner or lessee of residential property located 
  4.31  within this state who obtains a final judgment in any court of 
  4.32  competent jurisdiction against a licensee licensed under section 
  4.33  326.84, on grounds of fraudulent, deceptive, or dishonest 
  4.34  practices, conversion of funds, or failure of performance 
  4.35  arising directly out of any transaction when the judgment debtor 
  4.36  was licensed and performed any of the activities enumerated 
  5.1   under section 326.83, subdivision 19, on the owner's residential 
  5.2   property or on residential property rented by the lessee, or on 
  5.3   new residential construction which was never occupied prior to 
  5.4   purchase by the owner, or which was occupied by the licensee for 
  5.5   less than one year prior to purchase by the owner, and which 
  5.6   cause of action arose on or after April 1, 1994; and (ii) 
  5.7   reimburse the Department of Commerce for all legal and 
  5.8   administrative expenses, including staffing costs, incurred in 
  5.9   administering the fund; 
  5.10     (3) nothing may obligate the fund for more than $50,000 per 
  5.11  claimant, nor more than $75,000 per licensee; and 
  5.12     (4) nothing may obligate the fund for claims based on a 
  5.13  cause of action that arose before the licensee paid the recovery 
  5.14  fund fee set in clause (1), or as provided in section 326.945, 
  5.15  subdivision 3.  
  5.16     (b) Should the commissioner pay from the contractor's 
  5.17  recovery fund any amount in settlement of a claim or toward 
  5.18  satisfaction of a judgment against a licensee, the license shall 
  5.19  be automatically suspended upon the effective date of an order 
  5.20  by the court authorizing payment from the fund.  No licensee 
  5.21  shall be granted reinstatement until the licensee has repaid in 
  5.22  full, plus interest at the rate of 12 percent a year, twice the 
  5.23  amount paid from the fund on the licensee's account, and has 
  5.24  obtained a surety bond issued by an insurer authorized to 
  5.25  transact business in this state in the amount of at least 
  5.26  $40,000.