Minnesota Session Laws - 1985, Regular Session

  

                         Laws of Minnesota 1985 

                        CHAPTER 148-S.F.No. 800 
           An act relating to consumer protection; providing 
          certain disclosures to parties to real estate 
          transactions; prohibiting certain deceptive 
          advertising practices; amending Minnesota Statutes 
          1984, sections 82.19, by adding a subdivision; 
          325F.68, by adding a subdivision; and 325F.69, by 
          adding a subdivision.  
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
    Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1984, section 82.19, is 
amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
    Subd. 5.  [DISCLOSURE REGARDING REPRESENTATION OF 
PARTIES.] (a) No person licensed pursuant to this chapter or who 
otherwise acts as a real estate broker or salesperson shall 
represent any party or parties to a real estate transaction or 
otherwise act as a real estate broker or salesperson unless he 
or she makes an affirmative written disclosure to all parties to 
the transaction as to which party he or she represents in the 
transaction.  The disclosure shall be printed in at least 
six-point bold type on the purchase agreement and acknowledged 
by separate signatures of the buyer and seller. 
    (b) The disclosure required by this subdivision must be 
made by the licensee prior to any offer being made to or 
accepted by the buyer.  A change in licensee's representation 
that makes the initial disclosure incomplete, misleading, or 
inaccurate requires that a new disclosure be made at once. 
    (c) The seller may, in the listing agreement, authorize the 
seller's broker to disburse part of the broker's compensation to 
other brokers, including the buyer's brokers solely representing 
the buyer.  A broker representing a buyer shall make known to 
the seller or the seller's agent the fact of the agency 
relationship before any showing or negotiations are initiated. 
    Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1984, section 325F.68, is 
amended by adding a subdivision to read:  
    Subd. 5.  "Going out of business sale" means any sale 
advertised or held out to the public as a sale in anticipation 
of the imminent termination of a business, including any sale 
advertised or held out to the public as a "going out of business 
sale," a "close out sale," a "loss of lease sale," a "must 
vacate sale," a "bankruptcy sale," or in any similar terms. 
    Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1984, section 325F.69, is 
amended by adding a subdivision to read:  
    Subd. 5.  [PROHIBITED GOING OUT OF BUSINESS SALES.] It is 
illegal for any person to represent falsely that a sale is a 
"going out of business sale."  Any representation that a sale is 
a "going out of business sale" is presumed to be false and 
illegal under this subdivision, if at that location or within a 
relevant market area:  
    (1) the sale has been represented to be a "going out of 
business sale" for a period of more than 120 days;  
    (2) the business has increased its inventory for the sale 
by ordering or purchasing an unusual amount of merchandise 
during the sale or during the 90 days before the sale began;  
    (3) the business, or any of its officers or directors, has 
advertised any other sale as a "going out of business sale" 
during the 120 days before this sale began; or 
    (4) the sale has continued after a date on which the 
business has represented, expressly or by reasonable 
implication, that the business would terminate.  
    Any presumption arising under clauses (1) to (4) may be 
rebutted if the business shows, by clear and convincing 
evidence, that the sale was in fact conducted in anticipation of 
the imminent termination of the business.  This subdivision does 
not apply to a sale in any statutory or home rule charter city 
that by ordinance requires the licensing of persons conducting a 
"going out of business sale," nor to public officers acting in 
the course of their official duties. 
    Approved May 20, 1985