Minnesota Session Laws - 1990, Regular Session

  

                         Laws of Minnesota 1990 

                        CHAPTER 580-S.F.No. 1946 
           An act relating to real property; regulating mortgage 
          foreclosures and judgments and the filing of reports 
          on certain agricultural property; amending Minnesota 
          Statutes 1988, sections 500.24, subdivision 4; and 
          582.30, subdivisions 3, 4, and 5. 
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1988, section 500.24, 
subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 4.  [REPORTS.] (a) The chief executive officer of 
every pension or investment fund, corporation, or limited 
partnership, except a family farm corporation or a family farm 
limited partnership, that holds any interest in agricultural 
land or land used for the breeding, feeding, pasturing, growing, 
or raising of livestock, dairy or poultry, or products thereof, 
or land used for the production of agricultural crops or fruit 
or other horticultural products, other than a bona fide 
encumbrance taken for purposes of security, or which is engaged 
in farming or proposing to commence farming in this state after 
May 20, 1973, shall file with the commissioner of agriculture a 
report containing the following information and documents: 
    (1) The name of the pension or investment fund, 
corporation, or limited partnership and its place of 
incorporation, certification, or registration; 
    (2) The address of the pension or investment plan 
headquarters or of the registered office of the corporation in 
this state, the name and address of its registered agent in this 
state and, in the case of a foreign corporation or limited 
partnership, the address of its principal office in its place of 
incorporation, certification, or registration; 
     (3) The acreage and location listed by quarter-quarter 
section, township and county of each lot or parcel of land in 
this state owned or leased by the pension or investment fund, 
limited partnership, or corporation and used for the growing of 
crops or the keeping or feeding of poultry or livestock; 
     (4) The names and addresses of the officers, 
administrators, directors or trustees of the pension or 
investment fund, or of the officers, shareholders owning more 
than ten percent of the stock, including the percent of stock 
owned by each such shareholder, and the members of the board of 
directors of the corporation, and the general and limited 
partners and the percentage of interest in the partnership by 
each partner; 
     (5) The farm products which the pension or investment fund, 
limited partnership, or corporation produces or intends to 
produce on its agricultural land; 
     (6) With the first report, a copy of the title to the 
property where the farming operations are or will occur 
indicating the particular exception claimed under subdivision 3, 
clauses (a) to (r); and 
     (7) With the first or second report, a copy of the 
conservation plan proposed by the soil and water conservation 
district, and with subsequent reports a statement of whether the 
conservation plan was implemented. 
     The report of a corporation seeking to qualify hereunder as 
a family farm corporation, an authorized farm corporation, a 
family farm partnership, or authorized farm partnership shall 
contain the following additional information:  The number of 
shares or the partnership interests owned by persons residing on 
the farm or actively engaged in farming, or their relatives 
within the third degree of kindred according to the rules of the 
civil law or their spouses; the name, address and number of 
shares owned by each shareholder or partnership interests owned 
by each partner; and a statement as to percentage of gross 
receipts of the corporation derived from rent, royalties, 
dividends, interest and annuities.  No pension or investment 
fund, limited partnership, or corporation shall commence farming 
in this state until the commissioner of agriculture has 
inspected the report and certified that its proposed operations 
comply with the provisions of this section. 
     (b) Every pension or investment fund, limited partnership, 
or corporation as described in clause (a) shall, prior to April 
15 of each year, file with the commissioner of agriculture a 
report containing the information required in clause (a), based 
on its operations in the preceding calendar year and its status 
at the end of the year.  A pension or investment fund, limited 
partnership, or corporation that does not file the report by 
April 15 must pay a $500 civil penalty.  The penalty is a lien 
on the land being farmed under subdivision 3 until the penalty 
is paid. 
    (c) The commissioner or the commissioner's authorized 
representative may enter into a written agreement with a person 
required to file a report under this subdivision who, for good 
cause shown, has failed to make a timely filing.  An agreement 
must be construed as a "no contest" pleading and may encompass a 
reduction or waiver of the civil penalty for late filing.  The 
agreement is final and conclusive with respect to the civil 
penalty, except upon a showing of fraud or malfeasance or 
misrepresentation of a material fact.  The matter agreed upon in 
the agreement may not be reopened or modified by an officer, 
employee, or agent of the state.  The report required under 
paragraph (b) must be completed prior to a reduction or waiver 
under this paragraph.  The commissioner may enter into an 
agreement only once for each person required to file under this 
subdivision.  
    (d) Failure to file a required report, or the willful 
filing of false information, shall constitute a gross 
misdemeanor. 
    Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1988, section 582.30, 
subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 3.  [MORTGAGE ON AGRICULTURAL PROPERTY ENTERED AFTER 
MARCH 22, 1986.] (a) If a mortgage entered after March 22, 1986 
on property used in agricultural production is foreclosed and 
sold, a deficiency judgment may only be obtained by filing a 
separate an action for a deficiency judgment and a determination 
of the fair market value of the property within 90 days after 
the foreclosure sale.  In the action all issues of fact, 
including determination of the fair market value of the 
property, shall be tried by a jury unless a jury trial is waived 
as provided in Minnesota district court rules.  A court may 
allow a deficiency judgment only if it determines that the sale 
of the property was conducted in a commercially reasonable 
manner. 
    (b) The amount of the deficiency judgment is limited to the 
difference of the fair market value of the property, and the 
amount remaining unpaid on the mortgage if the foreclosure is 
under chapter 580 or the amount of the judgment if the 
foreclosure is under chapter 581.  A separate jury proceeding 
must be brought to determine the fair market value of the 
property.  The property may not be presumed to be sold for its 
fair market value.  A party adversely affected by a deficiency 
judgment may submit evidence relevant to establishing the fair 
market value of the property.  Notice of the time and place 
where the action for the deficiency judgment and the 
determination of fair market value of the property is to 
be determined heard must be given to all parties adversely 
affected by the judgment. 
    Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1988, section 582.30, 
subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 4.  [JUDGMENT ON MORTGAGE NOTE.] A personal judgment 
may not be executed against a mortgagor liable on a mortgage 
note entered after March 22, 1986 secured by real property used 
in agricultural production, unless the fair market value of the 
property is determined by a jury in a separate proceeding as 
provided in subdivision 3, paragraph (b).  The personal judgment 
on the mortgage note may not be for more than the difference of 
the amount due on the note and the fair market value of the 
property. 
    Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1988, section 582.30, 
subdivision 5, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 5.  [MORTGAGE ON AGRICULTURAL PROPERTY ENTERED ON OR 
BEFORE MARCH 22, 1986.] (a) If a mortgage entered on or before 
March 22, 1986 on property used in agricultural production is 
foreclosed and sold, a deficiency judgment may only be obtained 
by filing a separate an action for a deficiency judgment and a 
determination of the fair market value of the property within 90 
days after the foreclosure sale.  In the action all issues of 
fact, including determination of the fair market value of the 
property, shall be tried by a jury unless a jury trial is waived 
as provided in Minnesota district court rules.  A court may 
allow a deficiency judgment only if it determines that the sale 
of the property was conducted in a commercially reasonable 
manner. 
    (b) The amount of the deficiency judgment is limited to the 
difference of the fair market value of the property, and the 
amount remaining unpaid on the mortgage if the foreclosure is 
under chapter 580 or the amount of the judgment if the 
foreclosure is under chapter 581.  A separate jury proceeding 
must be brought to determine the fair market value of the 
property.  The property may not be presumed to be sold for its 
fair market value.  A party adversely affected by a deficiency 
judgment may submit evidence relevant to establishing the fair 
market value of the property.  Notice of the time and place 
where the action for the deficiency judgment and the 
determination of fair market value of the property is to 
be determined heard must be given to all parties adversely 
affected by the judgment. 
    Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 1988, section 582.30, 
subdivision 6, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 6.  [JUDGMENT ON MORTGAGE NOTE.] A personal judgment 
may not be executed against a mortgagor liable on a mortgage 
note entered on or before March 22, 1986 secured by real 
property used in agricultural production, unless the fair market 
value of the property is determined by a jury in a separate 
proceeding as provided in subdivision 5, paragraph (b).  The 
personal judgment on the mortgage note may not be for more than 
the difference of the amount due on the note and the fair market 
value of the property. 
    Sec. 6.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
    Section 1 is effective the day following final enactment, 
but the provision allowing for an agreement concerning reduction 
or waiver of a civil penalty for late filing applies to a filing 
due April 15, 1989, or thereafter. 
    Presented to the governor April 28, 1990 
    Signed by the governor May 8, 1990, 8:58 p.m.