1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to real property; providing for definite and 
  1.3             specific descriptions for certain easements; applying 
  1.4             the requirement retroactively to all easements 
  1.5             whenever created; providing that certain deficiency 
  1.6             judgment requirements do not apply to property that is 
  1.7             not used for agricultural production by the mortgagor; 
  1.8             amending Minnesota Statutes 1998, sections 300.045; 
  1.9             and 582.30, subdivision 1. 
  1.10  BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.11     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 300.045, is 
  1.12  amended to read: 
  1.13     300.045 [EASEMENTS OVER PRIVATE PROPERTY, LIMITATIONS.] 
  1.14     (a) When public service corporations, including pipeline 
  1.15  companies, acquire easements over private property by purchase, 
  1.16  gift, or eminent domain proceedings, except temporary easements 
  1.17  for construction, they must definitely and specifically describe 
  1.18  the easement being acquired, and may ~~not~~ acquire an easement 
  1.19  ~~greater than the minimum~~ in a width necessary for the safe 
  1.20  conduct of their business.  
  1.21     (b) For the purposes of this section, a public service 
  1.22  corporation may meet the requirement of a definite and specific 
  1.23  description of an easement by: 
  1.24     (1) including in the recorded description of the easement 
  1.25  the specific legal reference points as to the location of the 
  1.26  easement in relation to the corners of the specific property 
  1.27  involved at the points the easement enters and departs from the 
  2.1   property, the width of the easement, and each change of course 
  2.2   as the easement crosses the property; or 
  2.3      (2) appending to the recorded description of the easement a 
  2.4   drawing that identifies by means of a scale or specific 
  2.5   measurements the location of the easement in relation to the 
  2.6   corners of the specific property involved at the points the 
  2.7   easement enters and departs from the property, the width of the 
  2.8   easement, and each change of course as the easement crosses the 
  2.9   property. 
  2.10     (c) When a question arises as to the location, width, or 
  2.11  course of an easement across specific property and the recorded 
  2.12  description of the easement does not include a definite and 
  2.13  specific description of the location, width, or course of the 
  2.14  easement ~~by a method identified in clause (1) or (2)~~, the public 
  2.15  service corporation holding the easement shall, upon written 
  2.16  request by the specific property owner, produce and record in a 
  2.17  timely manner an instrument that provides a definite and 
  2.18  specific description ~~using a method described in clause (1) or~~ 
  2.19  ~~(2)~~.  The definite and specific description must be the minimum 
  2.20  width necessary for the safe conduct of the business of the 
  2.21  public service corporation with respect to the language of the 
  2.22  original easement.  In the partial release or other instrument, 
  2.23  a public service corporation may reserve: 
  2.24     (1) the right of reasonable ingress and egress over and 
  2.25  across the released property, provided that it shall agree to 
  2.26  pay any damages caused by the exercise of such rights; and 
  2.27     (2) additional conditions and restrictions permitted in the 
  2.28  original easement. 
  2.29     Thirty days after a public service corporation has produced 
  2.30  to the property owner a definite and specific description, it 
  2.31  may record the description and is not thereafter required to 
  2.32  again produce or record under this section for the same property 
  2.33  or a part of the same property.  
  2.34     This section applies to every easement over private 
  2.35  property acquired by a public service corporation, regardless of 
  2.36  when the easement was acquired or created. 
  3.1      (d) This section does not require a public service 
  3.2   corporation to physically locate, establish, and monument by 
  3.3   means of a land survey prepared by a licensed land surveyor the 
  3.4   corners of the specific property involved. 
  3.5      (e) This section does not limit direct access to a public 
  3.6   service corporation easement in an emergency situation.  The 
  3.7   public service corporation affected by the emergency must 
  3.8   compensate the property owner for damages caused by directly 
  3.9   accessing the easement. 
  3.10     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 582.30, 
  3.11  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  3.12     Subdivision 1.  [DEFICIENCY ALLOWED.] (a) Except as 
  3.13  provided in this section, a person holding a mortgage may obtain 
  3.14  a deficiency judgment against the mortgagor if the amount a 
  3.15  person holding a mortgage receives from a foreclosure sale is 
  3.16  less than: 
  3.17     (1) the amount remaining unpaid on the mortgage under 
  3.18  chapter 580; or 
  3.19     (2) the amount of the judgment entered under chapter 581. 
  3.20     (b) Except as provided in subdivisions 3 and 5, the 
  3.21  judgment may not be for more than the difference between the 
  3.22  amount received from the foreclosure sale less expenses and 
  3.23  costs and: 
  3.24     (1) for a foreclosure by advertisement, the total amount 
  3.25  that attaches to the sale proceeds under chapter 580; or 
  3.26     (2) for a foreclosure by action, the amount of the judgment 
  3.27  entered under chapter 581. 
  3.28     (c) Subdivisions 3 to 9 do not apply to mortgages entered 
  3.29  or amended on or after the day following final enactment, if the 
  3.30  mortgaged property is used in agricultural production only by a 
  3.31  tenant who is not the mortgagor. 
  3.32     Sec. 3.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  3.33     This act is effective the day after its final enactment.  
  3.34  Section 1 applies retroactively to all easements whenever 
  3.35  created except that section 1 does not apply to litigation 
  3.36  pending on the effective date.