1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to commerce; regulating real estate transactions; defining terms; 
1.3 	regulating closing agents;amending Minnesota Statutes 2006, sections 68A.04; 
1.4 	82.17, subdivision 3; 82.49.
1.5 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.6 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 68A.04, is amended to read:
1.7 	68A.04 ~~DEFINITION OF DIRECT RISK PREMIUMS~~ DEFINITIONS.
1.8 		Subdivision 1.Direct risk premiums. For purposes of this chapter, "direct risk 
1.9 	premiums" means the charge for title insurance made by a title insurance company or its 
1.10 	agents according to the company's rate filing approved by the commissioner of commerce 
1.11 	without a deduction for commissions paid to or retained by the agent and is that portion of 
1.12 	the fee charged by a title insurance company to an insured or an applicant for insurance 
1.13 	for the assumption by the title insurance company of the risk created by the issuance 
1.14 	of the title insurance policy. Direct risk premiums of a title insurance company do not 
1.15 	include any other charge or fee for abstracting, searching, or examining the title, or for 
1.16 	escrow, closing, or other related services.
1.17 		Subd. 2.Title insurance. For purposes of this chapter, "title insurance" means 
1.18 	insuring or indemnifying owners of real or personal property, the holders of liens or 
1.19 	encumbrances on the personal property, or others interested in the personal property 
1.20 	against the unmarketability of the title to the property; the invalidity, impairment, or 
1.21 	unenforceability of any liens or encumbrances on the property; or the doing, or proposing 
1.22 	to do, any business in substance equivalent to any of the foregoing whether or not designed 
1.23 	to evade the provisions of this chapter.

2.1 	Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 82.17, subdivision 3, is amended to read:
2.2 		Subd. 3.Closing agent; real estate closing agent. "Closing agent" or "real estate 
2.3 	closing agent" means any person whether or not acting as an agent for a title company, a 
2.4 	licensed attorney, real estate broker, or real estate salesperson, who for another and with or 
2.5 	without a commission, fee, or other valuable consideration or with or without the intention 
2.6 	or expectation of receiving a commission, fee, or other valuable consideration, directly or 
2.7 	indirectly provides closing services incident to the sale, trade, lease, or loan of residential 
2.8 	real estate, including in the ordinary course of business, the acknowledgment of deeds and 
2.9 	for other services of a notary public as authorized by law,  drawing or assisting in drawing 
2.10 	papers incident to the sale, trade, lease, or loan of residential real estate, or advertises or 
2.11 	claims to be engaged in these activities.

2.12 	Sec. 3. Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 82.49, is amended to read:
2.13 	82.49 TABLE FUNDING.
2.14 		Subdivision 1.Definitions. (a) For purposes of this section, the terms in this 
2.15 	subdivision have the meanings given them.
2.16 	(b) "Closing agent" has the meaning given in section 82.17, subdivision 3. 
2.17 	(c) "Collected funds" means funds deposited, finally settled, and credited to the 
2.18 	closing agent's escrow account.
2.19 	~~(d) "Established business relationship" means that the closing agent has performed~~ 
2.20 	~~at least 25 residential closings on behalf of the lender.~~
2.21 	~~(e)~~ (d) "Federally insured financial institution" means an institution in which 
2.22 	monetary deposits are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or National 
2.23 	Credit Union Administration.
2.24 	~~(f)~~ (e) "Lender" means a person who makes residential mortgage loans including 
2.25 	a person who engages in table funding. "Lender" does not include any organization 
2.26 	described in section 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as 
2.27 	amended, if the organization is exempt from tax under section 501(a) of the Internal 
2.28 	Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. "Lender" does not include a state or any political 
2.29 	subdivision of a state.
2.30 	~~(g)~~ (f) "Qualified loan funds" means funds in one of the following forms:
2.31 	(1) lawful money of the United States;
2.32 	(2) wired funds when unconditionally held by the closing agent;
2.33 	(3) cashier's checks~~, certified checks, bank money orders, or teller's checks~~ issued by 
2.34 	a federally insured financial institution and unconditionally held by the closing agent; and
3.1 	(4) United States treasury checks, Federal Reserve Bank checks, federal home loan 
3.2 	bank checks, and state of Minnesota warrants.
3.3 	~~(h)~~ (g) "Table funding" means a closing or settlement at which a mortgage loan 
3.4 	is funded by a lender by a contemporaneous advance of mortgage loan funds and an 
3.5 	assignment of the mortgage loan to the lender advancing the funds.
3.6 		Subd. 2.Requirements. (a) A closing agent shall not make disbursements out of an 
3.7 	escrow, security deposit, settlement, or closing account unless the funds received from 
3.8 	the lender are collected funds or qualified loan funds. ~~This subdivision does not prohibit~~ 
3.9 	~~a closing agent from electing to disburse out of an escrow, security deposit, settlement,~~ 
3.10 	~~or closing account, other than with collected funds or qualified loan funds, if the closing~~ 
3.11 	~~agent has an established business relationship with the lender on whose behalf the closing~~ 
3.12 	~~is being conducted.~~
3.13 	(b) A lender, using the closing services of a closing agent, shall at or before the time 
3.14 	of the closing deliver loan funds to the closing agent either in the form of collected funds 
3.15 	or qualified loan funds.