1998 Minnesota Statutes

     327B.04 Manufacturers and dealers; licenses; bonds. 

    Subdivision 1.    License and bond required.  No person 
 shall act as a dealer in manufactured homes, new or used, 
 without a license and a surety bond as provided in this 
 section.  No person shall manufacture manufactured homes without 
 a license and a surety bond as provided in this section.  The 
 licensing and bonding requirements of this section do not apply 
 to any bank, savings bank, savings association, or credit union, 
 chartered by either this state or the federal government, which 
 acts as a dealer only by repossessing manufactured homes and 
 then offering the homes for resale.  

    Subd. 2.    Subagency licenses.  Any dealer who has a 
 place of business at more than one location shall designate one 
 location as its principal place of business, one name as its 
 principal name, and all other established places of business as 
 subagencies.  A subagency license shall be required for each 
 subagency.  No dealer shall do business as a dealer under any 
 other name than the name on its license.  

    Subd. 3.    License application.  Application for a 
 license and its renewal shall be made to the commissioner, shall 
 be in writing, and duly verified by oath.  The applicant shall 
 submit any information required by the commissioner, upon forms 
 provided by the commissioner for that purpose, including: 

    (a) proof of identity; 

    (b) the name under which the applicant will be licensed and 
 do business in this state; 

    (c) the applicant's type and place of business; 

    (d) The name, home and business address of the applicant's 
 directors, officers, limited and general partners, controlling 
 shareholders and affiliates; 

    (e) whether the applicant, or any of its directors, 
 officers, limited or general partners, controlling shareholders 
 or affiliates, has been convicted of a crime within the previous 
 ten years that either related directly to the business for which 
 the license is sought or involved fraud, misrepresentation or 
 misuse of funds, or has suffered a judgment in a civil action 
 involving fraud, misrepresentation, or conversion within the 
 previous five years or has had any government license or permit 
 suspended or revoked as a result of an action brought by a 
 federal or state governmental agency in this or any other state 
 within the last five years; and 

    (f) the applicant's qualifications and business history, 
 including whether the applicant, or any of its directors, 
 officers, limited or general partners, controlling shareholders 
 or affiliates has ever been adjudged bankrupt or insolvent, or 
 has any unsatisfied court judgments outstanding against it or 
 them.  

    Subd. 4.    License prerequisites.  No application shall 
 be granted nor license issued until the applicant proves to the 
 commissioner that:  

    (a) the applicant has a permanent, established place of 
 business at each licensed location.  An "established place of 
 business" means a permanent enclosed building other than a 
 residence, or a commercial office space, either owned by the 
 applicant or leased by the applicant for a term of at least one 
 year, located in an area where zoning regulations allow 
 commercial activity, and where the books, records and files 
 necessary to conduct the business are kept and maintained.  The 
 owner of a licensed manufactured home park who resides in or 
 adjacent to the park may use the residence as the established 
 place of business required by this subdivision, unless 
 prohibited by local zoning ordinance.  

    If a license is granted, the licensee may use unimproved 
 lots and premises for sale, storage, and display of manufactured 
 homes, if the licensee first notifies the commissioner in 
 writing; 

    (b) if the applicant desires to sell, solicit or advertise 
 the sale of new manufactured homes, it has a bona fide contract 
 or franchise in effect with a manufacturer or distributor of the 
 new manufactured home it proposes to deal in; 

    (c) the applicant has secured a surety bond in the amount 
 of $20,000 for the protection of consumer customers, executed by 
 the applicant as principal and issued by a surety company 
 admitted to do business in this state.  The bond shall be 
 exclusively for the purpose of reimbursing consumer customers 
 and shall be conditioned upon the faithful compliance by the 
 applicant with all of the laws and rules of this state 
 pertaining to the applicant's business as a dealer or 
 manufacturer, including sections 325D.44, 325F.67 and 325F.69, 
 and upon the applicant's faithful performance of all its legal 
 obligations to consumer customers; 

    (d) the applicant has established a trust account as 
 required by section 327B.08, subdivision 3, unless the applicant 
 states in writing its intention to limit its business to 
 selling, offering for sale, soliciting or advertising the sale 
 of new manufactured homes; and 

    (e) the applicant has provided evidence of having had at 
 least two years' prior experience in the sale of manufactured 
 homes, working for a licensed dealer.  

    Subd. 5.    Exemption for real estate brokers and 
 salespeople.  Any person licensed as a real estate broker or 
 salesperson under chapter 82 who brokers the sale of used 
 manufactured homes is not required to obtain a license or a bond 
 as required by this section, but is subject to all other 
 provisions of sections 327B.01 to 327B.12.  Any real estate 
 broker or salesperson who violates a provision of sections 
 327B.06 to 327B.09 in selling or offering for sale a used 
 manufactured home shall be deemed to have violated a provision 
 of chapter 82.  

    Subd. 6.    Certificate of license.  For each license 
 granted the commissioner shall issue a certificate which 
 includes the name of the licensee, the name of the surety 
 company and the amount of the surety bond, the names and 
 addresses of any related principal or subagencies, and a license 
 number.  

    Subd. 7.    Fees; licenses; when granted.  Each 
 application for a license or license renewal must be accompanied 
 by a fee in an amount established by the commissioner by rule 
 pursuant to section 327B.10.  The fees shall be set in an amount 
 which over the fiscal biennium will produce revenues 
 approximately equal to the expenses which the commissioner 
 expects to incur during that fiscal biennium while administering 
 and enforcing sections 327B.01 to 327B.12.  All money collected 
 by the commissioner through fees prescribed in sections 327B.01 
 to 327B.12 shall be deposited in the state government special 
 revenue fund and is appropriated to the commissioner for 
 purposes of administering and enforcing the provisions of this 
 chapter.  The commissioner shall grant or deny a license 
 application or a renewal application within 60 days of its 
 filing.  If the license is granted, the commissioner shall 
 license the applicant as a dealer or manufacturer for the 
 remainder of the calendar year.  Upon application by the 
 licensee, the commissioner shall renew the license for a two 
 year period, if:  

    (a) the renewal application satisfies the requirements of 
 subdivisions 3 and 4; 

    (b) the renewal applicant has made all listings, 
 registrations, notices and reports required by the commissioner 
 during the preceding year; and 

    (c) the renewal applicant has paid all fees owed pursuant 
 to sections 327B.01 to 327B.12 and all taxes, arrearages, and 
 penalties owed to the state.  

    Subd. 8.    Limited dealer's license.  The commissioner 
 shall issue a limited dealer's license to an owner of a 
 manufactured home park authorizing the licensee to engage in the 
 sale, offering for sale, soliciting, or advertising the sale of 
 used manufactured homes located in the owned manufactured home 
 park as principal only.  The licensee must be the title holder 
 of the homes and may engage in no more than five sales 
 annually.  The license shall be issued only after receipt of the 
 application described in section 327B.04, subdivision 3, payment 
 of the fee prescribed in section 327B.04, subdivision 7, and 
 compliance with the license prerequisites contained in section 
 327B.04, subdivision 4; except that an applicant need only 
 secure a surety bond in the amount of $5,000, and the applicant 
 need not comply with section 327B.04, subdivision 4, paragraph 
 (e).  The holding of a limited dealer's license does not satisfy 
 the requirement contained in section 327B.04, subdivision 4, 
 paragraph (e), for the licensee or salespersons with respect to 
 obtaining a dealer license. 

    The commissioner shall adopt rules under sections 14.22 to 
 14.28 to provide for issuing a limited dealer's license.  

    HIST: 1982 c 526 art 1 s 4; 1983 c 142 s 3; 1983 c 216 art 1 s 
 54; 1986 c 444; 1995 c 202 art 2 s 28; 1997 c 202 art 2 s 44; 
 1998 c 280 s 1