2006 Minnesota Statutes

325N.01 DEFINITIONS.
The definitions in paragraphs (a) to (h) apply to sections 325N.01 to 325N.09.
(a) "Foreclosure consultant" means any person who, directly or indirectly, makes any
solicitation, representation, or offer to any owner to perform for compensation or who, for
compensation, performs any service which the person in any manner represents will in any
manner do any of the following:
(1) stop or postpone the foreclosure sale;
(2) obtain any forbearance from any beneficiary or mortgagee;
(3) assist the owner to exercise the right of reinstatement provided in section 580.30;
(4) obtain any extension of the period within which the owner may reinstate the owner's
obligation;
(5) obtain any waiver of an acceleration clause contained in any promissory note or contract
secured by a mortgage on a residence in foreclosure or contained in the mortgage;
(6) assist the owner in foreclosure or loan default to obtain a loan or advance of funds;
(7) avoid or ameliorate the impairment of the owner's credit resulting from the recording
of a notice of default or the conduct of a foreclosure sale; or
(8) save the owner's residence from foreclosure.
(b) A foreclosure consultant does not include any of the following:
(1) a person licensed to practice law in this state when the person renders service in the
course of his or her practice as an attorney-at-law;
(2) a person licensed as a debt prorater under sections 332.12 to 332.29, when the person is
acting as a debt prorater as defined in these sections;
(3) a person licensed as a real estate broker or salesperson under chapter 82 when the person
engages in acts whose performance requires licensure under that chapter unless the person is
engaged in offering services designed to, or purportedly designed to, enable the owner to retain
possession of the residence in foreclosure;
(4) a person licensed as an accountant under chapter 326A when the person is acting in any
capacity for which the person is licensed under those provisions;
(5) a person or the person's authorized agent acting under the express authority or written
approval of the Department of Housing and Urban Development or other department or agency of
the United States or this state to provide services;
(6) a person who holds or is owed an obligation secured by a lien on any residence in
foreclosure when the person performs services in connection with this obligation or lien if the
obligation or lien did not arise as the result of or as part of a proposed foreclosure reconveyance;
(7) any person or entity doing business under any law of this state, or of the United States
relating to banks, trust companies, savings and loan associations, industrial loan and thrift
companies, regulated lenders, credit unions, insurance companies, or a mortgagee which is a
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development approved mortgagee and any
subsidiary or affiliate of these persons or entities, and any agent or employee of these persons or
entities while engaged in the business of these persons or entities;
(8) a person licensed as a residential mortgage originator or servicer pursuant to chapter 58,
when acting under the authority of that license or a foreclosure purchaser as defined in section
325N.10;
(9) a nonprofit agency or organization that offers counseling or advice to an owner of a
home in foreclosure or loan default if they do not contract for services with for-profit lenders or
foreclosure purchasers; and
(10) a judgment creditor of the owner, to the extent that the judgment creditor's claim accrued
prior to the personal service of the foreclosure notice required by section 580.03, but excluding a
person who purchased the claim after such personal service.
(c) "Foreclosure reconveyance" means a transaction involving:
(1) the transfer of title to real property by a foreclosed homeowner during a foreclosure
proceeding, either by transfer of interest from the foreclosed homeowner or by creation of a
mortgage or other lien or encumbrance during the foreclosure process that allows the acquirer to
obtain title to the property by redeeming the property as a junior lienholder; and
(2) the subsequent conveyance, or promise of a subsequent conveyance, of an interest back
to the foreclosed homeowner by the acquirer or a person acting in participation with the acquirer
that allows the foreclosed homeowner to possess the real property following the completion of the
foreclosure proceeding, which interest includes, but is not limited to, an interest in a contract for
deed, purchase agreement, option to purchase, or lease.
(d) "Person" means any individual, partnership, corporation, limited liability company,
association, or other group, however organized.
(e) "Service" means and includes, but is not limited to, any of the following:
(1) debt, budget, or financial counseling of any type;
(2) receiving money for the purpose of distributing it to creditors in payment or partial
payment of any obligation secured by a lien on a residence in foreclosure;
(3) contacting creditors on behalf of an owner of a residence in foreclosure;
(4) arranging or attempting to arrange for an extension of the period within which the owner
of a residence in foreclosure may cure the owner's default and reinstate his or her obligation
pursuant to section 580.30;
(5) arranging or attempting to arrange for any delay or postponement of the time of sale of
the residence in foreclosure;
(6) advising the filing of any document or assisting in any manner in the preparation of any
document for filing with any bankruptcy court; or
(7) giving any advice, explanation, or instruction to an owner of a residence in foreclosure,
which in any manner relates to the cure of a default in or the reinstatement of an obligation
secured by a lien on the residence in foreclosure, the full satisfaction of that obligation, or the
postponement or avoidance of a sale of a residence in foreclosure, pursuant to a power of sale
contained in any mortgage.
(f) "Residence in foreclosure" means residential real property consisting of one to four
family dwelling units, one of which the owner occupies as his or her principal place of residence,
and against which there is an outstanding notice of pendency of foreclosure, recorded pursuant to
section 580.032, or against which a summons and complaint has been served under chapter 581.
(g) "Owner" means the record owner of the residential real property in foreclosure at the
time the notice of pendency was recorded, or the summons and complaint served.
(h) "Contract" means any agreement, or any term in any agreement, between a foreclosure
consultant and an owner for the rendition of any service as defined in paragraph (e).
History: 2004 c 263 s 1

NOTE: This section, as added by Laws 2004, chapter 263, section 1, expires December
31, 2009. Laws 2004, chapter 263, section 26.