[§480E-10]  Prohibitions.  (a)  A
distressed property consultant shall not:



(1)  Misrepresent or conceal any material fact;



(2)  Induce or attempt to induce a distressed property
owner to waive any provision of this chapter;



(3)  Make any promise or guarantee not fully disclosed
in the distressed property consultant contract;



(4)  Engage or attempt to engage in any activity or
act concerning the distressed property not fully disclosed in the distressed
property consultant contract;



(5)  Induce or attempt to induce a distressed property
owner to engage in any activity or act not fully disclosed in the distressed
property consultant contract;



(6)  Take, ask for, claim, demand, charge, collect, or
receive any compensation until after the distressed property consultant has
fully performed each service the distressed property consultant contracted to
perform or represented would be performed;



(7)  Take, ask for, claim, demand, charge, collect, or
receive for any reason, any fee, interest, or any other compensation that
exceeds the two most recent monthly mortgage installments of principal and
interest due on the loan first secured by the distressed property or the most
recent annual real property tax charged against the distressed property,
whichever is less;



(8)  Take or ask for a wage assignment, a lien of any
type on real or personal property, or other security to secure the payment of
compensation.  This type of security is void and not enforceable;



(9)  Receive any consideration from any third party in
connection with services rendered to a distressed property owner unless the
consideration is fully disclosed in the distressed property consultant
contract;



(10)  Acquire any interest, directly or indirectly, or
by means of a subsidiary or affiliate, in a distressed property from a
distressed property owner with whom the distressed property consultant has
contracted;



(11)  Require or ask a distressed property owner to
sign any lien, encumbrance, mortgage, assignment, or deed unless the lien,
encumbrance, mortgage, assignment, or deed is fully described in the distressed
property consultant contract, including all disclosures required by this
chapter; or



(12)  Take any power of attorney from a distressed
property owner for any purpose, except to inspect documents concerning the
distressed property as allowed by law.



(b)  A distressed property purchaser shall not:



(1)  Misrepresent or conceal any material fact;



(2)  Induce or attempt to induce a distressed property
owner to waive this chapter;



(3)  Make any promise or guarantee not fully disclosed
in the distressed property conveyance [contract]1;



(4)  Engage or attempt to engage in any activity or
act concerning the distressed property not fully disclosed in the distressed
property conveyance contract;



(5)  Induce or attempt to induce a distressed property
owner to engage in any activity or act not fully disclosed in the distressed
property conveyance contract;



(6)  Enter into or attempt to enter into a distressed
property conveyance unless the distressed property purchaser verifies and can
demonstrate that an owner of the distressed property has a reasonable ability
to pay any amounts due to reacquire an interest in the distressed property or
to make monthly or any other payments due under a distressed property conveyance
contract or distressed property lease, if the distressed property purchaser
allows any owner of a distressed property to remain in, occupy, use, or
repurchase the distressed property;



(7)  Fail to make a payment to the owner of the
distressed property at the time the title is conveyed so that the owner of the
distressed property has received consideration in an amount of at least
eighty-two per cent of the property's fair market value, or, in the
alternative, fail to pay the owner of the distressed property no more than the
costs necessary to extinguish all of the existing obligations on the distressed
property, as set forth in this chapter; provided that the owner's costs to
repurchase the distressed property pursuant to the terms of the distressed property
conveyance contract do not exceed one hundred twenty-five per cent of the
distressed property purchaser's costs to purchase the property.  If an owner is
unable to repurchase the property pursuant to the terms of the distressed
property conveyance contract, the distressed property purchaser shall not fail
to make a payment to the owner of the distressed property so that the owner of
the distressed property has received consideration in an amount of at least
eighty-two per cent of the property's fair market value at the time of
conveyance or at the expiration of the owner's option to repurchase;



(8)  Enter into any repurchase or lease agreement as
part of a distressed property conveyance contract or subsequent conveyance of
an interest in the distressed property back to a distressed property owner that
is unfair or commercially unreasonable or engage in any other unfair conduct;



(9)  Represent, directly or indirectly, that the
distressed property purchaser is acting as an advisor or a consultant or is acting
on behalf of or assisting an owner of a distressed property to "remain in
the house", "save the house", "buy time", or
"stop the foreclosure" or is doing anything other than purchasing the
distressed property;



(10)  Misrepresent the distressed property purchaser's
status as to licensure or certification;



(11)  Do any of the following until after the time
during which an owner of a distressed property may cancel the distressed
property conveyance contract:



(A)  Accept from an owner of the distressed property
execution of any instrument of conveyance of any interest in the distressed
property;



(B)  Execute an instrument of conveyance of any
interest in the distressed property; or



(C)  Pursuant to chapter 501 or 502, record any
document signed by an owner of a distressed property, including any instrument
of conveyance;



(12)  Fail to re-convey title in a distressed property
to the distressed property owner or owners when the terms of the distressed
property conveyance contract have been fulfilled if the distressed property
consultant or distressed property purchaser contracted or represented that
title in the distressed property would be re-conveyed to the distressed
property owner or owners when the terms of the distressed property conveyance
contract have been fulfilled;



(13)  Induce or attempt to induce an owner of the
distressed property to execute a quitclaim deed concerning a distressed
property;



(14)  Enter into a distressed property conveyance
contract where any party to the contract is represented by power of attorney;



(15)  Immediately following the conveyance of the
distressed property, fail to extinguish all liens encumbering the distressed
property at the time of the distressed property conveyance or fail to assume
all liability with respect to all liens encumbering the distressed property at
the time of the distressed property conveyance, which assumption shall be
accomplished without violations of the terms and conditions of the lien or
liens being assumed.  Nothing herein shall preclude a lender from enforcing any
provision in a contract that is not otherwise prohibited by law;



(16)  Fail to complete a distressed property conveyance
through:



(A)  An escrow depository licensed by the
department of commerce and consumer affairs;



(B)  A bank, trust company, or savings and loan
association authorized under any law of this State or of the United States to
do business in the State;



(C)  A person licensed as a real estate broker
in this State who is the broker for a party to the escrow; provided that the
person does not charge any escrow fee; or



(D)  A person licensed to practice law in this
State who, in escrow, is not acting as the employee of a corporation; provided
that the person does not charge any escrow fee; or



(17)  Cause the property to be conveyed or encumbered
without the knowledge or permission of all owners of a distressed property or
in any way frustrate the ability of a distressed property owner to reacquire
the distressed property.



(c)  There shall be a rebuttable presumption
that an appraisal by a person licensed or certified as a real property
appraiser by the State or the federal government is an accurate determination
of the fair market value of the property.



(d)  An evaluation of "reasonable ability
to pay" under this chapter shall include debt to income ratio, fair market
value of the distressed property, and the distressed property owner's payment
history. [L 2008, c 137, pt of §2]