Title Minnesota Statutes, Minnesota Statutes

332.31 DEFINITIONS. § Subdivision 1.Terms. The terms in this section for the purposes of sections 332.31 to 332.44 shall have the meanings given them. § Subd. 2.Person. "Person" means and includes individuals, partnerships, associations or corporations. § Subd. 3.Collection agenc…

332.311 TRANSFER OF ADMINISTRATIVE FUNCTIONS. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of the consumer services section under sections 332.31 to 332.44 relating to collection agencies and debt buyers are hereby transferred to and imposed upon the commissioner of commerce. History…

332.32 EXCLUSIONS. (a) The term "collection agency" does not include banks when collecting accounts owed to the banks and when the bank will sustain any loss arising from uncollectible accounts, abstract companies doing an escrow business, real estate brokers, public officers, pe…

332.33 LICENSING AND REGISTRATION. § Subdivision 1.Requirement. Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, no person shall conduct business in Minnesota as a collection agency or debt buyer, as defined in sections 332.31 to 332.44, without having first applied for and obtained…

332.3352 WAIVER OF LICENSING AND REGISTRATION. The commissioner of commerce may, by order, waive the licensing and registration requirements of this chapter for a nonresident collection agency and the nonresident collection agency's affiliated collectors if: (1) a written recipro…

332.34 BOND. The commissioner of commerce shall require each licensee to file and maintain in force a corporate surety bond, in a form to be prescribed by, and acceptable to, the commissioner, and in a sum of at least $50,000 plus an additional $5,000 for each $100,000 received b…

332.345 SEGREGATED ACCOUNTS. A payment collected by a collector or collection agency on behalf of a customer shall be held by the collector or collection agency in a separate trust account clearly designated for customer funds. The account must be in a bank or other depository in…

332.35 PRIOR CONVICTION OR JUDGMENT AS DISQUALIFICATION. No registration shall be accepted for, and no license shall be issued to, any person, firm, corporation or association who or which, or any of the officers of which have, within the past five years: (1) been convicted in an…

332.355 AGENCY RESPONSIBILITY FOR COLLECTORS. The commissioner may take action against a licensee for any violations of debt collection laws by its debt collectors. The commissioner may also take action against the debt collectors themselves for these same violations. History: 20…

332.365 CREDIT COUNSELING ORGANIZATIONS; DEBTORS. § Subdivision 1.Duties of commissioner. (a) The commissioner shall develop and maintain a document that includes the contact information for nonprofit organizations domiciled in Minnesota that provide credit counseling services to…

332.37 PROHIBITED PRACTICES. (a) No collection agency, debt buyer, or collector shall: (1) in collection letters or publications, or in any communication, oral or written threaten wage garnishment or legal suit by a particular lawyer, unless it has actually retained the lawyer; (…

332.38 APPLICATION IN CASE OF PRETENDED PURCHASE, ASSIGNMENT OR USE OF A FICTITIOUS NAME. The provisions of sections 332.31 to 332.44 shall apply to any person who, by any device, subterfuge or pretense, makes a pretended purchase or takes a pretended assignment of accounts from …

332.385 NOTIFICATION TO COMMISSIONER. The collection agency or debt buyer licensee shall notify the commissioner of any employee termination within ten days of the termination if the termination is based in whole or in part on a violation of this chapter. History: 1993 c 295 s 2;…

332.39 INJUNCTIONS. The attorney general or the county attorney of any county may apply for an injunction in district court to enjoin any violations of sections 332.31 to 332.44, or any practices prohibited in section 332.37, and any such court may issue temporary or permanent in…

332.395 COMMISSIONER'S POWER OVER INEFFECTIVE LICENSES AND REGISTRATIONS. If a license or registration lapses, is surrendered, withdrawn, terminated, or otherwise becomes ineffective, the commissioner of commerce may do either or both of the following: (1) institute a proceeding …

332.40 INVESTIGATION, SUSPENSION, AND REVOCATION OF LICENSES OR REGISTRATIONS. § Subdivision 1.Examination of licensee's or registered individual collector's records. The commissioner of commerce may make examinations of the collection records of a licensee or registered individu…

332.41 APPEALS. Appeal from a denial, suspension, revocation, or censure of a license or registration must be made according to chapter 14. History: 1969 c 766 s 11; 1973 c 720 s 54 subd 2; 1979 c 144 s 6; 1980 c 516 s 2; 1983 c 289 s 114 subd 1; 1984 c 655 art 1 s 92; 2001 c 208…

332.42 REPORTS AND RECORDS. § Subdivision 1.Verified financial statement. The commissioner of commerce may at any time require a licensee to submit a verified financial statement for examination by the commissioner to determine whether the licensee is financially responsible to c…

332.43 DELINQUENT COLLECTION AGENCIES. § Subdivision 1.Appointment of receiver. If the commissioner shall determine that a collection agency licensee is insolvent or has collected accounts but has failed to remit money due to any claimant within 45 days from the end of the month …

332.44 RULEMAKING POWER. The commissioner of commerce shall make and file in accordance with the provisions of chapter 14, all reasonable rules as shall be necessary for the administration of sections 332.31 to 332.44. History: 1969 c 766 s 14; 1973 c 720 s 54 subd 2; 1979 c 144 …

332.52 DEFINITIONS. § Subdivision 1.Applicability. The definitions in this section apply to sections 332.52 to 332.60. § Subd. 2.Buyer. "Buyer" means any individual who is solicited to purchase or who purchases the services of a credit services organization. § Subd. 3.Credit serv…

332.53 WAIVER OF RIGHTS. Any waiver by a buyer of sections 332.52 to 332.60 is void. Any attempt by a credit services organization to have a buyer waive rights provided under sections 332.52 to 332.60 is a violation of sections 332.52 to 332.60. In any proceeding involving sectio…

332.54 REGISTRATION. § Subdivision 1.Filing. It is unlawful for any credit services organization to offer, advertise, or execute or cause to be executed by a consumer any contract in this state unless the credit services organization at the time of the offer, advertisement, sale,…

332.55 BOND. A credit services organization must submit to the commissioner at the time of registration, an annual surety bond of $10,000, expiring on June 30 of each year, by an insurance company which is authorized by the state of Minnesota to transact the business of fidelity …

332.56 PROHIBITED ACTS. § Subdivision 1.Requirements; prohibitions. A credit services organization, its salespersons, agents, and representatives, and independent contractors who sell or attempt to sell the services of a credit services organization may not do any of the followin…

332.57 DISCLOSURE STATEMENT. § Subdivision 1.Requirement. Before the execution of a contract or agreement between the buyer and a credit services organization or before the receipt by the credit services organization of any money or other valuable consideration, whichever occurs …

332.58 CONTRACT. § Subdivision 1.Requirements. Each contract between the buyer and a credit services organization for the purchase of the services of the credit services organization must be in writing, dated, and signed by the buyer and must include the following: (1) a conspicu…

332.59 VIOLATIONS. Any person who violates sections 332.52 to 332.58 is guilty of a misdemeanor. A violation of sections 332.52 to 332.58 is a violation of section 325F.69, subdivision 1, and the provisions of section 8.31 apply. Sections 332.52 to 332.58 do not limit or restrict…

332.60 DAMAGES. A buyer suffering damages as a result of a violation of sections 332.52 to 332.58 by a credit services organization may bring an action for recovery of damages. Judgment must be entered for actual damages, but in no case shall the amount be less than the amount pa…

332.70 BUSINESS SCREENING SERVICES; DATA PRACTICES. § Subdivision 1.Definitions. For purposes of this section: (a) "Business screening service" means a person regularly engaged in the business of collecting, assembling, evaluating, or disseminating criminal records on individuals…

332.71 DEFINITIONS. § Subdivision 1.Scope. For the purposes of sections 332.71 to 332.75, the definitions in this section have the meanings given them. § Subd. 2.Coerced debt. (a) "Coerced debt" means all or a portion of debt in a debtor's name that has been incurred as a result …

332.72 COERCED DEBT PROHIBITED. (a) A person is prohibited from causing another person to incur coerced debt. (b) A person who causes another person to incur a coerced debt in violation of this section is civilly liable to the creditor for the amount of the debt, or portion of th…

332.73 NOTICE TO CREDITOR OF COERCED DEBT. § Subdivision 1.Notification. (a) Before taking an affirmative action under section 332.74, a debtor must, by certified mail, notify a creditor that the debt or a portion of a debt on which the creditor demands payment is coerced debt an…

332.74 DEBTOR REMEDIES. § Subdivision 1.Right to petition for declaration and injunction. A debtor alleging violation of section 332.72 may petition for equitable relief in the district court in the county where the debtor lives or where the coerced debt was incurred. The petitio…

332.75 CREDITOR REMEDIES. Nothing in sections 332.71 to 332.74 diminishes the rights of a creditor to seek payment recovery for a coerced debt from the person who caused the debtor to incur the coerced debt. History: 2023 c 57 art 3 s 73