September 20, 2006, Introduced by Reps. Marleau, Baxter, Nitz, Farhat, Amos, Moolenaar, Jones, Kahn, Acciavatti, Pavlov, Emmons, Stakoe, Hildenbrand, Garfield, Brandenburg, Moore, Stahl and Pastor and referred to the Committee on Banking and Financial Services.
A bill to amend 1981 PA 125, entitled
"The secondary mortgage loan act,"
by amending section 27 (MCL 493.77), as amended by 1997 PA 91.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 27. (1) In addition to the penalties provided by this
act, a violation of this act with respect to a particular secondary
mortgage loan transaction is also subject to the penalty and remedy
provisions of the credit reform act, 1995 PA 162, MCL 445.1851 to
445.1864.
(2) A person, association, nonprofit corporation, common law
trust, joint stock company, limited liability company, or any other
group of individuals, however organized, or any owner, partner,
member, officer, director, trustee, employee, agent, broker, or
representative
thereof who or which willfully or intentionally
engages
in this state in the business of making secondary mortgage
loans
without a license as required under this act, does any of
the following is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of
not more than $5,000.00, imprisonment for not more than 3 years, or
both: .
(a) Engages in this state in the business of making secondary
mortgage loans without a license as required under this act.
(b) Subject to subsection (5), coerces or induces a real
estate appraiser to inflate the value of real property used as
collateral for a secondary mortgage loan by doing any of the
following:
(i) Representing or implying that a real estate appraiser will
not be selected to conduct an appraisal of the real property or
selected for future appraisal work unless the appraiser agrees in
advance to a value, range of values, or minimum value for the real
property.
(ii) Representing or implying that a real estate appraiser will
not be paid for an appraisal unless the appraiser agrees in advance
to a value, range of values, or minimum value for the real
property.
(3) A person who violates this act or directly or indirectly
counsels, aids, or abets in a violation is liable, in addition to
other penalties and forfeitures imposed by this act, for a civil
fine of not more than $1,000.00 for each offense. The civil fine
shall be sued for and recovered by the commissioner and shall be
collected and enforced by summary proceedings by the attorney
general.
(4) Whether or not he or she seeks damages or has an adequate
remedy at law, a person, a county prosecutor, or the attorney
general may bring an action to do any of the following:
(a) Obtain a declaratory judgment that a method, act, or
practice is a violation of this act.
(b) Enjoin a person from engaging in, or who is about to
engage in, a method, act, or practice that violates this act.
(c) Recover actual damages resulting from a violation of this
act or $250.00, whichever is greater, together with reasonable
attorneys' fees and the costs of bringing the action.
(5) Subsection (2)(b) does not prohibit a broker or lender
from communicating a price or value concerning real property used
as collateral for a secondary mortgage loan to the real estate
appraiser.