As used in this part, unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) “Foreclosure-related rescue services” means any service related to or promising assistance in connection with:

Terms Used In Tennessee Code 47-18-5401

  • Code: includes the Tennessee Code and all amendments and revisions to the code and all additions and supplements to the code. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Foreclosure: A legal process in which property that is collateral or security for a loan may be sold to help repay the loan when the loan is in default. Source: OCC
  • Foreclosure-related rescue services: means any service related to or promising assistance in connection with:
    (A) Stopping, avoiding or delaying foreclosure proceedings concerning residential real property. See Tennessee Code 47-18-5401
  • Foreclosure-rescue consultant: means a person who directly or indirectly makes a solicitation, representation or offer to a homeowner to provide or perform, in return for payment of money or other valuable consideration, foreclosure-related rescue services. See Tennessee Code 47-18-5401
  • Foreclosure-rescue transaction: means a transaction that is designed or intended by the parties to stop, avoid or delay foreclosure proceedings against a homeowner's residential real property. See Tennessee Code 47-18-5401
  • Homeowner: means any record title owner of residential real property that is the subject of foreclosure proceedings. See Tennessee Code 47-18-5401
  • Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
  • Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
  • Mortgage loan: A loan made by a lender to a borrower for the financing of real property. Source: OCC
  • National Bank: A bank that is subject to the supervision of the Comptroller of the Currency. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is a bureau of the U.S. Treasury Department. A national bank can be recognized because it must have "national" or "national association" in its name. Source: OCC
  • Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
  • Person: means a natural person, consumer, individual, governmental agency, partnership, corporation, trust, estate, incorporated or unincorporated association, and any other legal or commercial entity however organized. See Tennessee Code 47-18-2102
  • Property: includes both personal and real property. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
  • real property: include lands, tenements and hereditaments, and all rights thereto and interests therein, equitable as well as legal. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in a perceivable form. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Residential real property: means improved real property used or occupied or intended to be used or occupied for residential purposes by the owner. See Tennessee Code 47-18-5401
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • United States: includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(A) Stopping, avoiding or delaying foreclosure proceedings concerning residential real property; or
(B) Curing or otherwise addressing a default or failure to timely pay with respect to a residential mortgage loan obligation;
(2) “Foreclosure-rescue consultant” means a person who directly or indirectly makes a solicitation, representation or offer to a homeowner to provide or perform, in return for payment of money or other valuable consideration, foreclosure-related rescue services; provided, that a foreclosure-rescue consultant shall not include:

(A) A person acting under the express authority or written approval of the United States department of housing and urban development or other department or agency of the United States or this state to provide foreclosure-related rescue services; provided, that the person does not solicit, charge, receive or attempt to collect or secure payment, directly or indirectly, for foreclosure-related rescue services except as expressly authorized by federal law, regulation or rule;
(B) A charitable, not-for-profit agency or organization, as determined by the United States internal revenue service under § 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, codified in 26 U.S.C. § 501(c)(3), that offers counseling or advice to an owner of residential real property in foreclosure or loan default if the agency or organization does not contract for foreclosure-related rescue services with a for-profit lender or person facilitating or engaging in foreclosure-rescue transactions, and does not solicit, charge, receive or attempt to collect or secure payment, directly or indirectly, for foreclosure-related services;
(C) A person who holds or is owed an obligation secured by a lien on any residential real property in foreclosure if the person performs foreclosure-related rescue services in connection with this obligation or lien and the obligation or lien was not the result of or part of a proposed foreclosure reconveyance or foreclosure-rescue transaction;
(D) A state or national bank or its subsidiary, a state or federal savings institution or its subsidiary, a state or federal credit union, an industrial loan and thrift company or a licensed mortgage loan broker or originator; or
(E) An attorney licensed or otherwise authorized to practice law in this state who is providing legal services to a client;
(3) “Foreclosure-rescue transaction” means a transaction that is designed or intended by the parties to stop, avoid or delay foreclosure proceedings against a homeowner’s residential real property;
(4) “Homeowner” means any record title owner of residential real property that is the subject of foreclosure proceedings; and
(5) “Residential real property” means improved real property used or occupied or intended to be used or occupied for residential purposes by the owner.