(a) In the course of offering or providing foreclosure-related rescue services, no foreclosure-rescue consultant shall:

Terms Used In Tennessee Code 47-18-5402

  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • 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
  • Homeowner: means any record title owner of residential real property that is the subject of foreclosure proceedings. See Tennessee Code 47-18-5401
  • Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
  • 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
  • signed: includes a mark, the name being written near the mark and witnessed, or any other symbol or methodology executed or adopted by a party with intention to authenticate a writing or record, regardless of being witnessed. 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
(1) Engage in any unfair, misleading, or deceptive acts or practices during the course of advertising, marketing, offering, selling or contracting for foreclosure-related services;
(2) Engage in or initiate foreclosure-related rescue services without first executing a written agreement with the homeowner for foreclosure-related rescue services;
(3) Solicit, charge, receive or attempt to collect or secure payment, directly or indirectly, for foreclosure-related rescue services before completing or performing all services contained in the agreement for foreclosure-related rescue services;
(4) Induce or attempt to induce any consumer to enter into a contract or agreement that does not fully comply in all respects with this part; or
(5) Fail to accept and honor a consumer’s request to cancel and provide any related refunds within ten (10) business days.
(b) The written agreement for foreclosure-related rescue services required by subdivision (a)(1) shall be printed in at least 12-point uppercase type and shall be signed by both parties. The agreement shall include the name, physical address, telephone number and electronic mail address of the person providing foreclosure-related rescue services, the exact nature and specific detail of each service to be provided, the total amount and terms of charges to be paid by the homeowner for the services and the date of the agreement. The date of the agreement shall not be earlier than the date the homeowner signed the agreement. The foreclosure-rescue consultant shall give the homeowner a copy of the agreement to review not less than one (1) business day before the homeowner is to sign the agreement.
(c) The homeowner has the right to cancel the written agreement without any penalty or obligation if the homeowner cancels the agreement within three (3) business days after signing the written agreement. The right to cancel may not be waived by the homeowner or limited in any manner by the foreclosure-rescue consultant. If the homeowner cancels the agreement, any payments that have been given to the foreclosure-rescue consultant shall be returned to the homeowner within ten (10) business days after receipt of the notice of cancellation.
(d) An agreement for foreclosure-related rescue services shall contain, immediately above the signature line, a statement in at least 12-point uppercase type that substantially complies with the following:

HOMEOWNER’S RIGHT OF CANCELLATION

YOU MAY CANCEL THIS AGREEMENT FOR FORECLOSURE-RELATED RESCUE SERVICES WITHOUT ANY PENALTY OR OBLIGATION WITHIN 3 BUSINESS DAYS FOLLOWING THE DATE THIS AGREEMENT IS SIGNED BY YOU. THE FORECLOSURE-RESCUE CONSULTANT IS PROHIBITED BY LAW FROM ACCEPTING ANY MONEY, PROPERTY, OR OTHER FORM OF PAYMENT FROM YOU UNTIL ALL PROMISED SERVICES ARE COMPLETE. IF FOR ANY REASON YOU HAVE PAID THE CONSULTANT BEFORE CANCELLATION, YOUR PAYMENT MUST BE RETURNED TO YOU NO LATER THAN 10 BUSINESS DAYS AFTER THE CONSULTANT RECEIVES YOUR CANCELLATION NOTICE. TO CANCEL THIS AGREEMENT, A SIGNED AND DATED COPY OF A STATEMENT THAT YOU ARE CANCELLING THE AGREEMENT SHOULD BE MAILED (POSTMARKED) OR DELIVERED TO ____________________ (NAME) AT ____________________ (PHYSICAL ADDRESS) ____________________ OR ____________________ (E-MAIL ADDRESS) NO LATER THAN MIDNIGHT OF ______________ (DATE). IMPORTANT: IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT YOU CONTACT YOUR LENDER OR MORTGAGE SERVICER BEFORE SIGNING THIS AGREEMENT. YOUR LENDER OR MORTGAGE SERVICER MAY BE WILLING TO NEGOTIATE A PAYMENT PLAN OR A RESTRUCTURING WITH YOU FREE OF CHARGE.

(e) The inclusion of the statement in subsection (d) does not prohibit the foreclosure-rescue consultant from giving the homeowner more time in which to cancel the agreement than is set forth in the statement; provided, that all other requirements of this section are met.
(f) The foreclosure-rescue consultant shall give the homeowner a copy of the signed agreement within three (3) hours after the homeowner signs the agreement.
(g) Any contract or agreement for foreclosure-related services that does not contain the provisions set forth in this section shall be void and unenforceable as a matter of law and public policy.
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