(a) Any owner who procures a loan secured by a mortgage or other encumbrance on certain real property, representing that the proceeds of the loan are to be used for the purpose of improving real property, and who, with intent to defraud, uses the proceeds or any part of the proceeds for any other purpose than to pay for labor performed on, or materials, services, equipment, or machinery furnished for the real property, and overhead and profit related thereto while any amount for the labor, materials, services, equipment, machinery, overhead or profit remains unpaid, or while any amount of which the owner has received notice of nonpayment prescribed by this chapter remains unpaid, shall be liable to an injured party for any damages and actual expenses incurred, including attorneys’ fees, if the damages and expenses incurred are the result of the misapplication of the loan proceeds.

Attorney's Note

Under the Tennessee Code, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:
ClassPrisonFine
class E felony1 to 6 yearsup to $3,000
For details, see Tenn. Code § 40-35-111
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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 66-11-137

  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
  • Owner: includes the owner in fee of real property, or of a less estate in real property, a lessee for a term of years, a vendee in possession under a contract for the purchase of real property, and any person having any right, title or interest, legal or equitable, in real property, that may be sold under process. See Tennessee Code 66-11-101
  • Property: includes both personal and real property. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Real property: includes real estate, lands, tenements and hereditaments, corporeal and incorporeal, and fixtures and improvements thereon. See Tennessee Code 66-11-101
  • Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
(b) A violation of subsection (a) is a Class E felony.
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