For the purposes of sections 49-31d to 49-31i, inclusive:

(1) “Unemployed person” means a person who is unemployed for purposes of chapter 567.

(2) “Homeowner” means a person who has an ownership interest in residential real property secured by a mortgage which is the subject of a foreclosure action, and who has owned and occupied such property as his principal residence for a continuous period of not less than two years immediately preceding the commencement of such foreclosure action.

(3) “Restructured mortgage debt” means the adjustment by a court of a mortgage debt to give protection from a foreclosure action.

(4) “Protection from foreclosure” means a court-ordered restructuring of a mortgage debt designed to eliminate an arrearage in payments on such debt and to provide a period not to exceed six months during which foreclosure is stayed.

(5) “Lender” means any person who makes or holds mortgage loans in the ordinary course of business and who is the holder of any first mortgage on residential real estate which is the subject of a foreclosure action.

(6) “Underemployed person” means a person whose earned income during the twelve-month period immediately preceding the commencement of the foreclosure action is (A) less than fifty thousand dollars and (B) less than seventy-five per cent of his average annual earned income during the two years immediately preceding such twelve-month period.

(P.A. 83-547, S. 6; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 83-29, S. 71; P.A. 84-373, S. 1; 84-546, S. 107, 173.)

History: June Sp. Sess. P.A. 83-29 revised section, changed definition of “homeowner”, deleted definition of “financial institution”, added definitions of “lender” and “underemployed person” and made technical changes; P.A. 84-373 amended Subsec. (6) to require an “underemployed person” to have an earned income which is less than $50,000; P.A. 84-546 made technical change; (Revisor's note: In 1995 the indicators (1) and (2) in Subdiv. (6) were changed editorially by the Revisors to (A) and (B) respectively for consistency with statutory usage).

Only persons who have been employed previously may be considered “unemployed” as defined in section. 245 C. 744.

Cited. 29 CA 541; 31 CA 260; 34 CA 138.