67.1600.  Home equity program act — definitions. — For the purposes of sections 67.1600 to 67.1663, the following terms shall mean:

  (1)  "Bona fide offer", an offer made in good faith and for a valuable consideration to purchase a qualified residence;

  (2)  "Certificate of participation", the duly notarized document of membership in a program, signed by the qualified applicant and by an authorized representative of the governing commission, which specifies the location and description of the guaranteed residence, its guaranteed value, the registration date, and which has attached a program appraisal for the guaranteed residence;

  (3)  "Community organization", a not-for-profit organization which has been registered with this state for at least five years as a not-for-profit organization, which qualifies for tax exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) of the United States Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as now or hereafter amended, which continuously maintains an office or business location within the area of a program together with a current listed telephone number, and whose members reside within the area of a program;

  (4)  "District", a contiguous geographic area described in a petition or defined by an ordinance enacted by the governing body of a municipality or by the county for an unincorporated area of a county of the first classification with a population greater than nine hundred thousand.  The governing body shall have the authority to correct errors in the legal description of the district boundaries described in the petition or in the ordinance;

  (5)  "Eligible applicant", a natural person who is the owner of a qualified residence within the area of a program who shall occupy or have a family member who occupies such qualified residence as the principal place of residence;

  (6)  "Family member", a spouse, child, stepchild, parent, grandparent, brother, sister, or any such relations of the spouse of the member;

  (7)  "Governing commission", the nine-member, or eighteen-member in the case of a merged program, governing body which is authorized by voter approval of the creation of a home equity program (or merger of programs) pursuant to sections 67.1600 to 67.1663 and which is appointed by the mayor of the municipality or the county executive or presiding commissioner of a county in which the program has been approved with the approval of the governing body of the municipality or of the county, seven of whom, or, in the case of a merged program, fourteen of whom, shall be appointed from a list or lists of nominees submitted by a community organization or community organizations as defined in this section;

  (8)  "Gross selling value", the total consideration to be paid for the purchase of a guaranteed residence, and shall include any amount that the buyer or prospective buyer agrees to assume on behalf of a member, including broker commissions, points, legal fees, personal financing, or other items of value involved in the sale;

  (9)  "Guarantee fund", the funds collected pursuant to sections 67.1600 to 67.1663 for the purpose of guaranteeing the property values of members within the area of a program;

  (10)  "Guaranteed residence", a qualified residence, including condominiums as defined in chapter 448, for which a certificate of participation has been issued, which is owned by the eligible applicant, which is described in the certificate of participation, and which is entitled to coverage pursuant to sections 67.1600 to 67.1663;

  (11)  "Guaranteed value", the appraised valuation based upon a standard of current market value as of the registration date on the qualified residence as determined by a program appraiser pursuant to accepted professional appraisal standards and which is authorized by the commission for the registration date.  The guaranteed value shall be used solely by the commission for the purpose of administering the program and shall remain confidential;

  (12)  "Member", the owner of a guaranteed residence;

  (13)  "Owner", a natural person who is the legal titleholder or who is the beneficiary of a trust which is the legal titleholder;

  (14)  "Physical perils", physical occurrences such as, but not limited to, fire, windstorm, hail, nuclear explosion, seepage, war, insurrection, wear and tear, cracking, settling, vermin, rodents, insects, vandalism, pollution or contamination, and all such related occurrences or acts of God;

  (15)  "Program" means the guaranteed home equity program governed by a specific home equity commission;

  (16)  "Program appraisal", a real estate appraisal conducted by a program appraiser for the purpose of establishing the guaranteed value of a qualified residence under a program and providing a general description of the qualified residence.  The program appraisal shall be used solely by the governing commission for the purpose of administering the program and shall remain confidential except for transactions between family members;

  (17)  "Program appraiser", a real estate appraiser who is state licensed or state certified pursuant to sections 339.500 to 339.549;

  (18)  "Program guidelines", those policies, rules, regulations, and bylaws established from time to time by the governing commission to explain, clarify, or modify the program in order to fulfill its goals and objectives;

  (19)  "Qualified residence", a building:

  (a)  Located in the area of a program and having at least one, but not more than six, dwelling units, however, in the case of owner-occupied condominiums there is no limit on the number of dwelling units; and

  (b)  Classified by municipality or county ordinance as residential and assessed as such for property tax purposes;

  (20)  "Registration date", the date of receipt by the governing commission of the registration fee and a completed application of a qualified applicant for participation in a program;

  (21)  "Registration fee", the fee which is established by the governing commission to defray the cost of a program appraisal on a qualified residence.