MN HF694

Clarifies that attorneys at law are exempt from debt management and debt settlement regulation only if their exclusive or principal practice does not involve providing such services and they have no business relationships involving these services.

Modifies debt settlement fee structure to allow providers to choose between charging a percentage of debt (maximum 15 percent) or percentage of savings (maximum 30 percent of actual savings negotiated).

Removes previous fee caps for percentage-of-debt calculations (origination, monthly, and settlement fees) and replaces them with a single cap based on chosen fee structure.

Requires debt settlement services agreements to be written in the debtor's primary language if the provider advertises in that language, or in the language in which the agreement was negotiated.

Prohibits debt settlement service providers from collecting any fees until they have fully performed all services in the agreement, with fees based proportionally on individual debts settled when multiple debts are involved.