Utah Code § 13-57-102 Definitions.
13-57-102. Definitions.
As used in this chapter:
(1)
(a) "Commercial maintenance funding agreement" means a written agreement:
(i) whereby a third party agrees to provide funds to a named party affiliated with a legal claim; and
(ii) that creates a direct or collateralized interest in the proceeds of a legal claim by settlement, verdict, judgment, or otherwise, which interest is based in whole or in part on a funding-based obligation to a legal claim.
(b) "Commercial maintenance funding agreement" does not include:
(i) a consumer maintenance funding agreement;
(ii) an agreement between an attorney and a client for the attorney to provide legal services on a contingency-fee basis or to advance the clients legal costs;
(iii) a health insurance plan or agreement;
(iv) a repayment agreement with a financial institution if the repayment is not contingent upon the outcome of the legal claim;
(v) a funding agreement to a nonprofit organization that represents a client on a pro bono basis;
(vi) an agreement of an assigned claim to prosecute an environmental contamination matter seeking remediation of, or to recover the cost of remediating, a site that has been on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Superfund National Priorities List;
(vii) an agreement between a health care provider and a patient to provide medical treatment on a lien if the repayment is not contingent on the outcome of the legal claim; or
(viii) an agreement between a third party and a party to a legal claim to provide funding for medical treatment related to a legal claim on a lien if the repayment is not contingent upon the outcome of the legal claim.
(2)
(a) "Commercial maintenance funding provider" means a person that enters into a commercial maintenance funding agreement with a party to a legal claim.
(b) "Commercial maintenance funding provider" does not include a nonprofit organization exempt from federal income tax under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
(3) "Consumer" means:
(a) an individual who resides or is domiciled in the state;
(b) an individual who is a plaintiff with a legal claim in the state; or
(c) an estate for a decedent in a wrongful death claim in the state.
(4)
(a) "Consumer maintenance funding agreement" means a non-recourse transaction in which a consumer maintenance funding provider purchases contingent rights to receive an amount of the potential proceeds of a settlement, judgment, award, or verdict obtained in the consumer's legal claim, with funds paid directly to the consumer.
(b) "Consumer maintenance funding agreement" does not include:
(i) an agreement between a health care provider and a patient for providing medical treatment on a lien basis if repayment is not contingent on the outcome of the legal claim; or
(ii) an agreement between a third party and a party to a legal claim for providing funds for medical treatment related to the legal claim on a lien basis if repayment is not contingent on the outcome of the legal claim.
(5)
(a) "Consumer maintenance funding provider" means a person that enters into a consumer maintenance funding agreement with a consumer.
(b) "Consumer maintenance funding provider" does not include:
(i) an immediate family member of a consumer;
(ii) an accountant providing accounting services to a consumer;
(iii) an attorney providing legal services to a consumer; or
(iv) a bank, lender, financing entity, or other special purpose entity:
(A) that provides financing to a consumer litigation funding company; or
(B) to which a consumer litigation funding company grants a security interest or transfers a right or interest in a consumer litigation funding agreement.
(6) "Director" means the director of the division.
(7) "Division" means the Division of Consumer Protection established in Section 13-2-102.
(8) "Foreign country or person of concern" means:
(a) a foreign government or person listed in 15 C.F.R. Sec. 791.4; or
(b) an entity designated as a restricted foreign entity in accordance with Section 63L-13-101.
(9)
(a) "Foreign entity of concern" means a partnership, association, corporation, organization, or other legal entity that:
(i) is organized or incorporated in a foreign country of concern;
(ii) is owned or operated by a government, a political subdivision, or a political party of a foreign country of concern;
(iii) has a principal place of business in a foreign country of concern; or
(iv) a foreign organization owns, organizes, or controls that:
(A) is on the federal Office of Foreign Assets Control specially designated nationals and blocked persons list; or
(B) the United States Secretary of State designates as a foreign terrorist organization.
(b) "Foreign entity of concern" includes an individual that owns, has a controlling interest in, or is a director or senior officer of any entity that falls within Subsection (10)(a).
(10) "Health care provider" means the same as that term is defined in Section 78B-3-403.
(11) "Maintenance funding provider" means a consumer maintenance funding provider or a commercial maintenance funding provider.
Amended by Chapter 121, 2026 General Session