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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 2617. Authority of Secretary
(a) Issuance of regulations; exemptions
The Secretary is authorized to prescribe such rules and
regulations, to make such interpretations, and to grant such
reasonable exemptions for classes of transactions, as may be
necessary to achieve the purposes of this chapter.
(b) Liability for acts done in good faith in conformity with rule,
regulation, or interpretation
No provision of this chapter or the laws of any State imposing
any liability shall apply to any act done or omitted in good faith
in conformity with any rule, regulation, or interpretation thereof
by the Secretary or the Attorney General, notwithstanding that
after such act or omission has occurred, such rule, regulation, or
interpretation is amended, rescinded, or determined by judicial or
other authority to be invalid for any reason.
(c) Investigations; hearings; failure to obey order; contempt
(1) The Secretary may investigate any facts, conditions,
practices, or matters that may be deemed necessary or proper to aid
in the enforcement of the provisions of this chapter, in
prescribing of rules and regulations thereunder, or in securing
information to serve as a basis for recommending further
legislation concerning real estate settlement practices. To aid in
the investigations, the Secretary is authorized to hold such
hearings, administer such oaths, and require by subpena the
attendance and testimony of such witnesses and production of such
documents as the Secretary deems advisable.
(2) Any district court of the United States within the
jurisdiction of which an inquiry is carried on may, in the case of
contumacy or refusal to obey a subpena of the Secretary issued
under this section, issue an order requiring compliance therewith;
and any failure to obey such order of the court may be punished by
such court as a contempt thereof.
(d) Delay of effectiveness of recent final regulation relating to
payments to employees
(1) In general
The amendment to part 3500 of title 24 of the Code of Federal
Regulations contained in the final regulation prescribed by the
Secretary and published in the Federal Register on June 7, 1996,
which will, as of the effective date of such amendment -
(A) eliminate the exemption for payments by an employer to
employees of such employer for referral activities which is
currently codified as section 3500.14(g)(1)(vii) of such title
24; and
(B) replace such exemption with a more limited exemption in
new clauses (vii), (viii), and (ix) of section 3500.14 of such
title 24,
shall not take effect before July 31, 1997.
(2) Continuation of prior rule
The regulation codified as section 3500.14(g)(1)(vii) of title
24 of the Code of Federal Regulations, relating to
employer-employee payments, as in effect on May 1, 1996, shall
remain in effect until the date the amendment referred to in
paragraph (1) takes effect in accordance with such paragraph.
(3) Public notice of effective date
The Secretary shall provide public notice of the date on which
the amendment referred to in paragraph (1) will take effect in
accordance with such paragraph not less than 90 days and not more
than 180 days before such effective date.
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