P.R. Laws tit. 32, § 2881
The following words or terms, wherever used or referred to in this chapter, shall have the meaning stated below unless the context clearly states otherwise:
(a) Mediation.— An non-adjudicative intervention process whereby a neutral facilitator (mediator) helps or assists the parties to a dispute to achieve a mutually accepted settlement of the issues in dispute.
(b) Mandatory mediation.— In the event that a mortgagee may initiate a foreclosure proceeding or a judicial sale of a residential property that serves as principal residence, a mandatory mediation conference shall be held in a court part or room or at a place selected upon agreement by the parties and the mediator, but shall never be held in the office of the mortgagee or the attorneys or legal representatives or advisors thereof, and presided by a mediator selected by the parties in the course of a summary and/or regular foreclosure proceeding. At such meeting, the mortgagee shall notify the mortgagor of all the alternatives available in the market to prevent the foreclosure or judicial sale of a residential property that serves as a principal residence. The purpose or goal is to reach an agreement or modification that may allow mortgagors to establish a repayment plan or other alternative satisfactory to the parties and prevent the loss of their principal residence.
(c) Mortgagee.— A natural or juridical person or a lending or financial institution or a bank, or a credit union duly authorized under the Laws of Puerto Rico and the United States of America to grant or that grants mortgage loans secured by a principal residence or home.
(d) Mortgagor.— A natural person who has obtained a loan for consumption, that is, for personal or family purposes secured by a mortgage on a principal residence or home. This definition shall include all natural persons who are liable or may become liable for the obligation whose enforcement is sought in a debt collection or foreclosure process.
(e) Principal residence or home.— That which is used as the main dwelling of the mortgagor or the mortgagor and his/her immediate family, and which would qualify, for property tax purposes, for the principal residence tax exemption.
History —Aug. 17, 2012, No. 184, § 2, eff. July 1, 2013.