§454M-1 Definitions. In this chapter, unless the context or subject matter otherwise requires:

"Affiliated entity" means a person or other entity that is controlled, controlled by, or under common control with a developer.

"Applicant" means a person applying for a license under this chapter.

"Bankruptcy code" refers to the United States Bankruptcy Code, title 11 United States Code, section 101 et seq., as amended.

"Borrower" means the obligor, maker, cosigner, or guarantor under a mortgage loan agreement. For purposes of this chapter, a borrower is included in the term consumer.

"Business day" means Monday through Friday, excluding state holidays.

"C.F.R." means the Code of Federal Regulations.

"Commissioner" means the commissioner of financial institutions of this State.

"Consumer Financial Protection Bureau" means the agency of the United States government referenced in title 12 United States Code chapter 53, subchapter V.

"Control" means the power to direct management or policies of a company, whether through ownership of securities, by contract, or otherwise.

"Developer" means a person whose time share plan is accepted by the director for registration under chapter 514E.

"Director" means the director of commerce and consumer affairs.

"Division of financial institutions" or "division" means the division of financial institutions of the department of commerce and consumer affairs.

"Dwelling" means a residential structure or mobile home that contains one to four family housing units or individual units of condominiums or cooperatives.

"Executive officer" means a president, chairperson of an executive committee, senior officer responsible for the business of the subject entity or organization, chief financial officer, or any other person who performs similar functions related to the subject entity or organization.

"Home Affordable Modification Program" means the program established by the United States Department of the Treasury, pursuant to sections 101 and 109 of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, as section 109 of the Act has been amended by section 7002 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The Home Affordable Modification Program is a component of the Making Home Affordable Program, also known as the MHA Program.

"License" means a license issued under this chapter.

"Licensee" means a person licensed or required to be licensed under this chapter.

"Loss mitigation option" means an alternative to foreclosure, including loan modification, reinstatement, forbearance, deed-in-lieu, and short sale.

"Mortgage servicer" means the person responsible for collecting, receiving, and processing any scheduled periodic payments from a borrower pursuant to the terms of any residential mortgage loan, including amounts for escrow accounts under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, and for making the payments to the owner of the loan or other third parties of principal and interest and such other payments with respect to the amounts received from the borrower as may be required pursuant to the terms of the mortgage servicing loan documents or servicing contract. In the case of a home equity conversion mortgage or reverse mortgage as referenced in this chapter, servicing includes making payments to the borrower.

"NMLS" means a mortgage licensing system developed and maintained by the Conference of State Bank Supervisors and the American Association of Residential Mortgage Regulators for the state licensing and registration of state-licensed loan originators and other financial services providers, or any system provided by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

"Person" means an individual, sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, limited liability company, limited liability partnership, or other association of individuals, however organized.

"Principal office" means the office location where the company's core executive and administrative functions are primarily carried out.

"Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act" means title 12 United States Code chapter 27, as amended, and regulations adopted thereunder also known as Regulation X, title 12 C.F.R. part 1024.

"Received" means, in the context of the date of payment, the date that the payment instrument or other means of payment reaches the mortgage servicer, in accordance with title 12 C.F.R. section 1026.36(c).

"Residential loan modification" or "loan modification" means a temporary or permanent change to the terms of a borrower's existing residential mortgage loan agreement, mutually agreed to between a borrower and a lender.

"Residential mortgage loan" or "mortgage loan" means any loan primarily for personal, family, or household use that is secured by a mortgage, deed of trust, or other equivalent consensual security interest on a dwelling or residential real estate and includes refinancings, reverse mortgages, home equity lines of credit, and other first and additional lien loans that meet the qualifications listed in this definition.

"Residential real estate" means any real property located in this State, upon which a dwelling is constructed or intended to be constructed.

"Servicing" means the business activity of a mortgage servicer.

"Time share interest" means that interest purchased in a time share plan which grants the purchaser the right to use and occupy accommodations, facilities, or recreational sites, whether improved or unimproved, pursuant to a time share plan.

"Time share plan" has the same meaning as defined in title 11 United States Code section 101(53D). [L 2009, c 106, pt of §1; am L 2012, c 245, §2; am L 2013, c 92, §2; am L 2015, c 62, §2; am L 2016, c 122, §19; am L 2017, c 46, §2]