N.Y. Banking Law § 710 – Definitions

1. "Applicant" shall mean any person applying for a license under this article.
2. "Borrower" shall mean any resident of this state who has received a student loan or agreed in writing to pay a student loan or any person who shares a legal obligation with such resident for repaying a student loan.
3. "Borrower benefit" shall mean an incentive offered to a borrower in connection with the origination of a student loan, including but not limited to an interest rate reduction, principal rebate, fee waiver or rebate, loan cancellation, or cosigner release.
4. "Exempt organization" shall mean any banking organization, foreign banking corporation, national bank, federal savings association, federal credit union, or any bank, trust company, savings bank, savings and loan association, or credit union organized under the laws of any other state, any public postsecondary educational institution or private nonprofit postsecondary educational institution or any person licensed or supervised by the department and exempted by the superintendent pursuant to regulations promulgated in accordance with this article.
5. "Person" shall mean any individual, association, corporation, limited liability company, partnership, trust, unincorporated organization, government, and any other entity.
6. "Servicer" or "student loan servicer" shall mean a person engaged in the business of servicing student loans owed by one or more borrowers residing in this state.
7. "Servicing" shall mean:
1. (a) receiving any payment from a borrower pursuant to the terms of any student loan;
2. (b) applying any payment to the borrower's account pursuant to the terms of a student loan or the contract governing the servicing of any such loans;
3. (c) providing any notification of amounts owed on a student loan by or on account of any borrower in conjunction with performing such activities as described in paragraphs (a), (b), or (d) of this subdivision;
4. (d) during a period where a borrower is not required to make a payment on a student loan, maintaining account records for the student loan and communicating with the borrower regarding the student loan on behalf of the owner of the student loan promissory note;
5. (e) interacting with a borrower with respect to or regarding any attempt to avoid default on the borrower's student loan, or facilitating the activities described in paragraph (a) or (b) of this subdivision in conjunction with performing such activities as described in paragraphs (a), (b), or (d) of this subdivision; or
6. (f) performing other administrative services with respect to a borrower's student loan in conjunction with performing such activities as described in paragraphs (a), (b), or (d) of this subdivision.
8. "Student loan" shall mean any loan to a borrower to finance postsecondary education or expenses related to postsecondary education.
9. "Federal student loan" means (a) any student loan issued pursuant to the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program; (b) any student loan issued pursuant to the Federal Family Education Loan Program, which was purchased by the government of the United States pursuant to the federal Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act and is presently owned by the government of the United States; and (c) any other student loan issued pursuant to a federal program that is identified by the superintendent as a "federal student loan" in a regulation.