(1) "Mortgage loan" means a loan to a natural person made primarily for personal, family, or household use primarily secured by a mortgage on residential real property.
(2) "Residential real property" means real property located in this State upon which there is located or there is to be located one or more single family, owner-occupied dwellings or dwelling units.
(3) "Mortgage loan broker" means a person or organization in the business of soliciting, processing, placing, or negotiating mortgage loans for others or offering to process, place, or negotiate mortgage loans for others. Mortgage loan broker also includes a person or organization who brings borrowers or lenders together to obtain mortgage loans or renders a settlement service as described in 24 CFR Part 3500.2(a)(16)(ii).
(4) "Soliciting, processing, placing, or negotiating a mortgage loan" means for compensation or gain, either directly or indirectly, accepting or offering to accept an application for a mortgage loan, assisting or offering to assist in the processing of an application for a mortgage loan, soliciting or offering to solicit a mortgage loan on behalf of a third party, or negotiating or offering to negotiate the terms or conditions of a mortgage loan with a lender on behalf of a third party.
(5) "Exempt person or organization" means:
(a) a bank, bank holding company, credit union, savings and loan association, savings and loan association holding company, their affiliates and subsidiaries, a supervised licensed lender under Title 37 and a restricted lender under Title 34 and their affiliates and subsidiaries, a Department of Housing and Urban Development or Federal Housing Administration approved mortgagee authorized, chartered, licensed, or approved under the laws of this State or of the United States or an instrumentality of them; or persons or organizations which sell or place all of their conventional mortgage loans on real property with federally insured and/or regulated financial institutions including, but not limited to, banks, savings and loan associations, and credit unions.
(b) an attorney at law licensed to practice law in South Carolina who is not engaged principally in negotiating mortgage loans when the attorney renders services in the course of his practice as an attorney at law;
(c) a person employed by an organization defined in subitem (a) of this item;
(d) title company which is qualified to issue title insurance, directly or through its agents.
(6) "Licensee" means a person or organization who is licensed pursuant to Section 40-58-50 which engages in the business of soliciting, processing, placing, or negotiating mortgage loans for others or offering to process, place, or negotiate mortgage loans for others.
(7) "Administrator" means the Administrator of the Department of Consumer Affairs of this State.
(8) "RESPA" means the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974, 12 U.S.C. Section 2601 et seq., as amended.
(9) "Recasting" means a promise for an individual to recoup a home sold to a third party with the intent of the original seller to rent back the property for a specific time at which the original seller will have the option to purchase the property back at a specific price. The specific period of time would normally be one year.
(10) "HUD" means the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
(11) "Department" means the South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs.
(12) "Regular business hours" means open for business not less than thirty hours a week, Monday through Friday.
(13) "Satellite office" means a location at which a mortgage broker may conduct mortgage loan broker business other than at a location that is open for regular business hours and is not required to be staffed full-time by one or more employees who have the authority to contract on behalf of the broker and to accept service on behalf of the broker.
(14) "Originator" means an employee of a mortgage loan broker whose primary job responsibilities include direct contact with and informing loan applicants of the rates, terms, disclosure, and other aspects of the mortgage. It does not mean an employee whose primary job responsibilities are clerical in nature, such as processing the loan.