[Section effective until January 1, 2010. See, also, section effective January 1, 2010.]

1. (1) "Mortgage" 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. (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. (3) "Mortgage broker" means a person or organization in the business of soliciting, processing, placing, or negotiating mortgages for others or offering to process, place, or negotiate mortgages for others. Mortgage broker also includes a person or organization who brings borrowers or lenders together to obtain mortgages or renders a settlement service as described in 24 CFR Part 3500.2(b).
4. (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, assisting or offering to assist in the processing of an application for a mortgage, soliciting or offering to solicit a mortgage on behalf of a third party, or negotiating or offering to negotiate the terms or conditions of a mortgage with a lender on behalf of a third party.

5. (5) "Exempt person or organization" means:

   1. (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 mortgages on real property with federally insured and/or regulated financial institutions including, but not limited to, banks, savings and loan associations, and credit unions.
   2. (b) an attorney at law licensed to practice law in South Carolina who is not engaged principally in negotiating mortgages when the attorney renders services in the course of his practice as an attorney at law;
   3. (c) a person employed by an organization defined in subitem (a) of this item;
   4. (d) title company which is qualified to issue title insurance, directly or through its agents.
6. (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 mortgages for others or offering to process, place, or negotiate mortgages for others. Licensee includes mortgage brokers as defined in item (3) and originators as defined in item (14).
7. (7) "Administrator" means the Administrator of the Department of Consumer Affairs of this State.
8. (8) "RESPA" means the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974, 12 U.S.C. Section 2601 et seq., as amended.
9. (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. (10) "HUD" means the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
11. (11) "Department" means the South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs.
12. (12) "Regular business hours" means open for business not less than thirty hours a week, Monday through Friday.
13. (13) "Satellite office" means a location at which a mortgage broker may conduct mortgage 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. (14) "Originator" means an employee of a mortgage broker whose primary job responsibilities include direct contact with and informing mortgage applicants of the rates, terms, disclosure, and other aspects of the mortgage, including accepting or offering to accept applications for mortgages. It does not mean an employee, including processors, whose job responsibilities are limited to clerical and administrative tasks and who does not solicit borrowers or negotiate the rates, terms, disclosure, or other aspects of a mortgage on behalf of the employer which do not require licensure.
15. (15) "Processor" means an employee of a mortgage broker whose primary job responsibilities are mortgage processing and may include direct contact with applicants but does not include informing applicants of rates, terms, disclosure, or solicitation of mortgages.

As used in this chapter: