Section 599-B. Definitions

As used in this article:
    1. "Annual expiration date" means December thirty-first of each year.
    2.  "Depository  institution" has the same meaning as in section three
  of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act, and includes any credit union.
    3. "Federal banking agencies" means the  Board  of  Governors  of  the
  Federal Reserve System, the Comptroller of the Currency, the Director of
  the   Office   of   Thrift   Supervision,   the  National  Credit  Union
  Administration, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
    4. "Immediate family member" means a spouse, child,  sibling,  parent,
  grandparent,  or  grandchild.  This  includes stepparents, stepchildren,
  stepsiblings and adoptive relationships.
    5. "Individual" means a natural person.
    6. Loan processor or underwriter-
    (a) "Loan processor or underwriter" means an individual  who  performs
  clerical  or  support  duties  as  an  employee  at the direction of and
  subject to the supervision and instruction  of  a  person  licensed,  or
  exempt from licensing, under this article, provided that such individual
  does  not represent to the public, through advertising or other means of
  communicating or providing information, including the  use  of  business
  cards,  stationery,  brochures,  signs, rate lists, or other promotional
  items, that such individual can or will perform any of the activities of
  a mortgage loan originator.
    (b) For purposes of this subdivision, "clerical or support duties" may
  include, subsequent to the receipt of an application:
    (i) the receipt, collection, distribution, and analysis of information
  common for the processing or  underwriting  of  a  residential  mortgage
  loan; and
    (ii) communicating with a consumer to obtain the information necessary
  for  the  processing  or underwriting of a loan, to the extent that such
  communication does not include offering or  negotiating  loan  rates  or
  terms,  or counseling consumers about residential mortgage loan rates or
  terms.
    7. Mortgage loan originator (MLO) --
    (a)  "Mortgage  Loan  Originator"  means   an   individual   who   for
  compensation or gain or in the expectation of compensation or gain:
    (i) takes a residential mortgage loan application; or
    (ii) offers or negotiates terms of a residential mortgage loan.
    (b) Does not include:
    (i)  any  individual engaged solely as a loan processor or underwriter
  except as otherwise provided in subdivision four of section five hundred
  ninety-nine-c of this article;
    (ii) an individual who performs only real estate brokerage  activities
  and  is  licensed  or  registered in accordance with applicable New York
  law, unless the individual  is  compensated  by  a  lender,  a  mortgage
  broker,  or  other  mortgage  loan  originator  or  by any agent of such
  lender, mortgage broker, or other mortgage loan originator; and
    (iii) an individual solely involved in extensions of  credit  relating
  to timeshare plans, as that term is defined in section 101(53D) of title
  11, United States Code.
    (c)  For  purposes  of  this article, "real estate brokerage activity"
  means any activity that  involves  offering  or  providing  real  estate
  brokerage services to the public, including:
    (i)  acting  as a real estate agent or real estate broker for a buyer,
  seller, lessor, or lessee of real property;
    (ii) bringing together  parties  interested  in  the  sale,  purchase,
  lease, rental, or exchange of real property;
    (iii)  negotiating,  on behalf of any party, any portion of a contract
  relating to the sale, purchase,  lease,  rental,  or  exchange  of  real

  property (other than in connection with providing financing with respect
  to any such transaction);
    (iv)  engaging  in  any  activity  for  which  a person engaged in the
  activity is required to be registered or licensed as a real estate agent
  or real estate broker under any applicable law; and
    (v) offering to engage in  any  activity,  or  act  in  any  capacity,
  described in subparagraphs (i), (ii), (iii), or (iv) of this paragraph.
    8.  "Residential  mortgage loan" shall mean a loan to a natural person
  made primarily for personal, family or household use, secured by  either
  a  mortgage,  deed  of  trust  or  other  equivalent consensual security
  interest on a dwelling (as defined in section 1203(v) of  the  Truth  in
  Lending Act) or residential real property or any certificate of stock or
  other   evidence   of  ownership  in,  and  proprietary  lease  from,  a
  corporation  or  partnership  formed  for  the  purpose  of  cooperative
  ownership  of  residential real property and shall include any refinance
  or modification of any such existing loan.
    9. "Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry" (NMLSR) 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  licensing  and  registration  of  licensed
  mortgage loan originators.
    10.  "Nontraditional  mortgage  product"  means,  for purposes of this
  article, any mortgage  product  other  than  a  thirty-year  fixed  rate
  mortgage.
    11.  "Originating  entity"  means  a  person  or  entity  licensed  or
  registered pursuant to article twelve-D of this chapter  or  such  other
  employer of mortgage loan originators as the superintendent may approve.
    12.  "Person" means an individual or any corporation, company, limited
  liability company, partnership, association or other entity.
    13. "Registered mortgage loan originator" means any individual who:
    (a) Meets the  definition  of  mortgage  loan  originator  and  is  an
  employee of:
    (i) a depository institution;
    (ii)  a  subsidiary  that  is  owned  and  controlled  by a depository
  institution and regulated by a federal banking agency; or
    (iii) an institution regulated by the Farm Credit Administration; and
    (b) Is registered with, and maintains a unique identifier through, the
  NMLSR.
    14. "Residential real property" shall mean real  property  located  in
  this  state  improved  by  a one-to-four family residence or residential
  unit in a building used or occupied, or intended to be used or occupied,
  wholly or partly, as the home or residence of one or more  persons,  but
  shall not refer to unimproved real property upon which such residence is
  to be constructed.
    15. "Unique identifier" means a number or other identifier assigned by
  protocols established by the NMLSR.