2005 Missouri Revised Statutes - § 443.803. — Definitions.

443.803. 1. For the purposes of sections 443.800 to 443.893, the following terms mean:

(1) "Advertisement", the attempt by publication, dissemination or circulation to induce, directly or indirectly, any person to apply for a loan to be secured by residential real estate;

(2) "Affiliate":

(a) Any entity that directly controls, or is controlled by, the licensee and any other company that is directly affecting activities regulated by sections 443.800 to 443.893 that is controlled by the company that controls the licensee;

(b) Any entity:

a. That is controlled, directly or indirectly, by a trust or otherwise by, or for the benefit of, shareholders who beneficially, or otherwise, control, directly or indirectly, by trust or otherwise, the licensee or any company that controls the licensee; or

b. A majority of the directors or trustees of which constitute a majority of the persons holding any such office with the licensee or any company that controls the licensee;

(c) Any company, including a real estate investment trust, that is sponsored and advised on a contractual basis by the licensee or any subsidiary or affiliate of the licensee;

(3) "Annual audit", a certified audit of the licensee's books and records and systems of internal control performed by a certified public accountant in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and generally accepted auditing standards;

(4) "Board", the residential mortgage board, created in section 443.816;

(5) "Borrower", the person or persons who use the services of a loan broker, originator or lender;

(6) "Director", the director of the division of finance within the department of economic development;

(7) "Escrow agent", a third party, individual or entity, charged with the fiduciary obligation for holding escrow funds on a residential mortgage loan pending final payout of those funds in accordance with the terms of the residential mortgage loan;

(8) "Exempt entity", the following entities:

(a) Any bank or trust company organized under the laws of this or any other state or any national bank or any foreign banking corporation licensed by the division of finance or the United States Comptroller of the Currency to transact business in this state;

(b) Any state or federal savings and loan association, savings bank or credit union or any consumer finance company licensed under sections 367.100 to 367.215, RSMo, which is actively engaged in consumer credit lending;

(c) Any insurance company authorized to transact business in this state;

(d) Any person engaged solely in commercial mortgage lending or any person making or acquiring residential or commercial construction loans with the person's own funds for the person's own investment;

(e) Any service corporation of a federally chartered or state- chartered savings and loan association, savings bank or credit union;

(f) Any first-tier subsidiary of a national or state bank that has its principal place of business in this state, provided that such first-tier subsidiary is regularly examined by the division of finance or the Comptroller of the Currency or a consumer compliance examination of it is regularly conducted by the Federal Reserve;

(g) Any person engaged solely in the business of securing loans on the secondary market provided such person does not make decisions about the extension of credit to the borrower;

(h) Any mortgage banker as defined in subdivision (19) of this subsection; or

(i) Any wholesale mortgage lender who purchases mortgage loans originated by a licensee provided such wholesale lender does not make decisions about the extension of credit to the borrower;

(j) Any person making or acquiring residential mortgage loans with the person's own funds for the person's own investment;

(k) Any person employed or contracted by a licensee to assist in the performance of the activities regulated by sections 443.800 to 443.893 who is compensated in any manner by only one licensee;

(l) Any person licensed pursuant to the real estate agents and brokers licensing law, chapter 339, RSMo, who engages in servicing or the taking of applications and credit and appraisal information to forward to a licensee or an exempt entity for transactions in which the licensee is acting as a real estate broker and who is compensated by either a licensee or an exempt entity;

(m) Any person who originates, services or brokers residential mortgagee loans and who receives no compensation for those activities, subject to the director's regulations regarding the nature and amount of compensation;

(9) "Financial institution", a savings and loan association, savings bank, credit union, mortgage banker or bank organized under the laws of Missouri or the laws of the United States with its principal place of business in Missouri;

(10) "First-tier subsidiary", as defined by administrative rule promulgated by the director;

(11) "Full-service office", office and staff in Missouri reasonably adequate to handle efficiently communications, questions and other matters relating to any application for a new, or existing, home mortgage loan which the licensee is brokering, funding, originating, purchasing or servicing. The management and operation of each full-service office must include observance of good business practices such as adequate, organized and accurate books and records, ample phone lines, hours of business, staff training and supervision and provision for a mechanism to resolve consumer inquiries, complaints and problems. The director shall promulgate regulations with regard to the requirements of this subdivision and shall include an evaluation of compliance with this subdivision in the periodic examination of the licensee;

(12) "Government-insured mortgage loan", any mortgage loan made on the security of residential real estate insured by the Department of Housing and Urban Development or Farmers Home Loan Administration, or guaranteed by the Veterans Administration;

(13) "Lender", any person who either lends money for or invests money in residential mortgage loans;

(14) "Licensee" or "residential mortgage licensee", a person who is licensed to engage in the activities regulated by sections 443.800 to 443.893;

(15) "Loan broker" or "broker", a person exempted from licensing pursuant to subdivision (8) of this subsection, who performs the activities described in subdivisions (17) and (32) of this subsection;

(16) "Loan brokerage agreement", a written agreement in which a broker agrees to do either of the following:

(a) Obtain a residential mortgage loan for the borrower or assist the borrower in obtaining a residential mortgage loan; or

(b) Consider making a residential mortgage loan to the borrower;

(17) "Loan brokering", "mortgage brokering", or "mortgage brokerage service", the act of helping to obtain for an investor or from an investor for a borrower, a loan secured by residential real estate situated in Missouri or assisting an investor or a borrower in obtaining a loan secured by residential real estate in return for consideration;

(18) "Making a residential mortgage loan" or "funding a residential mortgage loan", for compensation or gain, either, directly or indirectly, advancing funds or making a commitment to an applicant for a residential mortgage loan;

(19) "Mortgage banker", a mortgage loan company which is subject to licensing, supervision, or annual audit requirements by the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA), or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC), or the United States Veterans Administration (VA), or the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), or a successor of any of the foregoing agencies or entities, as an approved lender, loan correspondent, seller, or servicer;

(20) "Mortgage loan" or* "residential mortgage loan", a loan to, or for the benefit of, any natural person made primarily for personal, family or household use, including a reverse mortgage loan, primarily secured by either a mortgage or reverse mortgage on residential real property or certificates of stock or other evidence of ownership interests in, and proprietary leases from, corporations or partnerships formed for the purpose of cooperative ownership of residential real property;

(21) "Net worth", as provided in section 443.859;

(22) "Originating", the advertising, soliciting, taking applications, processing, closing, or issuing of commitments for, and funding of, residential mortgage loans;

(23) "Party to a residential mortgage financing transaction", a borrower, lender or loan broker in a residential mortgage financing transaction;

(24) "Payments", payment of all, or any part of, the following: principal, interest and escrow reserves for taxes, insurance and other related reserves and reimbursement for lender advances;

(25) "Person", any individual, firm, partnership, corporation, company or association and the legal successors thereof;

(26) "Personal residence address", a street address, but shall not include a post office box number;

(27) "Purchasing", the purchase of conventional or government-insured mortgage loans secured by residential real estate from either the lender or from the secondary market;

(28) "Residential mortgage board", the residential mortgage board created in section 443.816;

(29) "Residential mortgage financing transaction", the negotiation, acquisition, sale or arrangement for, or the offer to negotiate, acquire, sell or arrange for, a residential mortgage loan or residential mortgage loan commitment;

(30) "Residential mortgage loan commitment", a written conditional agreement to finance a residential mortgage loan;

(31) "Residential real property" or "residential real estate", real property located in this state improved by a one-family to four-family dwelling;

(32) "Servicing", the collection or remittance for, or the right or obligation to collect or remit for, any lender, noteowner, noteholder or for a licensee's own account, of payments, interests, principal and trust items such as hazard insurance and taxes on a residential mortgage loan and includes loan payment follow-up, delinquency loan follow-up, loan analysis and any notifications to the borrower that are necessary to enable the borrower to keep the loan current and in good standing;

(33) "Soliciting, processing, placing or negotiating a residential mortgage loan", for compensation or gain, either, directly or indirectly, accepting or offering to accept an application for a residential mortgage loan, assisting or offering to assist in the processing of an application for a residential mortgage loan on behalf of a borrower, or negotiating or offering to negotiate the terms or conditions of a residential mortgage loan with a lender on behalf of a borrower including, but not limited to, the submission of credit packages for the approval of lenders, the preparation of residential mortgage loan closing documents, and including a closing in the name of a broker;

(34) "Ultimate equitable owner", a person who, directly or indirectly, owns or controls an ownership interest in a corporation, foreign corporation, alien business organization, trust or any other form of business organization regardless of whether the person owns or controls the ownership interest through one or more persons or one or more proxies, powers of attorney, nominees, corporations, associations, partnerships, trusts, joint stock companies or other entities or devices, or any combination thereof.

2. The director may define by rule any terms used in sections 443.800 to 443.893 for efficient and clear administration.

(L. 1994 S.B. 718 § 3, A.L. 1995 H.B. 63, et al., A.L. 2001 S.B. 538)

*Word "or" does not appear in original rolls.