2023 California Code › Business and Professions Code - BPC › DIVISION 4 - REAL ESTATE › PART 1 - LICENSING OF PERSONS › CHAPTER 3 - Real Estate Regulations › ARTICLE 2.1 - Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licenses › Section 10166.01.

10166.01. For purposes of this article, the following definitions shall apply:
(a) “SAFE Act” means the federal Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-289).
(b) (1) “Mortgage loan originator” means an individual who takes a residential mortgage loan application or offers or negotiates terms of a residential mortgage loan for compensation or gain.
(2) Mortgage loan originator does not include any of the following:
(A) An individual who performs purely administrative or clerical tasks on behalf of a person meeting the definition of a mortgage loan originator, except as otherwise provided in subdivision (c) of Section 10166.03. The term “administrative or clerical tasks” means the receipt, collection, and distribution of information common for the processing or underwriting of a loan in the mortgage industry and communication with a consumer to obtain information necessary for the processing or underwriting of a residential mortgage loan.
(B) An individual that only performs real estate brokerage services, as defined in subdivision (a) or (b) of Section 10131, unless that person is compensated by a lender, other mortgage loan originator, or by any agent of any lender or other mortgage loan originator.
(C) An individual who solely renegotiates terms for existing mortgage loans held or serviced by their employer and who does not otherwise act as a mortgage loan originator, unless the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development or a court of competent jurisdiction determines that the SAFE Act requires such an employee to be licensed as a mortgage loan originator under state laws implementing the SAFE Act.
(D) An individual that is solely involved in extensions of credit relating to timeshare plans, as that term is defined in Section 101(53D) of Title 11 of the United States Code.
(E) An individual licensed or registered as a mortgage loan originator pursuant to the Financial Code and the SAFE Act.
(c) “Nationwide Multistate Licensing System and Registry” 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 mortgage loan originators.
(d) “Residential mortgage loan” means any loan primarily for personal, family, or household use that is secured by a mortgage, deed of trust, or other equivalent consensual security interest on a dwelling, or residential real estate upon which is constructed or intended to be constructed a dwelling. “Dwelling” means a residential structure that contains one to four units, whether or not that structure is attached to real property. The term includes an individual condominium unit, cooperative unit, mobilehome, or trailer, if it is used as a residence.
(e) “Unique identifier” means a number or other identifier assigned by protocols established by the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System and Registry.
(f) “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 mortgage loan originator.
(Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 511, Sec. 57. (SB 1495) Effective January 1, 2023.)