SECTION 89.102. Definitions

Words and terms used in this chapter that are defined in Texas Finance Code, Chapter 351 have the same meanings as defined in Chapter 351. The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, will have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

(1) Affiliated business--A person that:

(A) shares common management with a property tax lender;

(B) shares, directly or indirectly, more than 10% common ownership with a property tax lender; or

(C) is controlled, directly or indirectly, by a property tax lender through a controlling interest greater than 10%.

(2) Borrower--The borrower in a property tax loan is the property owner.

(3) Commercial property tax loan--A property tax loan that is not a residential property tax loan.

(4) Commissioner--The Consumer Credit Commissioner of the State of Texas.

(5) Date of consummation--The date of closing or execution of a loan contract.

(6) Licensee--Any person who has been issued a property tax lender license pursuant to Texas Finance Code, Chapter 351.

(7) Making a loan--The act of making a loan is either the determination of the credit decision to provide the loan, the act of funding the loan, or the act of advancing money on behalf of a borrower to a third party. A person whose name appears on the loan documents as the payee of the note is considered to have "made" the loan.

(8) Negotiating a loan--The process of submitting and considering offers between a borrower and a lender with the objective of reaching agreement on the terms of a loan. The act of passing information between the parties can, by itself, be considered "negotiation" if it was part of the process of reaching agreement on the terms of a loan. "Negotiation" involves acts which take place before an agreement to lend or funding of a loan actually occurs.

(9) OCCC--The Office of Consumer Credit Commissioner of the State of Texas.

(10) Residential property tax loan--A property tax loan that includes a lien on residential property owned and used by the property owner for personal, family, or household purposes. This includes any property tax loan that includes a lien on homestead property. For purposes of this definition, non-homestead property designated as "Category A (Real Property: Single-Family Residential)" will be presumed to be residential property owned and used by the property owner for personal, family, or household purposes, unless the property tax lender obtains and maintains and affidavit from the property owner stating that:

(A) the property is owned and used by the property owner for a business or investment purpose; and

(B) the property owner does not own or use the property for personal, family, or household use.

(11) Transacting a loan--Any of the significant events associated with the lending process through funding, including the preparation, negotiation and execution of loan documents, and an advancement of money on behalf of a borrower by the lender to a third party. This also includes the act of arranging a loan.

Source Note: The provisions of this §89.102 adopted to be effective November 8, 2007, 32 TexReg 7917; amended to be effective March 15, 2015, 40 TexReg 1068; amended to be effective November 9, 2017, 42 TexReg 6131