Definitions.

As used in this act:

(1) “Banking institution” means any bank, bank and trust company, trust company, or any national banking association organized and doing business under the provisions of any state or of the United States.

(2) “Branch” means any location, other than a licensee’s principal place of business, at which a licensee operates or conducts business under this act or which a licensee owns or controls for the purpose of conducting business under this act.

(3) “Business day” means all calendar days except Sundays and the following legal public holidays: New Year’s Day, January 1; Birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., January 15; Washington’s Birthday, the third Monday in February; Memorial Day, the last Monday in May; Independence Day, July 4; Labor Day, the first Monday in September; Columbus Day, the second Monday in October; Veterans’ Day, November 11; Thanksgiving Day, the fourth Thursday in November; and Christmas Day, December 25.

(4) “Cash price” means the price at which a home improvement finance seller, in the ordinary course of business, offers to sell for cash the property or service that is the subject of the transaction. At the seller’s option, the term “cash price” may include the price of accessories, services related to the sale, service contracts, and taxes. The term “cash price” does not include any finance charge.

(5) “Commission” means the Financial Services Commission.

(6) “Control person” means an individual, partnership, corporation, trust, or other organization that possesses the power, directly or indirectly, to direct the management or policies of a company, whether through ownership of securities, by contract, or otherwise. A person is presumed to control a company if, with respect to a particular company, that person:

(a) Is a director, general partner, or officer exercising executive responsibility or having similar status or functions;

(b) Directly or indirectly may vote 10 percent or more of a class of a voting security or sell or direct the sale of 10 percent or more of a class of voting securities; or

(c) In the case of a partnership, may receive upon dissolution or has contributed 10 percent or more of the capital.

(7) “Debt consolidation” means any money advanced to an owner or the owner’s assignee in any connection with a home improvement contract.

(8) “Down payment” means the amount paid in money and goods to the home improvement finance seller and allowances given by the home improvement finance seller to the buyer pursuant to a home improvement contract.

(9) “Finance charge” means the cost of consumer credit as a dollar amount. The term “finance charge” includes any charge payable directly or indirectly by the buyer and imposed directly or indirectly by the seller as an incident to or a condition of the extension of credit. The term “finance charge” does not include any charge of a type payable in a comparable cash transaction.

(10) “Goods” means all personal chattels which are furnished or used in home improvement.

(11) “Holder” of a home improvement contract or related instrument means the home improvement finance seller or assignee thereof.

(12) “Home improvement” means repair, replacement, remodeling, alteration, conversion, modernization, or improvement of, or addition to, any land or building which is to be used as a single-family residence or dwelling place when such construction is done pursuant to a home improvement contract and a security interest in the real property is retained. “Home improvement” does not include:

(a) The construction of a new home building or work done by a contractor or seller in compliance with a guarantee of completion of a new building project; or

(b) The sale of goods or materials by a seller who neither arranges to perform nor performs directly or indirectly any work or labor in connection with the installation of or application of the goods or materials.

(13) “Home improvement contract” or “contract” means a written agreement contained in one or more documents between a home improvement finance seller and an owner for the performance of a home improvement and includes all labor, materials, and services to be furnished when all or part of the contract price is to be paid in installments over a period of time greater than 90 days.

(14) “Home improvement finance seller” or “seller” means any person other than a bona fide employee of the owner who directly or indirectly enters into two or more home improvement contracts, each of which was for consideration of $500 or more, in any calendar year.

(15) “Home improvement sale” or “sale” means the sale of goods and furnishing of services or the furnishing of services by a home improvement finance seller to an owner pursuant to a home improvement contract.

(16) “Office” means the Office of Financial Regulation of the commission.

(17) “Official fees” means fees actually paid to the appropriate public officer for obtaining any permit; filing, recording, or releasing any judgment, mortgage, or other lien; or perfecting any security in connection with a home improvement contract.

(18) “Owner,” “retail buyer,” or “buyer” means any homeowner, tenant, or any other person who orders, contracts for, or purchases the services of a home improvement finance seller or the person entitled to the performance of the work of a home improvement finance seller pursuant to a home improvement contract.

(19) “Person” means an individual, partnership, association, business, corporation, banking institution, nonprofit corporation, common-law trust, joint stock company, or any other group of individuals, however organized.

(20) “Principal place of business” means the physical location designated on the licensee’s application for licensure, unless otherwise designated as required by this chapter.

(21) “Retail installment transaction,” “home improvement finance transaction,” or “transaction” means a contract to sell or furnish or the sale of or the furnishing of goods or services by a home improvement finance seller to an owner.

(22) “Sales finance company” means any person who directly or indirectly purchases, acquires, solicits, or arranges for the acquisition of home improvement contracts or connected obligations by purchase, discount, pledge, or otherwise.

(23) “Services” means labor furnished for home improvement.