Section 37-1-301 - General definitionsIn addition to definitions appearing in subsequent articles, in this title:
(1) "Actuarial method" means the method, defined by rules adopted by the administrator, of allocating payments made on a debt between principal or amount financed and loan finance charge or credit service charge pursuant to which a payment is applied first to the accumulated loan finance charge or credit service charge and the balance is applied to the unpaid principal or unpaid amount financed.(2) "Administrator" means the administrator designated in the Article (Chapter 6) on Administration (Section 37-6-103).(3) "Agreement" means the bargain of the parties in fact as found in their language or by implication from other circumstances including course of dealing or usage of trade or course of performance.(4) "Agricultural purpose" means a purpose related to the production, harvest, exhibition, marketing, transportation, processing, or manufacture of agricultural products by a natural person who cultivates, plants, propagates, or nurtures the agricultural products. "Agricultural products" includes agricultural, horticultural, vitacultural and dairy products, livestock, wildlife, poultry, bees, forest products, fish and shellfish, and any products thereof including processed and manufactured products and any and all products raised or produced on farms and any processed or manufactured products thereof.(5) "Alternative mortgage loan" means a loan secured by a first or junior lien on real estate other than a loan that: (a) is a fully amortized loan repayable by the direct reduction method; and(b) has a fixed nonvariable loan finance charge. Alternative mortgage loans include, without limitation, renegotiable and variable rate mortgages, adjusted and graduated payment mortgages, shared appreciation mortgages, reverse annuity mortgages and any combination of the foregoing.
(5A) "Assumption" means and occurs when a creditor expressly agrees in writing with a subsequent transferee of the collateral for the debt (1) to accept that transferee as a primary obligor on the note or other instrument evidencing the credit, irrespective of whether the creditor agrees to release the original debtor and irrespective of whether the creditor has the right in the contract evidencing the debt to renegotiate the terms of the indebtedness, or (2) that the transferee takes the collateral subject to the lien of the transferor but is not personally liable for repayment of the debt.(6) "Billing cycle" means the time interval between periodic billing statement dates.(7) "Card holder" means a person to whom a credit card is issued or who has agreed with the card issuer to pay obligations arising from the issuance to or use of the card by another person.(8) "Card issuer" means a person who issues a credit card.(9) "Conspicuous" means a term or clause is conspicuous when it is so written that a reasonable person against whom it is to operate ought to have noticed it. Whether a term or clause is conspicuous or not is for decision by the court.(10) "Consumer" means the buyer, lessee, or debtor to whom credit is extended in a consumer credit transaction. In addition, for purposes of Chapters 10, 11, 13, and 15 of this title, as well as Sections 37-5-108, 37-6-108, 37-6-117(i), and 37-6-118, the term also includes: (1) a natural person who is a purchaser or lessee or prospective purchaser or lessee in any transaction arising out of the production, promotion, sale, or lease of consumer goods or services; or(2) a natural person who is the object of a solicitation or offer relating to a contest, game, or prize offer subject to Chapter 15.(11) "Consumer credit transaction" means a consumer credit sale (Section 37-2-104) or consumer loan (Section 37-3-104) or a refinancing or consolidation thereof, a consumer lease (Section 37-2-106), or a consumer rental-purchase agreement (Section 37-2-701).(12) "Credit" means the right granted by a creditor to a debtor to defer payment of debt or to incur debt and defer its payment.(13) "Creditor" means the person who grants credit in a credit transaction or, except as otherwise provided, an assignee of a creditor's right to payment, but use of the term does not in itself impose on an assignee any obligation of his assignor. In case of credit granted pursuant to a credit card, "creditor" means the card issuer and not another person honoring the credit card. For purposes of Chapters 1, 5, and 6 and Part 7 of Chapter 2, the term "creditor" also means a lessor in a consumer rental-purchase agreement (Section 37-2-701).(14) "Debtor" means any person who is an obligor in a credit transaction, including any cosigner, comaker, guarantor, endorsee or surety, and the assignee of any obligor, and also includes any person who agrees to assume the payment of a credit obligation.(15) "Earnings" means compensation paid or payable to an individual or for his account for personal services rendered or to be rendered by him, whether denominated as wages, salary, commission, bonus or otherwise, and includes periodic payments pursuant to a pension, retirement or disability program.(16) "Lender credit card or similar arrangement" means an open-end credit arrangement or loan agreement, other than a seller credit card, pursuant to which a lender gives a debtor the privilege of using a credit card, letter of credit, or other credit confirmation or identification in transactions out of which debt arises: (a) by the lender's honoring a draft or similar order for payment of money drawn or accepted by the debtor;(b) by the lender's payment or agreement to pay the debtor's obligations; or(c) by the lender's purchase from the obligee of the debtor's obligations. An open-end credit agreement under which a person can effect an immediate advance by check or other draft qualifies as a lender credit card or similar arrangement.
(17)(a) "Official fees" means:(i) fees and charges prescribed by law which actually are or will be paid to public officials for determining the existence of or for perfecting, releasing, or satisfying a security interest related to a consumer credit sale, consumer lease, or consumer loan; or(ii) premiums payable for insurance in lieu of perfecting a security interest otherwise required by the creditor in connection with the sale, lease or loan, if the premium does not exceed the fees and charges described in this subitem which would otherwise be payable.(b) "Official fees" does not mean: (i) effective April 1, 2000, a premium payable for insurance in lieu of perfecting a security interest when the security interest is a purchase money security interest as defined in Section 36-9-107, for which, in accordance with Section 36-9-302(1)(d), perfection by the filing of a financing statement is not required; or(ii) a premium payable for insurance in lieu of perfecting a security interest when the collateral is such that it cannot be used as a security for a loan pursuant to the Federal Credit Practices Rule or Section 37-5-108 of the South Carolina Code of Laws, annotated.(18) "Organization" means a corporation, government or governmental subdivision or agency, trust, estate, partnership, cooperative or association.(19) "Payable in installments" means that payment is required or permitted by agreement to be made in - (a) two or more periodic payments, excluding a down payment, with respect to a debt arising from a consumer credit sale pursuant to which a credit service charge is made;(b) four or more periodic payments, excluding a down payment, with respect to a debt arising from a consumer credit sale pursuant to which no credit service charge is made, or(c) two or more periodic payments with respect to a debt arising from a consumer loan. If any periodic payment other than the down payment under an agreement requiring or permitting two or more periodic payments is more than twice the amount of any other periodic payment, excluding the down payment, the consumer credit sale, consumer lease or consumer loan is "payable in installments".
(20) "Person" includes a natural person or an individual, and an organization.(21) "Person related to" with respect to an individual means:(a) the spouse of the individual;(b) a brother, brother-in-law, sister, sister-in-law of the individual;(c) an ancestor or lineal descendant of the individual or his spouse;(d) any other relative, by blood or marriage, of the individual or his spouse who shares the same home with the individual."Person related to" with respect to an organization means:
(a) a person directly or indirectly controlling, controlled by or under common control with the organization;(b) an officer or director of the organization or a person performing similar functions with respect to the organization or to a person related to the organization;(c) the spouse of a person related to the organization;(d) a relative by blood or marriage of a person related to the organization who shares the same home with him.(22) "Presumed" or "presumption" means that the trier of fact must find the existence of the fact presumed unless and until evidence is introduced which would support a finding of its nonexistence.(23) "Residence" means any real property in which the debtor in a credit transaction secured by a first or junior lien on real property resides or expects to reside. It includes a parcel of unimproved land on which the debtor at the time the credit transaction granting the lien is consummated resides or expects to reside.(24) "Residential manufactured home" means a structure, transportable in one or more sections, which is at least eight body feet wide, thirty-two body feet long, and which is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used as a dwelling, with or without a permanent foundation, when connected to the required utilities, and includes the plumbing, heating, air-conditioning and electrical systems contained therein, and which structure is or will be used as a residence.(25) "Residential real property" means real estate improved or to be improved by a structure or structures designed primarily for dwelling, as opposed to business or commercial use.(26) "Seller credit card" means an arrangement pursuant to which a person gives to a buyer or lessee the privilege of using a credit card, letter of credit or other credit confirmation or identification primarily for the purpose of purchasing or leasing goods or services from that person, a person related to that person, or others licensed or franchised to do business under his business or trade name or designation.(27) "Supervised financial organization" means a person, other than an insurance company or other organization primarily engaged in an insurance business: (a) organized, chartered or holding an authorization certificate under the laws of this State or of the United States which authorize the person to make loans and to receive deposits, including a savings, share, certificate or deposit account, or to advance or service insurance premiums;(b) subject to supervision by an official or agency of South Carolina or of the United States.(28) "Debt collector" means any person who collects, attempts to collect, directly or indirectly, debts due or asserted to be owed or due another. The term also includes a creditor who collects, attempts to collect, directly or indirectly, his own debts.(29) "Licensee" means a person licensed pursuant to this title.(30) "Cash advance" means the amount of cash or its equivalent that the borrower actually receives or is paid out at his direction or on his behalf.(31) "Automatic renewal provision" means a provision under which a service contract is renewed for a specified period of more than one month if the renewal causes the service contract to be in effect more than six months after the day of the initiation of the service contract. Such renewal is effective unless the consumer gives notice to the seller of the consumer's intention to terminate the service contract. This term does not include a contract renewal for services provided by a telecommunications carrier or its affiliate when either the carrier or the affiliate is regulated by the South Carolina Public Service Commission or the Federal Communications Commission. This term also does not include a contract renewal for services provided by any broadband entity covered by Act 175 of 2020, known as the Broadband Accessibility Act.(32) "Service contract" means a written contract for the performance of services over a fixed period of time or for a specified duration. This term does not include service contracts sold or offered for sale to persons other than a natural person or an individual for personal, family, or household purposes and does not include contracts for services provided by an entity incorporated under Chapter 49, Title 33.Amended by 2024 S.C. Acts, Act No. 159 (SB 434),s 4, eff. 5/20/2024.Amended by 2009 S.C. Acts, Act No. 67 (SB 673), s 4, eff. 1/1/2010.1999 Act No. 66, Section 8; 1995 Act No. 135, Sections 5, 6; 1991 Act No. 142, Section 1; 1985 Act No. 121, Sections 3, 4; 1982 Act No. 385, Section 7; 1976 Act No. 686 Sections 9, 67; 1974 (58) 2879; 1962 Code Section 8-800.131.