(a) "Contract" means any agreement, or any term thereof, between a Mortgage Modification Consultant and an Owner for any Service as defined in subsection (g).
(b) "Mortgage Modification Consultant" means any Person who makes any solicitation, representation, or offer to any Owner to perform for compensation or who, for compensation, performs any service that the Person in any manner represents will in any manner do any of the following:
(1) Contact or negotiate with any beneficiary or mortgagee for the purposes of modifying the interest rate, principal balance, or terms of any loan prior to the recording of a Notice of Default.
(2) Prevent the recording of a Notice of Default.
(3) Obtain any forbearance from any beneficiary or mortgagee prior to the recording of a Notice of Default.
(4) Obtain any waiver of an acceleration clause contained in any promissory note or contract secured by a deed of trust or mortgage on a residence in foreclosure or contained that deed of trust or mortgage prior to the recording of a Notice of Default.
(5) Assist an Owner to obtain a loan or advance of funds to cure a mortgage default where the property is not the subject of a recorded Notice of Default.
(6) Avoid or ameliorate the impairment of the Owner's credit resulting from the threatened recording of a Notice of Default.
(7) Save an Owner's residence from a threatened foreclosure prior to the recording of a Notice of Default.
Mortgage Modification Consultant does not include any Person identified as exempt from the definition of "Foreclosure consultant" by Section 2945.1(b) of the California Civil Code.
(c) "Notice of Default" means a notice that is recorded pursuant to California Civil Code Section 2924.
(d) "Owner" means the record title owner of residential real property located in the City and County of San Francisco.
(e) "Person" means any individual, partnership, corporation, limited liability company, association, or other entity, however organized, but does not include the City and County of San Francisco.
(f) "Residence" means residential real property consisting of one or more dwelling units, one of which the Owner occupies as his or her principal place of residence, encumbered by a loan secured by a deed of trust the terms of which the Owner wishes to modify in order to reduce or fix the payments thereon, but is not the subject of a recorded Notice of Default.
(g) "Service" means and includes, but is not limited to, any of the following:
(1) Debt, budget, or financial counseling of any type.
(2) Receiving money for the purpose of distributing it to creditors in payment or partial payment of any obligation secured by a lien on a Residence but prior to the recording of a Notice of Default on the Residence.
(3) Contacting creditors on behalf of an Owner of a Residence prior to the recording of a Notice of Default on the Residence.
(4) Arranging or attempting to arrange for an extension of the period within which the Owner of a Residence may cure his or her default prior to the recording o a Notice of Default.
(5) Advising the filing of any document or assisting in any manner in the preparation of any document for filing with any bankruptcy court on behalf of an Owner of a Residence.
(6) Giving any advice, explanation, assistance, or instruction to an Owner of a Residence relating to the cure of an existing or threatened default in, or in an obligation secured by a lien on the Owner's Residence, or the postponement or avoidance of the recording of a Notice of Default for the Owner's Residence.
(Added by 203-09, File No. 090889, App. 8/28/2009)