(1) "Borrower" means any person who becomes obligated on a real estate loan agreement, either directly or indirectly, and includes, but is not limited to, mortgagors, grantors under trust deeds, vendees under conditional land sales contracts, and persons who purchase real property that secures a real estate loan agreement, whether the persons assume the loan or purchase the property subject to the loan.

(2) "Direct reduction provision" or "capitalization provision" means any provision that is part of a real estate loan agreement, whether incorporated into the agreement or as part of a separately executed document, under the terms of which the borrower makes periodic prepayment of property taxes, insurance premiums and similar charges to the lender or the designee of the lender, who applies the prepayments first to accrued interest and then to the principal amount of the loan, and upon paying the charges, adds the amount of the payment to the principal amount of the loan.

(3) "Escrow account" means any account that is a part of a real estate loan agreement, whether incorporated into the agreement or as part of a separately executed document, into which the borrower makes periodic prepayment to the lender or the designee of the lender of taxes, insurance premiums, and similar charges, and out of which the lender or the designee of the lender pays the charges at the due dates.

(4) "Lender" means any person who makes, extends, or holds a real estate loan agreement and includes, but is not limited to, mortgagees, beneficiaries under trust deeds, and vendors under conditional land sales contracts.

(5) "Lender’s security protection provision" means any provision that is a part of a real estate loan agreement, whether incorporated into the agreement or as part of a separately executed document, under the terms of which the borrower prepays, pledges or otherwise commits cash or other assets the borrower owns in advance of due dates for payments of property taxes, insurance premiums and similar charges relating to the property securing the loan in order to ensure timely payment of the charges and protect the lender’s security interest in the property, and includes, but is not limited to, escrow accounts, direct reduction provisions, capitalization provisions, and pledges of savings accounts.

(6) "Person" means an individual, a corporation, an association or a partnership and includes, but is not limited to, a financial institution as defined in ORS 706.008, an investment company, an insurance company, a pension fund, or a mortgage company.

(7) "Real estate loan agreement" or "real estate loan" means any agreement that provides for a loan on residential property, including multifamily property, that the borrower occupies and that is secured in whole or in part by real property, or any interest in real property, that is located in this state, and includes, but is not limited to, a mortgage, a trust deed or a conditional land sale contract. [1975 c.337 §1; 1997 c.631 §385; 2009 c.294 §11; 2013 c.200 §1]