source:
  type: statute
  id: fdcpa-15usc-1692-1
  authority: 15 U.S.C. §1692a — Definitions
  description: 15 U.S.C. §1692a — Definitions.
  coverage_tier: context
obligations:
- id: fdcpa-15usc-1692-1-full
  canonical_id: fdcpa-15usc-1692-1-full
  section: 15 U.S.C. §1692a — Definitions
  type: reference
  tags:
  - regulator-direct
  - federal-statute
  - corpus-expansion
  - tier-context
  primary_source:
    tier: 1
    authority: 15 U.S.C. §1692a — Definitions
    source_class: usc-statute
    source_url: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/1692a
    snapshot_id: 75e809f2e80714aa
    fetched_at: '2026-05-24T16:52:31Z'
    content_hash: sha256:8d46c2f1c717e1a86f1f280a3c78900484bb03a86687cf463283208b2f366147
    paragraph_quote: As used in this subchapter— (1) The term “ Bureau ” means the
      Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. (2) The term “ communication ” means
      the conveying of information regarding a debt directly or indirectly to any
      person through any medium. (3) The term “ consumer ” means any natural person
      obligated or allegedly obligated to pay any debt. (4) The term “ creditor ”
      means any person who offers or extends credit creating a debt or to whom a debt
      is owed, but such term does not include any person to the extent that he receives
      an assignment or transfer of a debt in default solely for the purpose of facilitating
      collection of such debt for another. (5) The term “ debt ” means any obligation
      or alleged obligation of a consumer to pay money arising out of a transaction
      in which the money, property, insurance, or services which are the subject of
      the transaction are primarily for personal, family, or household purposes, whether
      or not such obligation has been reduced to judgment. (6) The term “ debt collector
      ” means any person who uses any instrumentality of interstate commerce or the
      mails in any business the principal purpose of which is the collection of any
      debts, or who regularly collects or attempts to collect, directly or indirectly,
      debts owed or due or asserted to be owed or due another. Notwithstanding the
      exclusion provided by clause (F) of the last sentence of this paragraph, the
      term includes any creditor who, in the process of collecting his own debts,
      uses any name other than his own which would indicate that a third person is
      collecting or attempting to collect such debts. For the purpose of section 1692f(6)
      of this title , such term also includes any person who uses any instrumentality
      of interstate commerce or the mails in any business the principal purpose of
      which is the enforcement of security interests. The term does not include— (A)
      any officer or employee of a creditor while, in the name of the creditor , collecting
      debts for such creditor ; (B) any person while acting as a debt collector for
      another person, both of whom are related by common ownership or affiliated by
      corporate control, if the person acting as a debt collector does so only for
      persons to whom it is so related or affiliated and if the principal business
      of such person is not the collection of debts; (C) any officer or employee of
      the United States or any State to the extent that collecting or attempting to
      collect any debt is in the performance of his official duties; (D) any person
      while serving or attempting to serve legal process on any other person in connection
      with the judicial enforcement of any debt ; (E) any nonprofit organization which,
      at the request of consumers , performs bona fide consumer credit counseling
      and assists consumers in the liquidation of their debts by receiving payments
      from such consumers and distributing such amounts to creditors ; and (F) any
      person collecting or attempting to collect any debt owed or due or asserted
      to be owed or due another to the extent such activity (i) is incidental to a
      bona fide fiduciary obligation or a bona fide escrow arrangement; (ii) concerns
      a debt which was originated by such person; (iii) concerns a debt which was
      not in default at the time it was obtained by such person; or (iv) concerns
      a debt obtained by such person as a secured party in a commercial credit transaction
      involving the creditor . (7) The term “ location information ” means a consumer’
      s place of abode and his telephone number at such place, or his place of employment.
      (8) The term “ State ” means any State , territory, or possession of the United
      States , the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , or any
      political subdivision of any of the foregoing. ( Pub. L. 90–321, title VIII,
      § 803 , as added Pub. L. 95–109 , Sept. 20, 1977 , 91 Stat. 875 ; amended Pub.
      L. 99–361 , July 9, 1986 , 100 Stat. 768 ; Pub. L. 111–203, title X, § 1089(2)
      , July 21, 2010 , 124 Stat. 2092 .)
  judgment: false
