source:
  type: regulation
  id: reg-f-1006.2
  authority: 12 CFR §1006.2 — Definitions (Regulation F)
  description: 12 CFR §1006.2 — Definitions.
  coverage_tier: context
obligations:
- id: reg-f-1006.2-full
  canonical_id: reg-f-1006.2-full
  section: 12 CFR §1006.2 — Definitions
  type: reference
  tags:
  - regulator-direct
  - fdcpa
  - corpus-expansion
  - tier-context
  primary_source:
    tier: 1
    authority: 12 CFR §1006.2 — Definitions (Regulation F)
    source_class: cfpb-regulation
    source_url: https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/12/1006.2
    snapshot_id: 20945815d6cabb3a
    fetched_at: '2026-06-17T19:30:43Z'
    content_hash: sha256:b4df3b6f868a982bee52dae366d27deee8a0ec90f3d85b5b40da301c2d16470a
    paragraph_quote: '§ 1006.2 Definitions. For purposes of this part, the following
      definitions apply: (a) Act or FDCPA means the Fair Debt Collection Practices
      Act ( 15 U.S.C. 1692 et seq. ). (b) Attempt to communicate means any act to
      initiate a communication or other contact about a debt with any person through
      any medium, including by soliciting a response from such person . An attempt
      to communicate includes leaving a limited-content message , as defined in paragraph
      (j) of this section. (c) Bureau means the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.
      (d) Communicate or communication means the conveying of information regarding
      a debt directly or indirectly to any person through any medium. (e) Consumer
      means any natural person , whether living or deceased, obligated or allegedly
      obligated to pay any debt . For purposes of § 1006.6 , the term consumer includes
      the persons described in § 1006.6(a) . (f) Consumer financial product or service
      has the same meaning given to it in section 1002(5) of the Dodd-Frank Act (
      12 U.S.C. 5481(5) ). (g) Creditor means any person who offers or extends credit
      creating a debt or to whom a debt is owed. The term creditor does not, however,
      include any person to the extent that such person receives an assignment or
      transfer of a debt in default solely to facilitate collection of the debt for
      another. (h) 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 that are the subject of the transaction are primarily for personal,
      family , or household purposes, whether or not the obligation has been reduced
      to judgment. (i) (1) Debt collector means any person who uses any instrumentality
      of interstate commerce or mail in any business the principal purpose of which
      is the collection of debts , or who regularly collects or attempts to collect,
      directly or indirectly, debts owed or due, or asserted to be owed or due, to
      another. Notwithstanding paragraph (i)(2)(vi) of this section, the term debt
      collector includes any creditor that, in the process of collecting its own debts,
      uses any name other than its own that would indicate that a third person is
      collecting or attempting to collect such debts. For purposes of § 1006.22(e),
      the term also includes any person who uses any instrumentality of interstate
      commerce or mail in any business the principal purpose of which is the enforcement
      of security interests. (2) The term debt collector excludes: (i) Any officer
      or employee of a creditor while the officer or employee is collecting debts
      for the creditor in the creditor ''s name; (ii) Any person while acting as a
      debt collector for another person if: (A) The person acting as a debt collector
      does so only for persons with whom the person acting as a debt collector is
      related by common ownership or affiliated by corporate control ; and (B) The
      principal business of the person acting as a debt collector is not the collection
      of debts; (iii) 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 the officer ''s or employee ''s official duties; (iv) Any person while serving
      or attempting to serve legal process on any other person in connection with
      the judicial enforcement of any debt ; (v) Any nonprofit organization that,
      at the request of consumers , performs bona fide consumer credit counseling
      and assists consumers in liquidating their debts by receiving payment from such
      consumers and distributing such amounts to creditors; (vi) Any person collecting
      or attempting to collect any debt owed or due, or asserted to be owed or due
      to another, to the extent such debt collection activity: (A) Is incidental to
      a bona fide fiduciary obligation or a bona fide escrow arrangement; (B) Concerns
      a debt that such person originated; (C) Concerns a debt that was not in default
      at the time such person obtained it; or (D) Concerns a debt that such person
      obtained as a secured party in a commercial credit transaction involving the
      creditor ; and (vii) A private entity , to the extent such private entity is
      operating a bad check enforcement program that complies with section 818 of
      the Act . (j) Limited-content message means a voicemail message for a consumer
      that includes all of the content described in paragraph (j)(1) of this section,
      that may include any of the content described in paragraph (j)(2) of this section,
      and that includes no other content. (1) Required content. A limited-content
      message is a voicemail message for a consumer that includes: (i) A business
      name for the debt collector that does not indicate that the debt collector is
      in the debt collection business; (ii) A request that the consumer reply to the
      message; (iii) The name or names of one or more natural persons whom the consumer
      can contact to reply to the debt collector ; and (iv) A telephone number or
      numbers that the consumer can use to reply to the debt collector . (2) Optional
      content. In addition to the content described in paragraph (j)(1) of this section,
      a limited-content message may include one or more of the following: (i) A salutation;
      (ii) The date and time of the message; (iii) Suggested dates and times for the
      consumer to reply to the message; and (iv) A statement that if the consumer
      replies, the consumer may speak to any of the company ''s representatives or
      associates. (k) Person includes natural persons, corporations, companies, associations,
      firms, partnerships, societies, and joint stock companies. (l) 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. [ 85 FR 76887 , Nov. 30, 2020, as amended at 86 FR 5853 , Jan. 19,
      2021]'
  judgment: false
