Section 803 of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA).
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act - Section 803
803. Definitions [15 USC 1692a]
As used in this title --
(1) The term "Commission" means the Federal Trade Commission.
(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 808(6), 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.
