The individuals and entities covered by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) include the debt collectors, consumers and creditors.
Debt collectors are the collection agencies, factoring company or some other name that pertains to be a third-party collector. Debt collectors is defined in the FDCPA as “any person who uses any instrumentality of interstate commerce or the mails in any business the principal purpose of which is the collection of debts , or who regularly collects or attempts to collects, directly or indirectly, debts owned or due or asserted to be owed or due another” (15 U.S.C. § 1692a).
Debt collectors do not include:
- officers or employees of a creditor while, in the name of the creditor , are collecting debts for such creditor;
- an individual who acting as debt collector for another person, both whom are related by common ownership or affiliated by corporate control, if the person is acting as 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;
- recognized officer or employee of the United States or any State to the extent that the act of collecting or attempting to collect any debt is part of their official duties;
- those individuals while serving or attempting to serve legal process on any other person in connection with the judicial enforcement of any debt;
- nonprofit organization which, at the request of consumers, performs bona fide consumer credit counseling and assists the consumers in the liquidation of their debts by receiving payments from such consumers and distributing such amounts to creditors; and
- 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 (1) is incidental to a bona fide fiduciary obligation or a bone fide escrow arrangement, (2) concerns a debt which is originated by such person; (3) concerns a debt which was not in default at the time it was obtained by such person; or (4) concerns a debt obtained by such person as a secured party in a commercial credit transaction involving the creditor. (15 USC 1692a § 803)
Consumers are defined under the law as any natural person obligated or allegedly obligated to pay any form of debt.
Creditor, on the other hand, means any person who offers or extends credit creating a debt or to whom a debt is owned. However, the 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.
