Debt Collector (FDCPA)

Scope, in the statute's words

• First sentence. Two ways to meet the definition: a business "the principal purpose of which is the collection of any debts," or a person "who regularly collects or attempts to collect, directly or indirectly, debts owed or due or asserted to be owed or due another." (1692a(6))

• Name sentence. "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." (1692a(6))

• Security interests. "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." (1692a(6))

• Exclusions. "The term does not include" the persons listed in clauses (A) through (F), set out below.

• Debt. The definition works alongside the statute's definition of "debt" in 1692a(5): an 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."

• How these definitions apply to a particular agency, lender, bank, or in-house team is a question for that team's compliance function or counsel.

The exclusions listed in 1692a(6)

• (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"

• (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."

(15 U.S.C. 1692a)

Regulation F

The CFPB's Regulation F defines the term at 12 CFR 1006.2(i)(1) in nearly the same words, with "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." Section 1006.2(i)(2) begins "The term debt collector excludes:" and lists the same categories, plus a seventh: "A private entity, to the extent such private entity is operating a bad check enforcement program that complies with section 818 of the Act." (12 CFR 1006.2)

Court discussion (one opinion, in the court's words)

On Oct 2, 2026, the Fifth Circuit wrote in Frankfort v. Metropolis Technologies, Inc., No. 25-11168: "Given the plain text of Sec. 1692a(6)(F)(ii) and Henson, we hold that for a debt collector to successfully invoke the originator exclusion, it must (1) collect debts for another and (2) have originated the debts." The court also described the definition as one that "describes two types of debt collectors: those whose 'principal purpose' is debt collection and those who 'regularly collect' others' debts," quoting an earlier Fifth Circuit decision. Our short case post has more of the opinion. This entry doesn't say what the opinion means for any other business.

AI-agent operations questions

The definition turns on who is collecting, for whom, and under what name. It doesn't mention technology. For teams whose compliance function or counsel has said the FDCPA applies to them, some practical questions follow from the text:

• Is the role written down: collecting for the team's own account, for another, or both, and which sentence of the definition was relied on?

• Whose name does outbound contact carry, and who reviews that against the "name sentence" quoted above?

• When a vendor, platform, or AI agent places contact, where is the line between the team's role and the vendor's recorded?