The Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) is codified at 15 USC § 1692 et seq. Its stated purpose is "to eliminate abusive debt collection practices by debt collectors, to insure that those debt collectors who refrain from using abusive debt collection practices are not competitively disadvantaged, and to promote consistent State action to protect consumers against debt collection abuses." (15 USC § 1692 [e].) A claim {**76 Misc 3d at 731}under the FDCPA arises where (1) the plaintiff is a "consumer" who has been the object of collection activity arising from consumer "debt," (2) the defendant is a "debt collector" as defined by the FDCPA, and (3) the defendant has engaged in any act or omission in violation of FDCPA requirements. (See Kurzdorfer v Constar Fin. Servs., LLC, 490 F Supp 3d 663, 666 [WD NY 2020]; Ossipova v Pioneer Credit Recovery, Inc., 2019 WL 6792318, *3, 2019 US Dist LEXIS 214455, *8 [ED NY, Dec. 11, 2019, 1:18-ev-11015-GHW].)
FDCPA Definitions
The FDCPA defines critical statutory terms including "consumer," "debt," "debt collector," and "creditor."
Consumer
"[A]ny natural person obligated or allegedly obligated to pay any debt." (15 USC § 1692a [3].)
Defendant Ann Luria is a natural person alleged by plaintiff herein to be obligated to pay the mortgage debt on the premises which are the subject of this action. She qualifies as a "consumer" provided that the subject note and mortgage fall within the FDCPA definition of "debt." (See Jones v New Penn Fin., LLC, 2020 WL 8771252, *3, 2020 US Dist LEXIS 216988, *9 [ED NY, Nov. 13, 2020, 9-CV-1493 (ENV)(PK)].)
Debt