"[A]ny 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." (15 USC § 1692a [[*6]5].)
Consistent with the plain language of the FDCPA, payment obligations incurred for "personal, family, or household purposes" are "debts," and hence a promissory note, like that at issue here, financing the purchase of a personal residence constitutes "debt" for purposes of the FDCPA. (See Cohen v Rosicki, Rosicki & Assoc., P.C., 897 F3d 75, 82-83 [2d Cir 2018]; Jones v New Penn Fin., LLC, 2020 WL 8771252, *4, 2020 US Dist LEXIS 216988, *10.)
Debt Collector
"[A]ny 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{**76 Misc 3d at 732} to be owed or due another. . . . 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; . . .
"(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 . . . (iii) concerns a debt which was not in default at the time it was obtained by such person." (15 USC § 1692a [6] [A], [F].)
Creditor
"[A]ny 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." (15 USC § 1692a [4].)