New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 23 - FINANCIAL SERVICES › Chapter I - Regulations of the Superintendent of Financial Services › Part 1 - DEBT COLLECTION BY THIRD-PARTY DEBT COLLECTORS AND DEBT BUYERS › Section 1.1 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
For the purposes of this Part:
(a)
Charge-off
means the
				accounting action taken by an original creditor to remove a debt obligation
				from its financial statements by treating it as a loss or expense.
(b)
Clear and conspicuous
means that the statement, representation or term being disclosed is of such
				size, color, and contrast and/or audibility and is so presented as to be
				readily noticed and understood by the person to whom it is being disclosed. If
				such statement is necessary as a modification, explanation or clarification to
				other information with which it is presented, it must be presented in close
				proximity to the information it modifies, in a manner so as to be readily
				noticed and understood.
(c)
Consumer
means any natural person who owes or who is alleged
				to owe a debt.
(d)
Debt
means any obligation or alleged obligation of a consumer
				for the payment of money or its equivalent which arises out of a transaction
				wherein credit has been extended to a consumer, and the money, property or
				service which was the subject of the transaction was primarily for personal,
				family or household purposes. This term includes the obligation of a consumer
				who is a co-maker, guarantor, or endorser, as well as the obligation of the
				consumer to whom the credit was originally extended. Debt shall not include any
				obligation or alleged obligation of a consumer for the payment of money or its
				equivalent which arises out of a transaction wherein credit has been provided
				by a seller of goods or services directly to a consumer exclusively for the
				purpose of enabling that consumer to purchase such consumer goods or services
				directly from the seller.
(e)
Debt collector
means any person engaged in a business the
				principal purpose of which is the collection of any debts, or any person who
				regularly collects or attempts to collect, directly or indirectly, debts owed
				or due or asserted to be owed or due another. Debt collector includes without
				limitation a buyer of debts who seeks to collect such debts either directly or
				indirectly. The term does not include:
(1)
				any officer or employee of a creditor while, in the name of the creditor,
				collecting debts for such creditor;
(2) 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;
(3) 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 or her official duties;
(4) any person while serving or attempting to
				serve legal process on any other person in connection with the judicial
				enforcement of any debt;
(5) 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;
(6) 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; and
(7) any
				person with respect to:
(i) serving, filing,
				or conveying formal legal pleadings, discovery requests, judgments or other
				documents pursuant to the applicable rules of civil procedure;
(ii) communicating in, or at the direction
				of, a court of law or in depositions or settlement conferences or other
				communications in connection with a pending legal action to collect a debt on
				behalf of a client; or
(iii)
				collecting on or enforcing a money judgment.