Credit Repair Organizations Act

The Credit Repair Organizations Act is a federal statute that protects consumers by regulating credit repair organizations. The text of this statute is provided as general information to the public. It may be amended, revised, or rescinded at any time without notice. This information is not intended to be legal advice. For more information, please see our disclaimer.

15 U.S.C. § 1679a. Definitions

For purposes of this title [15 USCS §§ 1679 et seq.], the following definitions apply:
(1) Consumer. The term "consumer" means an individual.
(2) Consumer credit transaction. The term "consumer credit transaction" means any transaction in which credit is offered or extended to an individual for personal, family, or household purposes.
(3) Credit repair organization. The term "credit repair organization"--
(A) means any person who uses any instrumentality of interstate commerce or the mails to sell, provide, or perform (or represent that such person can or will sell, provide, or perform) any service, in return for the payment of money or other valuable consideration, for the express or implied purpose of--
(i) improving any consumer's credit record, credit history, or credit rating; or
(ii) providing advice or assistance to any consumer with regard to any activity or service described in clause (i); and
(B) does not include--
(i) any nonprofit organization which is exempt from taxation under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 [26 USCS § 501(c)(3)] ];
(ii) any creditor (as defined in section 103 of the Truth in Lending Act [15 USCS § 1602]), with respect to any consumer, to the extent the creditor is assisting the consumer to restructure any debt owed by the consumer to the creditor; or
(iii) any depository institution (as that term is defined in section 3 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act [12 USCS § 1813]) or any Federal or State credit union (as those terms are defined in section 101 of the Federal Credit Union Act [12 USCS § 1752]), or any affiliate or subsidiary of such a depository institution or credit union.
(4) Credit. The term "credit" has the meaning given to such term in section 103(e) of this Act [15 USCS § 1602(e)].