16 CFR § 433.1 - Definitions.

---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t16/s433.1"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "16 CFR § 433.1 - Definitions."
title_number: 16
title_name: "Commercial Practices"
section_number: "433.1"
section_name: "Definitions."
chapter_name: "FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION"
subchapter_number: "D"
subchapter_name: "TRADE REGULATION RULES"
part_number: "433"
part_name: "PRESERVATION OF CONSUMERS' CLAIMS AND DEFENSES"
positive_law: false
currency: "2026-04-05"
last_updated: "2026-04-05"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
authority: "38 Stat. 717, as amended; (15 U.S.C. 41, )"
cfr_part: "433"
---


# 433.1 Definitions.

(a) *Person.* An individual, corporation, or any other business organization.

(b) *Consumer.* A natural person who seeks or acquires goods or services for personal, family, or household use.

(c) *Creditor.* A person who, in the ordinary course of business, lends purchase money or finances the sale of goods or services to consumers on a deferred payment basis; *Provided,* such person is not acting, for the purposes of a particular transaction, in the capacity of a credit card issuer.

(d) *Purchase money loan.* A cash advance which is received by a consumer in return for a “Finance Charge” within the meaning of the Truth in Lending Act and Regulation Z, which is applied, in whole or substantial part, to a purchase of goods or services from a seller who (1) refers consumers to the creditor or (2) is affiliated with the creditor by common control, contract, or business arrangement.

(e) *Financing a sale.* Extending credit to a consumer in connection with a “Credit Sale” within the meaning of the Truth in Lending Act and Regulation Z.

(f) *Contract.* Any oral or written agreement, formal or informal, between a creditor and a seller, which contemplates or provides for cooperative or concerted activity in connection with the sale of goods or services to consumers or the financing thereof.

(g) *Business arrangement.* Any understanding, procedure, course of dealing, or arrangement, formal or informal, between a creditor and a seller, in connection with the sale of goods or services to consumers or the financing thereof.

(h) *Credit card issuer.* A person who extends to cardholders the right to use a credit card in connection with purchases of goods or services.

(i) *Consumer credit contract.* Any instrument which evidences or embodies a debt arising from a “Purchase Money Loan” transaction or a “financed sale” as defined in paragraphs (d) and (e) of this section.

(j) *Seller.* A person who, in the ordinary course of business, sells or leases goods or services to consumers.

[40 FR 53506, Nov. 18, 1975]