Ricky Henson, Petitioners v. Santander Consumer USA Inc.

Summary

The Supreme Court affirmed that a company which regularly purchases debts originated by another entity and then collects those debts for its own account is not a 'debt collector' under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act's definition of one who regularly collects or attempts to collect 'debts owed or due ... another' (15 U.S.C. § 1692a(6)). Reading the statutory text plainly, the Court concluded that the definition turns on whether the collector acts for a debt owner or for itself, not on how the collector came to own the debt. The Court rejected petitioners' tense-based reading of 'owed,' contextual inferences from neighboring provisions and default-related exemptions, and policy speculation about the then-emerging defaulted-debt market, insisting that applying—not amending—Congress's text is the judiciary's role.