Whether an obligation is a "debt" is a question of law for the court to determine. Garcia v. Jenkins/Babb LLP, No. 3:11-CV-3171-N-BH, 2013 WL 6388443, at *5 (N.D. Tex. Dec. 5, 2013), aff'd sub nom. Garcia v. Primary Fin. Servs., 605 F. App'x 418 (5th Cir. 2015) (per curiam).
"[T]he FDCPA applies only to debts as they are defined in the statute." Garcia v. Jenkins/Babb LLP, 2013 WL 6388443, at *5 (N.D. Tex. Dec. 5, 2013) (citation omitted).
"To succeed under such a tie-in claim, however, the claimant must show that he is a 'consumer' as defined in the [DTPA]." Garcia v. Jenkins/Babb LLP, No. 3:11-cv-3171-N-BH, 2013 WL 6388443, at *10 (N.D. Tex. Dec. 5, 2013) (alterations and internal quotation marks omitted); accord Cushman v. GC Servs., L.P., 397 F. App'x 24, 27-28 (5th Cir. 2010); Taylor v. Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC, No. H-12-2929, 2013 WL 3353955, at *4-*5 (S.D. Tex. July 3, 2013); Bray v. Cadle Co., No. 4:09-CV-663, 2010 WL 4053794, at *9 (S.D. Tex. Oct. 14, 2010) (explaining that all Texas state and federal courts addressing the issue "seem to have concluded that 'the party bringing a claim under the [DTPA] for a violation of a tie-in statute must still satisfy the requirement of being a 'consumer' under the [DTPA]") (collecting cases). JPMC argues that Plaintiffs fail to state a claim under the DTPA because they are not "consumers" as defined by the DTPA.
¶ 28 Likewise, the fact “[t]hat the documents relevant to this transaction label it as ‘consumer’ is not dispositive” in making our determination. Riviere v. Banner Chevrolet, Inc., 184 F.3d 457, 462 (5th Cir.1999) ; see also Garcia v. Jenkins/Babb LLP, No. 3:11–CV–3171–N–BH, 2013 WL 6388443, at *6 (N.D.Tex. Dec. 5, 2013), aff'd sub nom. Garcia v. Primary Financial Services, No. 14–10012, 2015 WL 3407403 (5th Cir. May 28, 2015) (“Although the documents memorializing the transaction are relevant, these are not dispositive.”). To the contrary, the form of the transaction is far less important than “the substance of the transaction and the borrower's purpose in obtaining the loan.”