Sunday, 10 January 2016

The Modern Debt Buying Industry

By Barbara Reed


A debt buyer, like the name suggests, is an individual or company that purchases delinquent or charged-off debts from creditors and make attempts to collect the sum owed. In most cases, such buyers are companies in the form of collection agencies or private debt collection law firms. Debt buying companies use different strategies in collecting the amount owed, which may involve employment of their own resources or hiring other firms to do it.

It is also not common to see buyers repackaging and reselling debts they have purchased to other buyers in whole or in part. In other word, many things can happen to debts once they have been bought from the original creditor. However, debts only become legible for selling if a debtor has defaulted for a given period of time. The debtor gets a written notification from the creditor when a debt is being sold to a buyer. This is done in the form of a letter.

There is a big difference between collection agencies and companies involved with purchase of debts from debtors. Such companies are usually the new owners of the debts they buy as opposed to collection agencies that represent and work for the creditor. Any connections between debtors and creditors resulting from debts are usually terminated upon transfer of ownership. Future dealing now happen between the new owner and the debtor.

Buyers of debts make huge profits when they collect the amount that is owed because they usually pay pennies on the dollar for them. This allows them to make huge profits since they also buy debts in bulk. Because of the low costs at which debts are bought from creditors, even if only a portion of the amount is collected, the buyer still makes a profit. For that reason, a debtor is likely to get a very good settlement offer when their debts are bought off.

It is a bad as well as a good thing for the debtor when ownership of debts is transferred. A debtor benefits if the new owner is not aggressive in collecting and offers a favourable settlement deal. However, it can be a nightmare if the new buyer sues in order to collect. Some buyers sue more often than other.

One major problem incurred in sold debts in inaccurate information. In fact, debts are sold by creditors on an as is basis. This implies that no guarantee is given on accuracy of information provided. In addition, paperwork and information from original agreement is never provided, which makes the life of the debtor or buyer much more difficult.

One major issue that arises from purchase of debts is that creditors may not have credited payments made earlier. Miscalculation of interest charged is also a common problem. Additionally, in case the sum owed gets discharged in bankruptcy, debtors may never know about it. They just end up paying such amounts.

However, there is a bright side in selling of debts in that they may be too old to be collected through legal action. In such cases, a debtor cannot be sued, leaving the purchaser at their mercy. The debtor can pay or neglect to pay.




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