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A debt buyer is a firm that purchases debt from another company, usually a creditor or bank, at a deeply discounted rate. The debt purchaser then attempts to collect the debt through its own operations or through the use of a third-party debt collection agency. Some debt buyers may sell all or part of the debt to another party at a profit. Most debt buyers are small and privately held, though there is a handful of publicly traded debt buying companies.
Recent changes in law and legal rulings have seen the debt buying industry regulated like collection agencies, or servicers of debt, rather than creditors, or owners of the debt. Debt buyers must adhere to the FDCPA.
Two bills in major Western U.S. states aimed at reining in debt collection practices have recently advanced in their respective legislative chambers. One targets debt buyers specifically while the other is designed to more tightly control debt collectors working for government clients.
Lowell Group, a leading purchaser of non-performing consumer debt portfolios in the United Kingdom, today announced the acquisition of Interlaken Group, including its widely known Fredrickson International brand. The deal, for an undisclosed sum, will see ownership of the Surrey-based debt collection agencies group transfer to Lowell Group, along with the 300 plus employees.
For the second straight quarter, the percentage of Americans with at least one account in the third party debt collection system hit an all-time high in the first three months of 2013. Close to 15 percent of consumers have an account being worked by debt collectors.
AnaCap Financial Partners LLP, a specialist European financial services private equity firm, announced Wednesday the sale of Cabot Credit Management (CCM) to funds managed and advised by J.C. Flowers & Co. LLC. The transaction agreements have been signed, and the transaction is expected to complete imminently.
Debt buyer Encore Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: ECPG) late Thursday announced consolidated financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2013.
Effective immediately, Kaye Dreifuerst has been promoted to the position of President for Security Credit Services, LLC reporting directly to William Alias, III. Additionally, Brandy Reardon has joined the firm and named Vice President of Portfolio Acquisitions.
A district judge in Maryland last month dismissed a potential class action lawsuit against a debt buyer due, in part, to a rejection of the notion that a technical error constituted a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). Another claim that tried to piggyback on the widely-publicized “robo-signing” issue with debt collection lawsuits was also rejected.
SquareTwo Financial, a leader in the $100 billion asset recovery and management industry, today announced the company has improved its capital structure with a two-year extension and lower interest rate on its revolving credit facility.
The Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation and the Division of Banks this week announced a series of cease orders targeting unlicensed lenders and a licensed debt collector that were not adhering to the state’s loan consumer protections.
In conjunction with the actions, the state issued a letter to the 408 companies currently licensed as debt collectors in Mass., advising them that they must ensure that they collect loans only on behalf of properly licensed creditors.
The Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will co-host a roundtable on June 6, 2013, to examine the flow of consumer data throughout the debt collection process. The roundtable’s official title is “Life of a Debt: Data Integrity in Debt Collection.”