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.

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Wall Street Journal Explores the Geography of Debt Collection

18 July 2011

Executive Change: Portfolio Recovery Associates Appoints Tara Privette SVP, Core Operations

18 July 2011

Intrum Justitia Announces Results for Second Quarter, First Half of 2011

18 July 2011

Encore Capital Group to Announce Second Quarter Results on August 1

15 July 2011

Debt Buyers to Retain Full ACA Membership

14 July 2011

B-Line, LLC Successfully Completes SAS 70 Type II Audit

14 July 2011

Class Action Lawsuit Alleges Collection Agencies' Credit Card Offer Contains Multiple FDCPA Violations

14 July 2011

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13 July 2011

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13 July 2011

Encore Capital Settlement Gets Day in Court; Decision Pushed Off

12 July 2011

Texas Attorney General Launches Action Against Encore Capital

9 July 2011

Asset Acceptance to Host Second Quarter Conference Call July 28

8 July 2011

Claims Compensation Bureau Breaks New Ground in Class Action Recoveries

6 July 2011

Arrow Global Announces H1 2011 Highlights and Strengthening of Management Team

5 July 2011

Intrum Justitia Acquires $435 million German Debt Portfolio from Commerzbank

30 June 2011

Encore Capital Named One of India's Best Places to Work

28 June 2011

Brown & Joseph Enables Expanded Bad Debt Recovery Options Through Alliance with Cortera

27 June 2011

FTC Submits Opinion on Debt Buyer Class Action Lawsuit

24 June 2011

Asta Funding Announces Share Repurchase Program

23 June 2011

State AG Goes After Debt Collector for Payday Loans

21 June 2011