HN Explorer

Ask HN: What's stopping me from buying my own debt?

2 points by kminehart ↗ HN
Let's say I owe a hospital a $10,000 debt, and they've sold it to a debt collector for $9,000. Now, that debt collector is looking for a buyer for that debt, as they tend to make the rounds if they don't think they don't think they're able to collect from the debtor. Sometimes they'll go through several debt collectors.

What's stopping the debtor in this scenario from purchasing their debt at the "debt market" value?

3 comments

[ 3.3 ms ] story [ 19.4 ms ] thread
gostsamo
You must find your debt and you must make them believe that they can't take the full value from you. Plus, if many people start doing it, the market will up its prices.
warent
Nothing is stopping you, except that individual accounts are not sold. It's anonymized bundles. Basically you may as well just buy scratch cards or play the lottery
[dead] anewaccount2021
you answered your own question - a debt collector will soon contact you and sell you back your debt for $9k (plus some fee).

most of the time this is a pointless question anyway, since it is a no-value economic cycle to borrow money and then purchase your own loan. just never borrow the money - same thing.