Figures from the New York Fed are balances outstanding, not sale prices. Bands cited from DebtMarket’s pricing study are conversation ranges, not offers. This note is education for operating companies and creditors. It is not legal advice.
A creditor sells charged-off debt to move a defined pool to an operating buyer for cash. The work is a sequence. Skipping a step does not speed the wire. It adds a question at the purchase agreement.
The sequence
| Step | Done when |
|---|---|
| Define the pool | One product, one charge-off window, one legal entity, known exclusions flagged. |
| Snapshot | Count, unpaid principal, media percent, states, and the cut-off date are in one note. |
| Tape and title | The fields and the assignments match the seller who will sign. |
| Structure | Spot or forward flow is chosen before bids, using the sale structure tool if you need the contrast. |
| Funding | The wire lands. The seller forwards the debtors and stops servicing them. The 90-day warranty starts then. |
Complete files on this desk often close in 14 to 45 days after title is clear. A tape that changes shape after the bid is what pushes a file outside that range. The longer seller guide is how to sell a debt portfolio. To start, submit the portfolio.
One contact
Name one person who can answer media questions. A rotating inbox produces three versions of the media percent. Buyers bid the lowest version they heard.
What not to put in the first email
Do not attach consumer names, account numbers, or Social Security numbers to the snapshot. The first note is product, count, unpaid principal, window, media percent, states, and cut-off. Account rows move after the NDA. A seller who sends the full tape in the clear has already given away the file they are trying to sell once.
Put the dates in order
| Step | What moves |
|---|---|
| Snapshot | Product, count, unpaid principal, window, media percent, states, cut-off. No account numbers |
| NDA | The account-level tape |
| Sample | A pull of documents against the tape |
| Bid and agreement | Price, exclusions, and the warranty clock |
| Cut-off | The fact date for balances, paid-prior, and deceased |
| Closing and funding | Title passes. The 90-day warranty starts |
| After funding | The seller forwards debtor communications and stops servicing |
A creditor who is still placing the accounts with an agency stops that placement before the cut-off, or excludes the accounts that are still placed. Consumers should not hear from the agency and the buyer in the same week. After funding, servicing sits with the buyer or the collector the buyer hires. The seller’s job is to forward mail and calls that still arrive. The longer creditor sequence is how to sell a charged-off portfolio. The first package goes through submit a portfolio.
One product in the first email
Name one product and one cut-off. A bankcard month and a deficiency file can both be for sale. They are two submissions. The buyer panel, if you use one, should see the same snapshot and the same reply time. Building that list is covered in a creditor’s buyer panel.
Name the warranty and the forward duty in the agreement
The purchase agreement should say three dates out loud. The cut-off date is the fact date. Balances, paid-prior accounts, and deceased status are measured against it. Closing and funding are the date title passes. The warranty runs 90 days from funding, not from the cut-off. A fourth sentence says what the seller does after funding: forward debtor communications to the buyer, and stop servicing. If that sentence is missing, the operations team will keep working accounts the company no longer owns.
Use a file of one product to see the shape. A creditor holds 1,800 bankcard accounts charged off in January 2026, with $2.4 million of unpaid principal and statements on 75 percent of rows. The snapshot carries those four facts and the cut-off. The tape moves after the NDA. The sample opens 40 statements. The bid names how many matched. None of those figures is a price. The conversation range for bankcards on this desk is still the 3 to 8 percent band in the pricing study, and it is not an offer. A human read of the snapshot is a valuation review.