Debt buyers: companies this directory verifies but does not rank

By Kai Greenspan, Founding Editor

companies verified as debt buyers from their own published words, and therefore not ranked here. Each record shows the quote, the page it came from, and the date it was read.

Source: troycapital.com

Debt Collection Index ranks third-party collection agencies, not debt buyers. A collection agency works accounts someone else owns, the original creditor or a debt buyer; a debt buyer purchases the accounts and then owns them. They are different businesses, federal law can treat them differently, and ranking them together would compare two different things. This page records the companies we have verified as debt buyers, in their own words, so that rule can be checked rather than taken on trust. Buying debt is a lawful, ordinary business: appearing here is a category finding, not a criticism.

Why the distinction matters to you

If a company contacts you about a debt, whether it owns that debt changes three practical things: who has to be able to prove the account is yours and that they hold it, who you are actually negotiating with, and, in Texas, which statute applies. Finance Code Section 392.307, effective September 1, 2019, applies specifically to debt buyers: it prohibits suing or initiating arbitration on a consumer debt once the limitations period has expired, and says a time-barred claim "is not revived by a payment of the consumer debt, an oral or written reaffirmation of the consumer debt, or any other activity on the consumer debt." Your right to demand written validation applies either way.

General legal information, not advice. Whether a particular debt is time-barred depends on the facts of the account. Full context on our Texas debt collection law page.

The records

Every classification below rests on the company's own first-person description of itself, quoted verbatim with the page it appeared on and the date it was read. Nothing here is inferred from a company name or a filing.

Troy Capital LLC

Troy Capital describes itself, on its own homepage, as a national debt buyer, and does not describe collecting on behalf of other companies anywhere on its site.

“We are a RMA certified national debt buyer.” · homepage, read August 5, 2026
“We were one of the first debt buyers to obtain the RMA initial certification and one of the first to pass its rigorous third party two year re-certification audit.” · About Us, read August 5, 2026

Holds an ACTIVE bond on the Texas Secretary of State’s debt collector register: file number 20220081, filed June 21, 2022, surety Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. The bond is not in question. It is precisely why this record exists: reading the register alone would place this company among the ranked agencies.

Accelerated Portfolio, Inc.

Accelerated Portfolio describes itself as a purchaser of distressed receivables, and describes building a network of collection agencies to work the debt it acquires. It is the customer of collection agencies rather than one of them.

“Accelerated Portfolio, Inc is a privately held company that specializes in the purchase of distressed consumer receivables.” · homepage, read August 5, 2026
“We strive to build a very diverse Collection Agency network that can accommodate all facets of debt that we acquire through today’s market.” · homepage, read August 5, 2026

Holds an ACTIVE bond on the Texas Secretary of State’s debt collector register: file number 20210092, filed June 1, 2021, surety Hartford Casualty Insurance Company. The bond is not in question. It is precisely why this record exists: reading the register alone would place this company among the ranked agencies.

Credit Corp Solutions Inc.

Credit Corp Solutions calls itself a debt buyer in its own words, and describes purchasing delinquent debts from financial services providers rather than collecting them for the original creditor.

“We are a leading debt buyer and collector, and we are committed to working flexibly with our customers to help them repay their outstanding balance.” · homepage, read August 18, 2026
“We purchase delinquent debts from financial services providers.” · homepage, read August 18, 2026
“If you have heard from us it is likely because Credit Corp has acquired your past-due debt from a bank, finance, telecommunications or utility company.” · homepage, read August 18, 2026

Registered to collect consumer debts on every register this directory reads. Checked August 18, 2026: an ACTIVE bond on the Texas Secretary of State’s debt collector register (file 20250203, filed November 5, 2025), ACTIVE licenses with the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (1474393-DCA and 2109697-DCA), and an APPROVED registration with the Florida Office of Financial Regulation (CCA9902738, first approved May 17, 2012). Checked September 6, 2026 on the two registers added since: Active on the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation’s list, and ACTIVE on the Illinois register (017021637, term to December 31, 2026). None of that is in question. It is why this record exists: reading any of those registers alone would place the company among the ranked agencies.

Midland Credit Management, Inc. (Encore Capital Group)

Midland Credit Management describes purchasing portfolios of defaulted consumer receivables, and says the accounts it works were sold to it or to companies inside its own group, not placed with it by other creditors.

“We purchase portfolios of defaulted consumer receivables and manage them by partnering with our consumers as they repay their obligations and work toward financial recovery.” · About Us, read August 18, 2026

The Encore group is registered under names that do not include the parent: Midland Credit Management, Midland Funding, Midland Funding NCC-2, Asset Acceptance and Atlantic Credit & Finance. Checked August 18, 2026, it held 24 live registrations across the Texas, New York City and Florida registers, including an ACTIVE Texas bond for Asset Acceptance filed August 19, 1998, ACTIVE New York City licenses from 2009 onward, and APPROVED Florida registrations from 2008 and 2009. Checked September 6, 2026 on the two registers added since: seven Active California licenses and seven ACTIVE Illinois licenses (terms to December 31, 2026) under those same names. Encore Capital Group itself appears on none of the registers.

PRA Group (Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC)

PRA Group states that buying nonperforming loan portfolios is its primary business, and describes its clients as companies that sell accounts to it.

“Through our subsidiaries, our primary business is the purchase, collection and management of nonperforming loan portfolios.” · Our Clients, read August 18, 2026
“We purchase nonperforming loans from banks and credit issuers in the Americas, Europe and Australia and collaborate with customers to help them resolve their debt.” · Our Clients, read August 18, 2026
“We acquire nonperforming credit cards and loans, insolvency accounts, and auto loans.” · Our Clients, read August 18, 2026

Holds an ACTIVE bond on the Texas Secretary of State’s debt collector register (file 20250127, filed August 28, 2025), ten ACTIVE New York City licenses running back to 2012, and an APPROVED Florida registration first granted on March 10, 1999, the oldest live Florida registration held by any company on this page.

Zions Debt Holdings, LLC

Zions Debt Holdings says it specializes in purchasing non-performing receivables, and that it also takes part in selling them.

“Zions Debt Holdings specializes in purchasing non-performing receivables in all industries.” · What We Do, read August 18, 2026

Holds an APPROVED registration with the Florida Office of Financial Regulation (CCA9904963, first approved September 17, 2024). It holds no live bond in Texas and no live license in New York City, so Florida is the only state we cover in which it is currently registered.

Companies that do both are listed, not excluded

A company that buys debt and collects for other creditors is doing third-party collection, which is what the rankings measure. It appears in the directory with its purchasing stated plainly on its profile, so readers can weigh it themselves.

Dyck-O’Neal describes itself as a nationwide purchaser, collector and servicer with a stated buy-and-hold strategy, and also works accounts it does not own

How a company ends up on this page

A company reaches this page only when its own website says, in the first person, that it buys or owns the debt it collects, and says nothing about collecting on behalf of others. The test is whether the business genuinely has two parts. A company that both buys debt and collects for other creditors is doing third-party collection and is listed in the directory; a company bonded only to pursue debt it owns itself is recorded here instead. The quote is read at source and dated. A person makes the call, never an automated process: the same rule that governs our enforcement records applies here, because this is a factual statement about a named company. If a company believes its record here is wrong, our corrections policy sets out how to tell us, and any company named on this site has a right of reply.

The full scope rule, including how debt purchasing is treated on the profiles of listed agencies, is on the methodology page. Placement in this directory is never for sale, and neither is removal from this page.

Common questions about debt buyers

What is the difference between a debt buyer and a collection agency?

A collection agency collects on behalf of the account’s owner, which pays the agency a fee or a share of what is recovered. The owner is often the original creditor, but it can be a debt buyer that has placed the account with an agency, so an agency’s involvement does not by itself tell you who owns the account. A debt buyer purchases the debt outright, usually for a fraction of its face value, and then owns it: anything it collects is its own money. A collection agency collecting for a client is a debt collector under the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. A debt buyer is not automatically one: the Supreme Court held in Henson v. Santander Consumer USA (2017) that a company collecting debts it bought for its own account does not meet the Act’s definition covering debts "owed . . . another". The Act’s other test, a business whose principal purpose is collecting debts, was not decided in that case and can still cover a debt buyer. The difference matters to the person being contacted because it changes who owns the account, who can prove that ownership, and, in Texas, which statute applies.

Does it change my rights if the company chasing me bought the debt?

It can. In Texas, Finance Code Section 392.307, effective September 1, 2019, applies specifically to debt buyers and prohibits suing or initiating arbitration on a consumer debt after the limitations period has expired. It also states that a time-barred claim "is not revived by a payment of the consumer debt, an oral or written reaffirmation of the consumer debt, or any other activity on the consumer debt." Your right to demand written validation of the debt applies to any company that is a debt collector under the federal Act, whether it bought the debt or collects it for someone else. This is general legal information, not advice: whether a particular debt is time-barred depends on the facts of the account.

Why are these companies not ranked in the directory?

Because they are a different kind of business from the one this directory measures. Debt Collection Index ranks third-party collection agencies by how many years they have been continuously covered on their state’s public register. A company that buys and owns the debt it collects is not doing third-party collection, so ranking it beside agencies would compare two different things. Exclusion here is a category judgment, not a criticism: buying debt is a lawful, ordinary business.

Are these companies on the state register?

Some are. A debt buyer that collects its own accounts in Texas may still file the surety bond that Finance Code Chapter 392 requires, and appear on the Secretary of State’s register alongside collection agencies. That is exactly why this page exists: reading the register alone would place these companies in the rankings, and reading what they say about themselves shows they belong in a different category.

What if a company both buys debt and collects for others?

It is listed in the directory, with the purchasing stated plainly on its profile, and it does not appear on this page. A company that genuinely does both is doing third-party collection, which is what the rankings measure, and readers are told about the purchasing so they can weigh it themselves.