I read a book about the Old Debt Industry called Bad Paper a couple years ago. Its kind of shady employing ex-cons and Payday Loan types. The core document is a spreadsheet listing debtors, SS#, last address, dates, etc.  The best you can buy such directly from from lender with mostly recent debt and never worked before.  But these spreadsheets trade from dealer to dealer.  You dont know if its been worked before and there is any extracted debt left.  AnNd they dont have the supporting documents to stand up in a lawsuit.<p>So how do these guys make money then? They locate the debtor and hound them untilr they pay up. It doesnt matter if they are past SOL. Some of these spreadsheets sell for less than a penny on the dollar of debt. So if you can extract three percent, you&#x27;ve doubled your investment. A problem is that debtors tend move around a lot (from not paying their rent), so its hard to locate people, especially with a common surname.