How do I know when a debt has been sold?

northbridge

I received my first default a couple of weeks ago and since I’ve received letters from Opos with wording like “our client” “acting on behalf of” we’ll have to return your account”

Does this sound like the debt has been sold or the collections are still in house?

Do creditors have to advise you if a debt has been sold? Is there a way to find this out?

Rob5342

If they are talking about our client and returning it then they'll just be collecting on behalf of the creditor. If a debt gets sold you should get a letter telling you, and your credit report should get updated to show the new owner although that can take several months.

Defaulting is the important thing, once it's been defaulted it doesn't really matter who owns it, you can just pay whoever is asking for payment. Make sure it has actually been defaulted and shows as such on your credit report before you pay anything.

fatbelly

Opos are very much a collection agency. They can be ignored

sourcrates

They are sometime quiet misleading with the wording, but as a rule of thumb, if they refer to "their client" then they are simply acting on the clients behalf, and have no rights of enforcement.

When a debt is sold, its known as a "legal assignment", it all originates from section 136 of the law of property act 1925, and under that law you should be notified in writing of the sale, in practice, these companies work hand in glove, and you are likely to get notice from the old and new owners, both in the same envelope.

These matters are decided way above call handler level, and what the computer tells them, is not always correct.

Most assignments are "absolute" which means all rights and privileges bestowed on the original creditor, now transfers to the new owner.