<prompt> Human: A colleague who used to work for a huge credit firm told me this, and it sounds too good to be true.To explain Ill use a hypothetical.Lets say you owe a Hospital 5k.The Hospital can sell that debt to a creditor for much less than 5k, lets say 2k. Now, the Hospital has mitigated its losses a bit, and the creditor now has the full responsibility of collecting the debt.The creditor will then try to get you to pay back as much of the 5k as they can, but given they only spent 2k on it they will probably settle the debt for less than 5k; still making a profit off of your debt.I was told if you ask the creditor Did you purchase this debt? and they answer yes, that you can immediately laugh at them and thank them for paying your bill.---However, if said Hospital HIRED a creditor to collect the money, it is still my responsibility as the creditor did not purchase the debt. Assistant: Purchasing your debt is not the same as paying it off. They have purchased the right to collect on the debt. No, laughing at them and hanging up does not absolve your debt. If you ignore them enough, and they are diligent, they can obtain a judgement against you, which can result in garnished wages, seizure of bank accountother assets, etc. Source: am a lawyer and deal with this shit all the timeHuman: If its not the same as paying it off can you explain in detail?The person who told me this is an extremely respectable older financial advisor.  <response>: Banks sell mortgages all the time. If you buy a house and your bank sells your mortgage, are you just going to stop paying and laugh at them? Debt is a commodity that can be bought and sold, just like anything else. 