Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2014	Mar. 31, 2013
Operating activities:
Net income	$ 18,830	$ 19,448
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:
Depreciation and amortization	6,117	1,846
Other non-cash interest expense	5,254	1,517
Stock-based compensation expense	4,836	3,001
Deferred income taxes	4,767	207
Excess tax benefit from stock-based payment arrangements	(2,629)	(983)
Reversal of allowances on receivable portfolios, net	(3,230)	(1,006)
Changes in operating assets and liabilities
Deferred court costs and other assets	(15,213)	(1,671)
Prepaid income tax and income taxes payable	3,123	4,314
Accounts payable, accrued liabilities and other liabilities	(24,446)	(2,980)
Net cash (used in) provided by operating activities	(2,591)	23,693
Investing activities:
Cash paid for acquisition, net of cash acquired	(257,726)	0
Purchases of receivable portfolios, net of put-backs	(257,175)	(57,893)
Collections applied to investment in receivable portfolios, net	161,927	130,493
Originations and purchases of receivables secured by tax liens	(19,123)	(27,446)
Collections applied to receivables secured by tax liens	22,085	11,812
Purchases of property and equipment	(2,978)	(2,315)
Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities	(352,990)	54,651
Financing activities:
Payment of loan costs	(14,222)	(2,340)
Proceeds from credit facilities	457,266	33,741
Repayment of credit facilities	(447,045)	(91,800)
Proceeds from senior secured notes	288,645	0
Repayment of senior secured notes	(3,750)	(2,500)
Proceeds from issuance of convertible senior notes	161,000	0
Proceeds from issuance of preferred equity certificates	18,864	0
Repayment of preferred equity certificates	(4,537)	0
Purchases of convertible hedge instruments	(33,576)	0
Proceeds from exercise of stock options	1,214	846
Taxes paid related to net share settlement of equity awards	(5,244)	(2,872)
Excess tax benefit from stock-based payment arrangements	2,629	983
Other, net	(391)	(2,008)
Net cash provided by financing activities	420,853	(65,950)
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	65,272	12,394
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash	4,904	0
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period	126,213	17,510
Cash and cash equivalents, end of period	196,389	29,904
Supplemental disclosures of cash flow information:
Cash paid for interest	41,130	5,485
Cash paid for income taxes	6,103	7,520
Supplemental schedule of non-cash investing and financing activities:
Fixed assets acquired through capital lease	$ 1,169	$ 674