Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows - USD ($) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2020	Dec. 31, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018
Operating activities:
Net income	$ 212,524	$ 168,909	$ 109,736
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:
Depreciation and amortization	42,780	41,029	41,228
Expense related to financing	51,117	3,523	11,710
Other non-cash interest expense, net	23,639	30,299	38,549
Stock-based compensation expense	16,560	12,557	12,980
Deferred income taxes	11,898	22,339	16,814
Goodwill impairment	0	10,718	0
Changes in expected current and future recoveries	(7,246)	0	0
Provision for (reversal of) allowances on receivable portfolios, net	0	8,108	(41,473)
Other, net	16,260	9,794	(7,016)
Changes in operating assets and liabilities
Deferred court costs	0	(3,646)	(17,701)
Other assets	8,980	29,025	(17,925)
Prepaid income tax and income taxes payable	(27,693)	(25,678)	24,284
Accounts payable, accrued liabilities and other liabilities	(35,955)	(62,244)	15,605
Net cash provided by operating activities	312,864	244,733	186,791
Investing activities:
Purchases of receivable portfolios, net of put-backs	(644,048)	(1,035,130)	(1,131,095)
Collections applied to investment in receivable portfolios, net	737,131	757,640	809,688
Purchases of property and equipment	(34,600)	(39,602)	(67,475)
Proceeds from sale of portfolios	0	107,937	0
Other, net	24,343	6,822	(8,634)
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities	82,826	(202,333)	(397,516)
Financing activities:
Payment of loan and debt refinancing costs	(82,455)	(11,586)	(23,286)
Proceeds from credit facilities	1,820,634	603,634	942,186
Repayment of credit facilities	(2,290,822)	(586,429)	(571,144)
Proceeds from senior secured notes	1,313,385	454,573	0
Repayment of senior secured notes	(1,033,765)	(470,768)	(91,578)
Proceeds from issuance of convertible and exchangeable senior notes	0	100,000	172,500
Repayment of convertible senior notes	(89,355)	(84,600)	0
Payment for the purchase of PECs and noncontrolling interest	0	0	(234,101)
Other, net	(40,822)	(24,594)	(28,200)
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities	(403,200)	(19,770)	166,377
Net (decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents	(7,510)	22,630	(44,348)
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents	4,359	12,287	(10,373)
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period	192,335	157,418	212,139
Cash and cash equivalents, end of period	189,184	192,335	157,418
Supplemental disclosures of cash flow information:
Cash paid for interest	169,553	178,948	198,797
Cash paid for income taxes, net of refunds	88,816	43,973	5,734
Supplemental schedule of non-cash investing and financing activities:
Stock consideration for the Cabot Transaction	0	0	180,559
Property and equipment acquired through finance leases	3,276	5,299	3,283
Real Estate Owned, Transfer to Real Estate Owned	$ 2,214	$ 5,058	$ 4,701