Deferred Court Costs, Net

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2012

Deferred Court Costs, Net [Abstract]

Deferred Court Costs, Net

Note 10: Deferred Court Costs, Net

The Company contracts with a nationwide network of attorneys that specialize in collection matters. The Company generally refers charged-off accounts to its contracted attorneys when it believes the related debtor has sufficient assets to repay the indebtedness and has, to date, been unwilling to pay. In connection with the Company’s agreement with the contracted attorneys, it advances certain out-of-pocket court costs (“Deferred Court Costs”). The Company capitalizes Deferred Court Costs in its consolidated financial statements and provides a reserve for those costs that it believes will ultimately be uncollectible. The Company determines the reserve based on its analysis of court costs that have been advanced and those that have been recovered. Deferred Court Costs not recovered within three years of placement are fully written-off. Collections received from these debtors are first applied against related court costs with the balance applied to the debtors’ account.

Deferred Court Costs for the three-year deferral period consist of the following as of the dates presented (in thousands):

	September 30, 2012			December 31, 2011
Court costs advanced	$	252,150		$	228,977
Court costs recovered		(74,082	)		(60,017	)
Court costs reserve		(140,507	)		(130,454	)
	$	37,561		$	38,506

A roll forward of the Company’s court cost reserve is as follows (in thousands):

	Court Cost Reserve
	Three Months Ended September 30,						Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2012			2011			2012			2011
Balance at beginning of period	$	(132,780	)	$	(122,920	)	$	(130,454	)	$	(113,239	)
Provision for court costs		(13,378	)		(14,126	)		(37,536	)		(41,063	)
Write-off of reserve after the 36th month		5,651			9,694			27,483			26,950
Balance at end of period	$	(140,507	)	$	(127,352	)	$	(140,507	)	$	(127,352	)