Ownership, Description of Business and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2013

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Portfolio purchasing and recovery

Portfolio purchasing and recovery

The Company purchases receivables based on robust, account-level valuation methods and employs a suite of proprietary statistical and behavioral models across the full extent of its operations. These investments allow the Company to value portfolios accurately (and limit the risk of overpaying), avoid buying portfolios that are incompatible with its methods or goals and precisely align the accounts it purchases with its operational channels to maximize future collections. As a result, the Company has been able to realize significant returns from the receivables it acquires. The Company maintains strong relationships with many of the largest credit and telecommunication providers in the United States, and possesses one of the industry’s best collection staff retention rates.

The Company uses insights discovered during its purchasing process to build account collection strategies. The Company’s proprietary consumer-level collectability analysis is the primary determinant of whether an account will be actively serviced post-purchase. The Company continuously refines this analysis to determine the most effective collection strategy to pursue for each account it owns. After the Company’s preliminary analysis, it seeks to collect on only a fraction of the accounts it purchases, through one or more of its collection channels. The channel identification process is analogous to a funneling system, where the Company first differentiates those consumers who it believes are not able to pay from those who are able to pay. Consumers who the Company believes are financially incapable of making any payments, facing extenuating circumstances or hardships (such as medical issues), serving in the military, or currently receiving social security as their only source of income are excluded from the next step of its collection process and are designated as inactive. The remaining pool of accounts in the funnel then receives further evaluation. At that point, the Company analyzes and determines a consumer’s perceived willingness to pay. Based on that analysis, the Company will pursue collections through letters and/or phone calls to its consumers. Despite its efforts to reach consumers and work out a settlement option, only a small number of consumers who are contacted choose to engage with the Company. Those who do are often offered deep discounts on their obligations, or are presented with payment plans that are better suited to meet their daily cash flow needs. The majority of contacted consumers, however, ignore both the Company’s calls and letters, and therefore the Company must then make the difficult decision whether or not to pursue collections through legal means.

Tax Lien Business

Tax Lien Business

Propel’s principal activities are the acquisition and servicing of residential and commercial tax liens secured by a lien on the underlying real property. This lien takes priority over most other liens. By funding tax liens, Propel provides state and local taxing authorities and governments with much needed tax revenue. To the extent permitted by local law, Propel works with property owners to structure affordable payment plans designed to allow them to keep their property while paying their tax obligation over time. Propel maintains a foreclosure rate of less than one-half of one percent.

Propel’s receivables secured by property tax liens include tax lien transfers (“TLTs”) and tax lien certificates (“TLCs”). With TLTs, property owners choose to transfer their tax liens to Propel in order to pay their tax lien obligations over time and at a lower interest rate than is being assessed by the tax authority. TLTs provide property owners with repayment plans that are both affordable and flexible when compared with other payment options. Propel also purchases TLCs directly from taxing authorities, securing rights to future property tax payments, interest and penalties. In most cases, TLCs continue to be serviced by the taxing authority. When the taxing authority is paid, it repays the Company the outstanding balance of the lien plus interest, which is negotiated at the time of the purchase.

Financial Statement Preparation and Presentation

Financial Statement Preparation and Presentation

The accompanying interim condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared by Encore, without audit, in accordance with the instructions to the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, and Rule 10-01 of Regulation S-X promulgated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and, therefore, do not include all information and footnotes necessary for a fair presentation of its consolidated financial position, results of operations and cash flows in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States.

In the opinion of management, the unaudited financial information for the interim periods presented reflects all adjustments, consisting of only normal and recurring adjustments, necessary for a fair presentation of the Company’s consolidated financial position, results of operations, and cash flows. These condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2012. Operating results for interim periods are not necessarily indicative of operating results for an entire fiscal year.

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts and the disclosure of contingent amounts in the Company’s financial statements and the accompanying notes. Actual results could materially differ from those estimates.

Basis of Consolidation

Basis of Consolidation

Encore is a Delaware holding company whose principal assets are its investments in various wholly-owned subsidiaries. All significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

On July 1, 2013, the Company completed its acquisition (the “Cabot Acquisition”) of 50.1% of the equity interest in Janus Holdings Luxembourg S.a.r.l. (“Janus Holdings”), the indirect holding company of U.K. and Ireland based Cabot Credit Management Limited (“Cabot”), from an affiliate of J.C. Flowers & Co. LLC (“J.C. Flowers”). Through its acquisition of Janus Holdings the Company’s equity ownership of Cabot currently amounts to 41.7%, after reflecting the ownership of Cabot’s management team. Encore’s equity interest will automatically increase to approximately 42.8% by June 2014, following the redemption or conversion of certain Bridge Preferred Equity Certificates. The Company holds a controlling interest in Janus Holdings and will consolidate the financial results and financial position of the consolidated group. The Company’s condensed consolidated statements of comprehensive income for the three and six months ended June 30, 2013 do not include the results of operations of Janus Holdings, because the Cabot Acquisition was not completed until July 1, 2013. For additional information relating to the Cabot Acquisition, please refer to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on May 30, 2013 and July 8, 2013.

On June 13, 2013, the Company completed its merger (the “AACC Merger”) with Asset Acceptance Capital Corp. (“AACC”). The condensed consolidated statements of comprehensive income for the three and six months ended June 30, 2013 include the results of operations of AACC only since the closing date of the AACC Merger. For additional information relating to the AACC Merger, please refer to the Company’s Current Reports on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on March 6, 2013 and June 17, 2013.

On May 8, 2012, the Company completed its acquisition of Propel, BNC Retax, LLC, RioProp Ventures, LLC, and certain related affiliates (collectively, the “Propel Entities”). The condensed consolidated statements of comprehensive income for the three and six months ended June 30, 2012 include the results of operations of Propel only since the closing date of the acquisition. For additional acquisition related information relating to the Propel Entities, please refer to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on July 24, 2012.

Reclassifications

Reclassifications

Certain immaterial amounts in the 2012 consolidated financial statements have been reclassified to conform to the 2013 presentation.