Debt Portfolio Auction Pioneer Creates Chicago Debt Exchange

Though consumer debt is at an all-time high, and delinquent payments are on the rise just like bankruptcies, the debt industry is a money-making proposition for some. The industry is especially appealing to companies that buy and sell debt portfolios – which include consumer and business accounts, and unpaid judgments. Recognizing this trend, Joel Langer has created the Chicago Debt Exchange, the world’s first Live Auction Exchange for buying and selling of debt portfolios.

The United States Bankruptcy Court Northern District of Illinois has tasked him to implement a live global auction of bankruptcy debt portfolios on September 13. Langer has extensive experience serving as an auctioneer of debt portfolios. The live global auction on September 13 marks the first official event since he founded the Chicago Debt Exchange.

Simply put, Langer says, the Chicago Debt Exchange will be to the debt industry what the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade is to futures and options. Buyers can participate in the live debt portfolio auctions in person at the Chicago Debt Exchange, by telephone, and via live bidding from the comfort in their offices thousands of miles away via the Internet.

“Auctions are not new,” the 60-year-old Langer said. “The niche of the Chicago Debt Exchange is that it is a live venue where sellers can communicate with a wider audience of potential buyers.

“The bankruptcy courts want to make sure there is no collusion. When you buy and sell these debt portfolios behind the scenes, it is obviously not in the open,” he added. “The Chicago Debt Exchange is a live global auction, much like the Chicago Mercantile and Chicago Board of Trade. Only in this case, debt portfolios are bought and sold.”

A Chicago native he has served as a professional auctioneer for 35 years. Langer was the first person to conduct a live auction of debt portfolios for the United States Bankruptcy Court. In 2005, he facilitated the auction of a $1.75 billion portfolio of consumer receivable accounts that Capital Acquisitions and Management Corp. (CAMCO) had previously purchased and worked to collect. A U.S. District court judge had ordered the assets of CAMCO to be auctioned to the public in response to a suit filed by the Federal Trade Commission that alleged illegal debt collection practices.”