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What is a debtor? Definition and examples

September 6, 2024
Bill Kimball

what is a debtor

Debtors – A person or a legal body that owes money to a business is generally referred to as a debtor in the eyes of that business, as he or she owes the money. For a business, the amount to be received is usually a result of a loan provided, goods sold on credit, etc. Secured creditors are typically senior banks (or similar lenders) that provide low-interest loans with requirements of the borrower to pledge a certain amount of assets as collateral (i.e. lien). The money owed by a debtor is considered an asset of the creditor. Money owed by a debtor can be an account receivable in some cases if it’s for goods or services bought on credit or a note receivable if it’s a loan.

Understand the Restructuring and Bankruptcy Process

  1. Students now have the option of several different repayment plans.
  2. It does not indulge in the inventorying processes and provides goods that are further processed in the supply chain.
  3. In practically all monetary transactions, there are two sides – debtor vs. creditor.
  4. They’re institutions, businesses, or individuals that extend credit to debtors.
  5. Few people could buy a home without a mortgage, and many people couldn’t afford a new car without an auto loan.

Bonds are a debt instrument that allow a company to borrow funds from investors by promising to repay the money with interest. Both individuals and investment firms can purchase bonds, which typically carry a fixed interest, or coupon, rate. If a company needs to raise $1 million to fund the purchase of new equipment, for example, it could issue 1,000 bonds with a face value of $1,000 each. Companies that want to borrow money have some options that aren’t available to individual consumers.

Borrower and issuer

The fastest way to pay off debt is to devote a greater portion of your income to monthly debt payments, ideally paying off credit card debts in full each month before any interest charges kick in. If you need to prioritize, experts generally recommend paying off your highest interest debts first and working your way down from there. Mortgages are often the largest debt, apart from student loans, that consumers will ever take on, and they come in many different varieties. Two broad categories are fixed-rate mortgages and adjustable-rate mortgages, or ARMs. In the case of ARMs, the interest rate can change periodically, usually based on the performance of a particular index. Instead, the lender decides whether to grant a loan based on the borrower’s creditworthiness, as indicated by their credit score, credit history, and other factors.

Debt Restructuring: Debtor vs. Creditor Example

Many debtors — the primary source of revenue for debt-collection agencies — have at least temporarily been in a better position to pay their debts. It is common to drop the word ‘trade’ and simply refer to ACME as a debtor. For instance, let’s say that a banking institution provides debt financing to a company in need of capital.

Types of Consumer Debt

Family or friends can also be considered creditors if they’ve lent money. Real creditors are banks or finance companies with legal contracts. Creditors make money off debtors by charging them fees or interest. The debtor is referred to as a borrower when the debt is in the form of a loan from a financial institution and as an issuer if the debt is in the form of securities such as bonds. A loan is a form of debt but, more specifically, an agreement in which one party lends money to another.

The total invoice amount of 100,000 was not received immediately by X. From the date that the raw materials were received and the cash payment from the company (i.e. the customer) is made, the payment is counted as accounts payable. While the creditor held up its end of the transaction by providing the debt capital, the debtor has unmet obligations, which gives the creditor the right to litigate the matter. If the debtor fails to meet any of these obligations as scheduled, the debtor is under technical default and the creditor can take the debtor to Bankruptcy Court. We’ll start with the debtor’s side, which is defined as the entities that owe money to another entity – i.e. there is an unsettled obligation.

what is a debtor

Debt is an important, if not essential, tool in today’s economy. Businesses take on debt in order to fund needed projects, while consumers may use it to buy a home or finance a college education. At the same time, debt can be risky, especially for companies or individuals that accumulate too much of it.

Debtors owe money to individuals or companies such as banks. They can be individuals or companies and are referred to as borrowers if the debt is from a bank or a financial institution. Debtors can also be someone who files a voluntary petition to declare bankruptcy.

Imprisonment of the debtor is a practice no longer followed. Individuals and companies are typically debtors who borrow money from banks or other financial institutions. Creditors can be any individual or company but they’re often banks.

Learn financial statement modeling, DCF, M&A, LBO, Comps and Excel shortcuts. Learn the central considerations and dynamics of both in- and out-of-court restructuring along with major terms, concepts, and common restructuring techniques. But that means that the debtor will be on the hook for somewhere around 25% of the forgiven debt.

Debtors form part of the current assets while creditors are shown under the current liabilities. Example – Unreal corp. purchased 1000 kg of cotton for 100/kg from X to use as raw material for their clothes manufacturing business. The total invoice amount of 100,000 was not paid by Unreal corp. Nor can a debtor compel his creditor to receive one cent and five cent pieces to a greater amount than twenty-five cents. By submitting to the rite, every one that received circumcision became a debtor to do the whole law.

For example, unless you have maxed out your credit cards, your debt is less than your credit. Debt and loan are often used synonymously, but there are slight differences. Debt can involve real property, money, services, or other consideration. In corporate finance, debt is more narrowly defined as money raised through the issuance of bonds. You can also consolidate several debts into one, which may make sense if the new loan carries a lower interest rate. Similarly, you may be able to transfer your credit card balances to another card with a lower interest rate or, ideally, a 0% interest rate for a period of time.

Most credit cards and most personal loans are examples of unsecured debt. Because unsecured debt can be riskier to the lender it generally commands a higher interest rate than secured debt. A debtor or debitor is a legal entity (legal person) that owes a debt to another entity.

Creditworthiness refers to an entity’s ability to pay back a debt on time. If you are a good debtor, i.e., you pay what you owe on time and in full, you are creditworthy. If you have defaulted on a debt, i.e., never paid it back, you are not seen as creditworthy. Debtors can range from individuals taking personal loans to nations incurring international debts. Practically all transactions with credit as a form of payment includes both creditors and debtors. In each financing arrangement, there is a creditor (i.e. the lender) and a debtor (i.e. the borrower).