What is a creditor and what is a debtor? Examples and everyday scenario

This variety of creditors often provides large loans such as mortgages and car loans. Family or friends can also be considered creditors if they’ve lent money. They’re personal creditors.

Accounting classification

Anyone who lends money on condition of repayment can be classified as a creditor. The basic concept has been the same for thousands of years. Although these days, the credit system is more complex. That’s the quick and easy definition, but of course there’s a lot more to creditors and their relationship to borrowers. Explore the different kinds of creditors and what can happen if a creditor doesn’t receive repayment.

What are the Tasks of Accounts Payable?

We’re rated as ‘Excellent’ on Trustpilot. 1986—Par. In the UK, once an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) has been applied for, and is in place through the courts, creditors are prevented from making direct contact under the terms of the IVA.

debtor and creditor

The creditor can also take the debtor to court in an attempt to have the debtor’s wages garnished or to secure another type of repayment order. Revolving credit involves a loan with no fixed end date—a credit card account being a good example. As long as the account is in good standing, the borrower can continue to borrow against it, up to whatever credit limit has been established.

Legal

Credit is also the creditworthiness or credit history of an individual or a company. Good credit tells lenders you have a history of reliably repaying what you owe on loans. Establishing good credit is essential to getting the approved for loans like mortgages and getting the best interest rates on them. In summary, a creditor is someone who lends money or extends credit to another person or entity.

The laws governing debt collection practices activities are included in the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). They forbid bill collectors from threatening debtors with jail time. Some of these rules change under bankruptcy laws, but the basics are still in tact. If a company declares bankruptcy and is forced to sell its assets creditors are first in line for payments.

One type is the home equity line of credit (HELOC), which allows owners to borrow against the value of their home for renovations or other purposes. Credit is also used as shorthand to describe the financial soundness of businesses or individuals. Someone who has good or excellent credit is considered less of a risk to lenders than someone with bad or poor credit. Credit is a contractual agreement in which a borrower receives a sum of money or something else of value and commits to repaying the lender later, typically with interest. This is why it is critical that creditors use the financial statements to assess the how creditworthy a company is. Being external users, lenders must rely on the balance sheet, income statement, and statement of cash flows to make their judgments about the company and its financial position.

What Is a Debtor and How Is It Different From a Creditor?

Credit scores are one way that individuals are classified in terms of risk, not only by prospective lenders but also by insurance companies and, in some cases, landlords and employers. For example, the commonly used FICO score ranges from 300 to 850. Anyone with a score of 800 or higher is considered to have exceptional credit, 740 to 799 represents very good credit, 670 to 739 is good credit, 580 to 669 is fair, and a score of 579 or less is poor. The process of debt collection may be impeded by exemption laws, which provide that certain property of the debtor may not be seized and sold in order to discharge a debt.

(bb)(4) to reflect the probable intent of creditor definition Congress and the redesignation of subsec. (aa) as (bb) by Pub. 111–203, § 1100(A)(1). See above. The bank can take possession of the property through foreclosure and sell it to recoup the money owed if Sal defaults on the mortgage. A creditor may also take a debtor to court for failure to pay and this can lead to liens or encumbrances.

As you can see, these are all creditors. However, the creditor definition is much broader than simply referring to one type of lender. Shaun Conrad is a Certified Public Accountant and CPA exam expert with a passion for teaching.

A creditor could be a bank, supplier or person that has provided money, goods, or services to a company and expects to be paid at a later date. In other words, the company owes money to its creditors and the amounts should be reported on the company’s balance sheet as either a current liability or a non-current (or long-term) liability. In the event a debtor is unable to repay their creditors, they may choose to declare bankruptcy. If this occurs, the assets a creditor can recover are governed by bankruptcy law. In a bankruptcy proceeding, all of a debtor’s creditors are tiered in a list based on the type of debt they hold. The debtor’s assets subject to the bankruptcy proceeding are then distributed out down the list, with a lower tiered debt not receiving any of the proceeds until the higher tiered debts are entirely paid off.

creditor definition

For example, all creditors with priority claims will be paid out before any creditors holding non-priority claims. The creditor may be taking a risk when extending credit to an approved borrower. If a debt can’t be repaid, the creditor may have no recourse other than to make a legal claim in court or to hire a debt collection agency to try to recover the money. Debtors aren’t considered to be income.

An accounts payable term that is too short may indicate that the company is paying its invoices too quickly and therefore not making the best use of its liquidity. Debtor-creditor law governs situations where one party, known as the debtor, is unable to pay a monetary debt to another, known as the creditor. Debtor-creditor law typically plays out through bankruptcy proceedings.