Debt collectors know that they probably can't collect most of the paper they buy. This is especially true for non-exclusive paper and so they buy it for pennies on the dollar. Bad loans are one of the major losses (after employee expense and legal fees) for most payday lenders.
> * Payday lenders nearly universally skip around federal and state regulations by incorporating in Indian tribal areas
The Scott Tucker case shows the courts have decided not to allow the rent-a-tribe defense unless the tribe truly owns/operates the company. Having them get 1% of the profits and a couple call center style jobs isn't enough to make a payday lender be considered a tribal company anymore.
Source: Wrote the lending software for payday lenders.
Edit: To be clear, pennies on the dollar tends to mean less than $0.10/dollar average for debt purchasers. The loan company is losing over 90% of the principal they loaned out and are obviously not collecting the additional interest/fees that make these types of loans so expensive to pay back.