Prices for bad-debt portfolios have gone up in recent weeks, with prices for fresh debt improving at a faster rate than older receivables, according to several industry insiders.

The four organizations representing the nation’s accounts receivables management industry are calling on Congress to keep the Federal Trade Commission as the exclusive regulator of debt purchasers and collectors. The unprecedented action by the trade groups to come together is a response to proposed legislation that would strip the FTC of its powers and place the industry under a new authority.

Asset Acceptance Capital Corp., a Warren, Mich.-based debt buyer, posted a large fourth-quarter loss, mainly the result of non-cash impairment charges absorbed in the last three months of the year.

Credit unions sold 22 credit card portfolios last year, and while the total number of deals was the same as the previous year, the total asset value of the portfolios sold more than tripled, according to consulting firm TRK Advisors.

Credit card portfolio sales, which dwindled sharply last year as the economy retracted, will remain stagnant for at least another year, one analyst says.

Portfolio Recovery Associates Inc., a publicly owned debt buyer based in Norfolk, Va., announced Monday the closing of a $75.5 million public stock offering.

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Oliphant Financial LLC, a debt buyer in Sarasota, Fla., has purchased most of the portfolio assets owned by Performance Capital Management (PCM), a Buena Park, Calif. debt buyer that is being liquidated.