You really don't have to get past "the remaining 25K was transferred."  Banks don't transfer debts.  Sometimes they sell them to third parties, but I doubt that's what happened here.  NCA negotiates settlements.  The banks accepted $25K. They probably would have done that without NCA's involvement, but it's not our job to tell her what she should have done.  With money management skills like that, she wouldn't listen anyway.