Debt Abolition

The Rolling Jubilee Fund is a 501c4 entity that launched in 2012. The Fund is distinct from the Debt Collective and dedicated to debt cancellation and public education. The Rolling Jubilee Fund is collaborating with the Debt Collective and other partners on strategic initiatives to build debtor power and drive system change. You can read about the Rolling Jubilee in the Our History and Victories section.

Our debts are someone else’s assets. Investors buy and sell debt to each other for pennies on the dollar on secondary debt markets, and then hire debt collectors to try to collect the full amount from people struggling with their bills. The Rolling Jubilee Fund acts as a debt purchaser, but instead of collecting on the debts it purchases, it erases them.

No, the Rolling Jubilee Fund is a public education initiative that is separate from the Debt Collective. Collaborating with the Rolling Jubilee Fund is one way the Debt Collective can provide relief while continuing to campaign and organize to build debtor power. The Rolling Jubilee reminds people that debts can disappear, and hopefully inspires people to join the Debt Collective to demand deeper change.

No. When buying debt on the secondary debt market there is no way to seek out a specific place or person in order to buy that place or person’s defaulted debt. Anonymous accounts are bundled together and sold as part of a larger, anonymized portfolio. These peculiarities are part of the scandal that we are trying to highlight.

The Rolling Jubilee was created in consultation with a team of attorneys. They have thoroughly researched the tax implications and do not believe that beneficiaries are obligated to pay taxes on debts the Rolling Jubilee abolishes in this manner. It is the Rolling Jubilee’s position that it is making a tax-free gift to the people whose debt it is abolishing.  See https://strikedebt.org/taxanalysts for an interview about Rolling Jubilee with the USA’s top-ranked tax lawyer.