The short answer: sometimes, with disclosure, and often through the estate instead
A creditor can introduce a debtor company to SourceX, but a reward changes the creditor's position, and some creditors should not take one at all. A trade vendor with no role in the case has the fewest constraints. A lender, an official committee member or anyone with a fiduciary or court-facing role has the most. In a formal case, records the company still holds may be assets under the control of the debtor, a trustee or an assignee, so the introduction is usually better made to the estate's professionals than to the owner.
This is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Confirm with your own counsel before acting.
Which kind of creditor are you?
The answer changes with your seat at the table.
| Creditor type | Main issue | Sensible route |
|---|---|---|
| Trade vendor owed money, no case role | Looks like a conflict if you push the debtor toward a deal that benefits you | Disclose the reward to the debtor and make the introduction openly |
| Secured lender or bank | Your collateral may cover the records, and your remedies run through the loan documents | Raise it with workout counsel and the borrower; consider whether a consent is needed |
| Member of an official creditors' committee | Committee members are generally expected to act for the whole class, not for themselves | Ask committee counsel before any side arrangement; likely route is a committee-supported estate introduction |
| Landlord, utility or customer | Often has no say over data, but may be asked to approve a plan | Treat like a trade vendor |
| Purchaser of claims | Strategy-driven; disclosure matters | Disclose, and expect scrutiny |
| Insider or affiliate creditor | Transactions can be examined more closely | Use independent advisers, and document everything |
What are the conflicts to think about?
- Dual role. If you sit on a committee or advise it, a personal reward from a deal the estate pursues can look like self-dealing. Committee counsel decides whether any side payment is acceptable.
- Timing and leverage. Pressing a struggling debtor to license data while you are owed money can read as pressure. Make the idea an option, not a condition.
- Control of assets. In a case, a debtor in possession, trustee or court may control what can be licensed and who may sign. An assignee does the same in a state-law assignment. Florida's assignment for the benefit of creditors statute is one example of a state process supervised by a court, and procedures vary by state.
- Privacy promises. If the data includes personal information that the debtor promised to protect, section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code limits its sale or lease unless the sale is consistent with the policy or the court approves it after a consumer privacy ombudsman is appointed. A referral partner does not handle personal data, but the estate's lawyers will ask.
- Disclosure. Tell the debtor, and where relevant the estate's professionals, that you may receive a reward.
When should the introduction go to the estate instead?
Use this decision rule: if someone other than the owner controls the records, introduce to that person.
- A bankruptcy case is open and there is a trustee, a chief restructuring officer or a debtor in possession with a restructuring team.
- A state-law receiver or assignee holds the assets.
- A sale process is running, and the records are part of what is being marketed.
- A lender has taken control through a foreclosure or consensual transfer.
- A court has limited the debtor's authority over its property.
In these cases, a short letter to the estate's financial adviser or counsel, with a link to the program, is more useful than a conversation with the former owner. The adviser decides whether the data is worth pursuing and how. When the debtor is a subsidiary in a larger group, the page on a non-debtor subsidiary of a Chapter 11 parent explains why the entity map matters.
How does a healthy-looking debtor differ from a failed one?
An operating company in a workout is not the same as one winding down. Companies that are operating, acquired or wound down can all qualify if the data still exists, rights are clear and an authorized sponsor can act. Wound-down companies often carry the best archives, because the systems were shut down intact, but the data can disappear when subscriptions lapse, so speed matters. The company must also meet the baseline: 50+ full-time employees at peak (contractors excluded), several years of documented operations and rights to license. The minimum revenue page clarifies that size is measured by headcount, not revenue.
What to say to the estate's adviser
Who can introduce, and who should not?
Better placed: independent restructuring advisers, the debtor's financial adviser, a lender's workout officer who has cleared the idea with counsel, or a vendor with a long relationship. Less suitable: anyone who cannot make a disclosure, anyone barred from compensation by their engagement terms, and anyone who would use confidential case information. A related eligibility point for professionals is in the page on retired CPAs and referral fee rules, and the work visa question covers a different eligibility limit. The broader list of partners appears at who earns from SourceX referrals.
How rewards work
Partners earn 25% of the eligible platform fees SourceX actually collects from the referred company's licensing deals, capped at $100,000 cumulative per referred company. The partner reward is a share of SourceX's fee and is never deducted from what the company receives. Rewards become payable only after the buyer pays and SourceX receives its fee, and no reward is guaranteed. Nothing is binding until the company agrees price and terms and signs.
When not to bother
Skip it if you hold a fiduciary role that bars side compensation, if the records are mainly personal data with no licensing basis, if the data has been deleted, or if the company is under the 50+ full-time employee baseline at peak.
Next step
Register as a partner and run the debtor through the company fit checker. The who qualifies page covers the baseline.