Credor

Credor is a term used to describe a person or institution that is owed money by another party, known as the debtor. The creditor holds a claim arising from a loan, sale on credit, or other obligation, and is entitled to receive payment under the terms of the agreement. In many languages, including Portuguese and Spanish, credor (or creedor) is the standard word for creditor, while in English the equivalent term is creditor.

Creditors can be categorized by their rights to collateral. Secured creditors have a security interest in specific assets; if the debtor fails to pay, the creditor can seize or liquidate the collateral. Unsecured creditors do not have collateral backing their claims and rely on contractual rights and bankruptcy or insolvency laws to recover amounts owed. In insolvency scenarios, claims are typically prioritized, with secured creditors often receiving payments before unsecured ones, and certain privileged creditors receiving priority over general creditors.

Rights and remedies available to creditors include demanding payment, charging interest, and enforcing contracts through litigation. When a debtor defaults, creditors may pursue remedies such as judgments, liens, wage garnishments, or foreclosure, depending on the jurisdiction and the nature of the debt. In bankruptcy or liquidation, creditors participate in a claims process where recoveries depend on the established priority of claims and the available assets of the debtor.

In accounting and corporate finance, the term creditors also appears as a plural to denote amounts owed to third parties, recorded as liabilities on the balance sheet. Creditors may also be involved in activities such as factoring or the assignment of receivables, transferring the right to collect payments to another party. The concept remains central to lending, credit markets, and financial law.