Michael,
Pepper are largely managing the loans , not outright purchasing.
If Pepper bought loans it would depend on equity/negative equity etc ,to know what they paid, difficult to work out.
If on a loan ,Pepper realise that your medium term prospects are poor they may well come to an agreed settlement but not before a proper examination of your finances or the value of the security they hold.
Anyone can effectively negotiate down to NIL ,eg if they own nothing or have poor prospects , in that there is no profit in Pepper chasing lost causes.
There is no reason for Pepper to get into negotiations unless it is in their financial interests.