A recent report conducted by US based organisation ‘The Urban institute’ has found that over 35% of American citizens who have a credit file were subject to recovery actions from a Debt Collection Agency in 2013.
The survey conducted in partnership with the Encore Capital Group, the states largest consumer Debt Collection organisation, found that 77 million individuals were likely to have been contacted by a Debt Collection Agency in the past year with regards to a delinquent account.
More often than not, the individual would have already been subject to internal recovery actions before it is passed to a third party DCA.
The Debt Collection industry in the USA is far more stretching than in the UK with ‘debt buying’ being common place amongst banks and financial institutions.
Liberal and debt charity organisations are critical of the level of Debt Collection activity within modern day America and point to the stress caused to consumers across the 50 states.
Mark Schiffman, spokesperson for the Association of Credit & Collections Professionals conceded that the collections process can be stressful for some individuals but cited the importance of the Debt Collection Industry to ensure economic recovery continues.
“Businesses use those monies to pay their bills, to pay rent, to keep operational costs and to pay salaries”
The average amount owed by each American that has had an account passed to a Collection Agency is a staggering $5,178
It may be no suprise to many that the state with the highest average amount owing is the gambling state of Nevada – where the average amount owed by individuals is a whopping $7,198 and over 47% of the states inhabitants have been subject to Collection action.
