- The $6.0 billion recovered by third-party collection agencies on purchased accounts in 2007 represented 10 percent of total receipts in the industry. (Source: Value of Third–Party Debt Collection to the U.S. Economy in 2007: Survey and Analysis, PricewaterhouseCoopers, June 2008.)
- Over $110 billion in face value of debt was purchased in the United States in 2005. The global debt buying market was estimated at $158 billion. (Source: "Welcome to a New World of Debt," Collections & Credit Risk, pg. 26, Vol. 11, No. 5, May 2006.)
- In the past, consumer credit card debt made up a large portion of accounts bought by debt buyers; however, today credit card debt availablitiy is at an all-time low. Economic, legislative and technological changes have contrubuted to falling consumer credit card charge-off rates. (Source: "Breaking into New Debt Buying Markets," Collector, pg. 18, February 2012.)
- Purchasers of debt may be subject to laws different than those of an original creditor or traditional third-party debt collector. Only those individuals and/or entities considered "debt collectors" as defined in Section 803(6) are subject to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. FTC staff considers the purchase of a defaulted account "an assignment or transfer of a debt in default solely for the purpose of facilitating collection of such debt for another." Therefore, a purchaser would not qualify for the creditor exemption under the FDCPA. (Source: Federal and State Law Issues for Debt Purchasers, ACA International Fastfax document, May 2011.)
- Typically, state law determines how long the statute of limitations on a debt lasts. The statute of limitations varies from state to state and for different kinds of debt. It is also tricky because, under certain circumstances, the clock can be reset, and the time period can be started fresh. (Source: "Time–Barred Debts," Federal Trade Commission Consumer Alert, January 2012.)
Back to Statistics index page