ACA International has released a survey, conducted by the firm of Ernst & Young, on the impact of third-party collections on the national and state economies.
The survey looked at data from 2016 and compared it with data from 2013, the last time such a report was conducted.
The survey found that third-party agencies recovered more than $67 billion in 2016 and returned that money over to creditors. Agencies kept more than $10 billion in commissions and fees for that effort. The $67 billion represents about $600 per household in the U.S. The total face value of debt placed with third-party agencies was $792 billion. The average account placed with a third-party agency is for $663.
Debt that is less than 90 days delinquent accounts for about 30% of all third-pary collection efforts, while debt that is older than 90 days accounting for the remaining 70%.
Healthcare debt accounts for nearly half of al debt collected by third-party agencies, followed by student lending (21%), and government debts (16%).
The collection industry employs nearly 130,000 workers, including 4,900 agency owners.
A full copy of the survey’s findings can be found here.
New York, California, and Texas are the states with the most collection agencies.
