News & Resources

Debt collection agencies in doubt

Aug 06, 2011 Mike Garretson

Although the financial life of many organizations is dependent upon the last-minute debt deal between the Republicans and Democrats, debt collection agencies and skip tracers may feel generally worry-free, insideARM reports. Because debt collection agencies are under the umbrella of a non profit organization, Bruce Cummings, CEO of Gila Corp, is hopeful the contracts with private debt collectors are maintained. "They will want to keep in place anyone collecting revenue because they want to continue to receive the revenues," he told the news source. "Unfortunately, we just don't have answers at this point in time, [and we] continue to coordinate with the
Department of the Treasury and remain hopeful that Congress will reach a deal." Though the revenue gained from debt collection may be profitable for the government, given the uncertainty of the economy, agencies may still be at risk of collapsing. One reason the government may want to consider keeping skip tracers around: In 2010, nearly $12 billion in revenue was made among all U.S. debt collection agencies, and approximately 140,000 people were employed in the industry, according to IBISWorld.