Posted on 07/29/2014 3:53:32 PM PDT by rickmichaels
WASHINGTON — More than 35% of Americans have debts and unpaid bills that have been reported to collection agencies, according to a study released Tuesday by the Urban Institute.
These consumers fall behind on credit cards or hospital bills. Their mortgages, auto loans or student debt pile up, unpaid. Even past-due gym membership fees or cellphone contracts can end up with a collection agency, potentially hurting credit scores and job prospects, said Caroline Ratcliffe, a senior fellow at the Washington-based think-tank.
“Roughly, every third person you pass on the street is going to have debt in collections,” Ratcliffe said. “It can tip employers’ hiring decisions, or whether or not you get that apartment.”
The study found that 35.1% of people with credit records had been reported to collections for debt that averaged $5,178, based on September 2013 records. The study points to a disturbing trend: The share of Americans in collections has remained relatively constant, even as the country as a whole has whittled down the size of its credit card debt since the official end of the Great Recession in the middle of 2009.
As a share of people’s income, credit card debt has reached its lowest level in more than a decade, according to the American Bankers Association. People increasingly pay off balances each month. Just 2.44% of card accounts are overdue by 30 days or more, versus the 15-year average of 3.82%.
This story also discussed here...
http://www.goldismoney2.com/showthread.php?68115-35-percent-in-US-facing-debt-collectors
Collections agencies are becoming a turnkey operation across the country, and there are a TON of jobs available for people with technical expertise in getting large-scale infrastructure operations off the ground in a short period of time (<30 days).
I’ve received numerous offers as of late due to my skill set with data center provisioning and networking, but they’ve been very sketchy and were a little too eager to hire for my taste. They offer large cash bonuses up front but aren’t real quick to promise long-term employment. Many of the offers come from staffing agencies.
Two of my kids had calls from collection agencies over bills they did not know they owed.
Companies are getting lazy about heir record keeping and mailing out bills.
In the one case, they sent stuff to collection even after we contacted them about the bill and they said they’d take care of it and we thought it was resolved. We never heard back from them but months later started getting calls from a collection agency.
Here are a couple links of what happened.
http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/931-in-Berkeley-may-be-ID-theft-victims-4079241.php
http://www.creditmagic.org/repair/unknownambulance-bill.html?p=106620
Cost $3k in 80 to have my daughter born. Got a loan and paid it off in <1yr.
Hell I just tell the creditors to send the bill to obama. Isn’t that why he was elected? If it’s good enough for the Black folk it’s good enough for me.
There are people who live this way basically on purpose. Every 7 years they come back to file bankruptcy again.
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