Journal Article
Collecting consumer debt in America
Abstract: Why should economic scholars study the consumer debt collection process? First, the cost and effectiveness of the collections process has implications for the pricing and availability of consumer credit. Second, changes in technology and the structure of credit markets have transformed the collections industry. Small, mom-and-pop operations are increasingly being replaced by firms operating nationally, collecting on billions of dollars in bad debt purchased from creditors. In ?Collecting Consumer Debt in America,? Bob Hunt explores how creditors and their agents attempt to collect past-due consumer debt, particularly unsecured debt. Creditors have a number of remedies open to them, but their effectiveness is limited by the fact that consumers can file for bankruptcy. Even outside of bankruptcy, consumers enjoy a variety of legal protections, including some they may not be aware of. ; Also issued as Payment Cards Center Discussion Paper No 07-06
Keywords: Debt; Consumer credit;
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File(s): File format is application/pdf https://www.philadelphiafed.org/-/media/frbp/assets/economy/articles/business-review/2007/q2/hunt_collecting-consumer-debt.pdf
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Bibliographic Information
Provider: Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
Part of Series: Business Review
Publication Date: 2007
Issue: Q2
Pages: 11-24