The Debt Buying Industry and Changes in Collection of Consumer Debts

In a 2009 study of the debt collection industry, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) concluded that the most significant change in the debt collection business in recent years has been the advent and growth of debt buying. Debt buying refers to the sale of debt by creditors or other debt owners to buyers that then attempt to collect the debt or sell it to other buyers. Debt buying can reduce the losses that creditors incur in providing credit, thereby allowing creditors to provide more credit at lower prices. Debt buying, however, also many raise significant consumer protection concerns. The FTC receives more consumer complaints about debt collectors, including debt buyers, than about any other single industry. Many of these complaints appear to have their origins in the quantity and quality of information that collectors have about debts. This book provides an overview of the debt buying market and the process of buying and selling debt; and the nature and extent of the relationship between the practice of debt buying and the types of information that the FTC has found can occur when debt collectors seek to recover and verify debts.