Recent Trends in Debt Settlement and Credit Counseling

11 Pages Posted: 1 Mar 2021 Last revised: 1 Sep 2021

See all articles by Christa Gibbs

Christa Gibbs

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Grant Guillory

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Vanessa Megaw

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Charles J. Romeo

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Date Written: July 10, 2020

Abstract

This is part of a series of quarterly reports of consumer credit trends produced by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau using a longitudinal, nationally-representative sample of approximately five million de-identified credit records maintained by one of the three nationwide consumer reporting agencies. This tenth report describes trends in debt settlement and credit counseling during the Great Recession and in recent years. This report shows that nearly one in thirteen consumers with a credit record had at least one account settled through a creditor or had account payments managed by a credit counseling agency from 2007 through 2019. Since 2016, the number of debt settlements has increased steadily, while credit counseling numbers are relatively unchanged.

Suggested Citation

Gibbs, Christa and Guillory, Grant and Megaw, Vanessa and Romeo, Charles J., Recent Trends in Debt Settlement and Credit Counseling (July 10, 2020). Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Office of Research Reports Series No. 20-6, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3793877 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3793877

Christa Gibbs (Contact Author)

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ( email )

1700 G Street NW
Washington, DC 20552
United States

Grant Guillory

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ( email )

United States

Vanessa Megaw

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Charles J. Romeo

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ( email )

United States

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