The Debt Collection Industry is booming. After beginning the year with 1,200 debt collectors, United Recovery System of Houston has added 300 debt collectors and will add another 300 by the end of the year.
Across the country, dozens of established collection agencies are expanding their operations and hiring collectors, managers and support staff to keep up with the rising tide of bad debt due to massive job losses. Financial Management Systems opened a 350-person call center in Rockford, Ill., two weeks ago. Thirty-four people already are employed, and 100 will be on board by year’s end. Last month, Windham Professionals announced plans to add 140 employees to its 60-person operation in East Aurora, N.Y.
In Texarkana, Ark., West Asset Management recently added 100 new customer service employees to contact homeowners on the verge of foreclosure. Premiere Credit of North America just opened a second operations center in Indianapolis and began a $4 million expansion of its headquarters there.
Premiere, which specializes in student loan collections and government debt from traffic tickets to back taxes, bumped its work force from 250 in January to 361 in August. It expects to employ more than 500 people in a few years.
Full story in the Miami Herald.
