The study found that 35.1 percent 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.
This study is a few months old, but I’m posting it to remind you of something very important in credit repair: You are not alone! Over a third of the people you see walking down the street are currently facing debt collectors.
When you’re struggling with debt and being hounded by debt collectors, it’s easy to make up that it is a unique problem you alone are facing; but it’s not. Take a little bit of encouragement from the fact that others are struggling too, and don’t believe everyone who tells you his life is perfect.