Although it is much harder to recover debt from a defaulted consumer especially in this time of recession, but some debt collectors that have found new ways to draw more revenue from bad debt and increase the value of their shares.

The performances of two debt collection firms have improved significantly. The Encore Capital Group Inc. and Portfolio Recovery Associates Inc. collected 10% and 13% more consumer debt, as compared to the previous year.

The industry revenue levels are forecasted to drop $200 million by the end of 2009, to approximately $14.2 billion according to analysts at IBISWorld.

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Many people get far behind on their credit card payments, but manage to pay off the balances before they get charged off as bad debt. Howsoever, they still don’t find their credit score rising although they have paid off their creditors.

It is a fact that credit scores require a lot of patience. It takes quite some time to move them in either direction, but they are more likely to sink faster than they rise. And although it may take a long time to get your credit score in the right place, you should pay off your delinquent accounts as soon as possible.

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Nowadays it has become quite easy for college going and even high school students to get credit cards. But the question remains that whether you should allow your teenager to get a credit card while he’s still quite young and thus irresponsible. Many college students are already accumulating debt through student loans. Moreover, there are some sleazy marketing arrangements between banks and college campuses to corner students to get credit cards.

But should you really panic when your child brings home their first credit card? Here are a few reasons to explain that credit cards for college kids might not be such a bad thing after all. In fact, you may want to encourage your child to get one while they still can.

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