More than 70 millionadults in America have had a debt turned over to a private debt collector

That’s 1 in 4 adults in general. And 1 in 3 people of color. Your child's teacher. The friendly bank cashier. The person just 2 seats away. Millions have had wages garnished or money seized from their bank accounts, and tens of thousands have been summoned to court in a single county. During the process of debt collection, individuals learn that they can be treated as if they have no right to respect or to redress.

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90%of debtors summoned to court do not have legal counsel

a court room official handing a document to a defendant

We are changing the narrative about debt collection by building a public facing resource for debtors and their advocates.

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Debt Collection Tracker

See where debt collection lawsuits are happening and how they are unevenly distributed by neighborhood and race.

View our real-time debt collection data
sparklines for various counties available in the debt collection tracker
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Arts and Storytelling

Our virtual gallery features the Debt Collectors Series, modeled on the work of Jacob Lawrence.

Explore Arts and Storytelling
sparklines for various counties available in the debt collection tracker

Who We Are

Find out about the members of The Debt Collection Lab

Learn more about us