Research

Why New York Medical Practices Are Rethinking Their Collection Partner

New York has completely reshaped how medical and dental debt can be collected. 😟

If your current collection partner is still threatening credit reporting, talking about wage garnishments, or dragging out lawsuits, they are working off an outdated playbook—and you are the one carrying the risk.

Over the last few years, New York has:

Cut the statute of limitations for most medical debts to three years instead of six.
Banned hospitals and many providers from garnishing wages or putting liens on primary homes for medical debt judgments.
Passed a Fair Medical Debt Reporting law that effectively prohibits medical providers from reporting medical debt to credit bureaus and blocks that debt from appearing on consumer credit reports.
Tightened rules on financial assistance, interest rates, and payment caps for eligible patients.

Add strict HIPAA requirements, state and city consumer-protection rules, and new disclosure obligations, and you get a simple reality:

Collecting medical and dental debt in New York is possible—but it is not easy, and bad agencies can create more legal and reputational risk than recovery.

Nexa provides 100% reputation-safe, equipped with all 50-state collections license, offering free credit reporting, free litigation, free bankruptcy scrubs, and zero onboarding fees. Secure – SOC 2 Type II & HIPAA compliant. Over 2,000 online reviews rate us 4.85 out of 5.

Need a Collection Agency? Contact us

Why Switch? The Hidden Cost of Using the Wrong Agency

Many New York providers are still partnered with agencies that were a decent fit ten years ago, but not today. Common warning signs:

They still talk about using credit reporting as leverage, even though New York now blocks most provider-reported medical debt from credit reports.
They push long, drawn-out lawsuits, ignoring that the statute of limitations on medical debt is now only three years, and that hospitals and many providers cannot enforce medical judgments with wage garnishments or home liens.
They don’t mention New York City licensing and disclosure rules, language access requirements, or the need for a city collector’s license to collect from NYC residents.
Their scripts clearly aren’t written for a state where medical debt can no longer be used to ruin a patient’s credit score.

If your agency is still operating as if New York were any other state, you may be:

Leaving recoverable dollars on the table because they don’t understand the new rules.
Carrying more legal risk than necessary.
Spending internal time cleaning up patient complaints, regulator inquiries, and lawyer letters.

Switching to a New York–savvy partner through Nexa’s network helps you keep your legal risk low while recovering more and protect your name on Google while still getting paid.

Note: Nexa is an information portal. We don’t collect or credit-report ourselves; we connect you with vetted, HIPAA-aware agencies that understand New York.

What Has Actually Changed? A Snapshot of New York Medical Debt Rules

Here are the big shifts every New York provider should know:

Credit reporting of medical debt is heavily restricted
- New state law prevents most New York hospitals, health care professionals, and ambulance providers from reporting medical debt to credit agencies.
- Medical and many dental debts from New York providers are not supposed to appear on consumer credit reports.
- Medical charges buried inside a general credit card balance can still show up as part of that card debt—but that is fundamentally a card issue, not provider-reported medical debt.
Statute of limitations for medical debt is now three years
- The period to sue on most medical debts has been shortened from six years to three years, which dramatically narrows the window for lawsuits.
No wage garnishments or home liens for many medical judgments
- Hospitals and similar providers can no longer enforce many medical debt judgments through wage garnishment or liens on primary residences.
Stronger hospital financial assistance & consent rules
- New York requires standardized financial assistance programs, limits what hospitals can bill certain low- and middle-income patients, and caps interest rates on medical judgments for qualifying patients.
New York City–specific collection rules
- New York City requires collectors to be licensed, to provide clear language access disclosures, and, in many cases, to explain when a debt is time-barred and that medical debts cannot be reported to credit bureaus.
National trend away from medical credit reporting
- Major credit bureaus have already stopped reporting paid medical collections and medical debts under a certain threshold, and extended the waiting period for reporting larger medical debts.
- Federal regulators are pushing lenders to stop using medical bills in credit decisions, further reducing the value of “credit reporting pressure” as a tool.

All of this means: New York state policies deliberately make old-school, aggressive collection tactics less effective. The only sustainable path now is patient-centric, compliant recovery.

Recent Results: How New York–Savvy Agencies Operate

These are illustrative, fresh examples aligned with what New York–focused agencies are seeing today.

1) Manhattan Multi-Specialty Practice – Midtown, NYC
A multi-specialty group near Midtown had about $220,000 in patient balances between 90 and 180 days, with a heavy mix of high-deductible plans and self-pay accounts. Their legacy agency was still talking about “sending to credit” and filing suits four or five years after service, completely out of sync with New York’s shorter statute and credit-reporting rules.

After switching to a New York–focused partner through Nexa:

Accounts were re-aged and prioritized to stay within the three-year window.
Scripts were rewritten to emphasize financial assistance, realistic payment plans, and clear explanations, instead of threats.
Within nine months, about 41% of the assigned dollars were resolved through payments or structured plans, with noticeably fewer complaints bouncing back to the practice.

2) Brooklyn Dental Group – Family-Oriented Practice
A dental group in Brooklyn had roughly $135,000 in overdue balances, many under $1,200, from families juggling multiple visits and orthodontic treatments. Their previous agency kept hinting at credit damage, which was no longer realistic and only generated angry calls and poor reviews.

With a compliant, patient-friendly agency:

Messaging shifted to “let’s sort this out together” with flexible plans and clear breakdowns of insurance versus patient responsibility.
The agency used professional, multi-channel reminders instead of harsh threats.
Over seven months, the practice resolved about 48% of the dollars placed, saw far fewer reputation issues, and had staff spending less time apologizing for a vendor’s behavior.

These examples show that even with tight state policies, you can still recover a meaningful share of your AR—if you work with agencies that actually understand New York.

Q&A: New York Medical Collections – What Practice Managers Ask Most

Q: If medical debt can’t go on credit reports, is there any point sending accounts to collections?
A: Yes. Credit reporting was always just one tool—and often a blunt one. Recovery in New York now relies more on:

Thoughtful, timely patient outreach
Realistic payment plans and settlements
Early placement, well before the three-year mark

The right agency can still help you recover a large portion of overdue balances, even without credit reporting, while helping you keep legal risk low while recovering more.

Q: Are dental debts treated differently from medical debts?
A: In New York, most bills from licensed health-care professionals—including many dental providers—are treated similarly to medical debt for purposes of newer protections. In practical terms, that means many dental accounts are covered by the same credit-reporting bans and consumer protections as hospital bills.

Dental practices need agencies that understand how to:

Explain treatment plans and insurance gaps clearly
Segment small family balances from larger, elective or orthodontic cases
Stay firmly within HIPAA and New York consumer-protection rules

Q: What does HIPAA compliance really mean in the collection context?
A: Any agency handling your New York medical or dental accounts should:

Sign appropriate Business Associate Agreements (BAAs)
Use encrypted systems and restricted access for PHI
Train staff on “minimum necessary” disclosure when speaking with patients or authorized representatives
Avoid leaving detailed medical information in voicemails or letters

With New York regulators paying closer attention to billing and privacy, you want partners that treat HIPAA as non-negotiable, not optional.

Q: How do New York’s hospital financial assistance rules affect collections?
A: Recent laws require hospitals to have clear financial assistance programs, limit what they can bill eligible patients, and cap interest rates on many medical judgments.

Practically, this means:

More screening for assistance eligibility before and during collections
Tighter rules on what can be billed and when
More situations where a balance should be reduced, converted to charity care, or written off, instead of pursued aggressively

Agencies that don’t understand these obligations can push you into regulatory trouble very quickly.

Q: Does the shorter three-year statute of limitations really matter?
A: Absolutely. With a three-year limitation on most medical debts, waiting too long to place accounts can quietly erase your options.

A smarter approach is to:

Define clear placement triggers (for example, 90 or 120 days past due)
Ensure your agency tracks age of debt accurately
Have them flag time-barred accounts so you don’t threaten lawsuits you can’t legally file

This keeps you honest, reduces legal risk, and focuses effort where it still matters.

Q: What about lawsuits—are they still worth considering?
A: Lawsuits in New York are now more limited in value for medical debts:

The window to sue is shorter
Wage garnishments and home liens for many medical debts are restricted or banned
Courts and advocates are watching medical cases closely

That doesn’t mean legal action is never appropriate—but it should be rare, strategic, and well documented, not a default. A good agency will help you pick your spots instead of sending every file to an attorney.

Q: Where does Nexa fit into all of this?
A: Nexa is not a collection agency and doesn’t do any credit reporting. Instead, we:

Learn about your specialty, payer mix, and AR profile
Shortlist New York–licensed, HIPAA-compliant agencies that understand the state’s medical-debt reforms
Focus on partners who can stretch your internal team further without hiring extra staff, and protect your name on Google while still getting paid

You stay in control. You decide whether or not to work with the agencies we recommend.

Ready to Move On From an Agency That Hasn’t Kept Up With New York Law?

If your current vendor is still talking about old-school tactics—credit reporting threats, six-year timelines, aggressive lawsuits—you’re carrying their risk on your brand and balance sheet.

Consider switching to a partner that is built for New York’s new rules, helps you keep your legal risk low while recovering more, and protects your name on Google while still getting paid.

Ways to Recession-Proof Your Business

Recession strikes the United States roughly once every 10 years and delivers a lethal blow, particularly to the startups and small businesses. No one can predict the exact timing or the length of a recession.

During these tough times, buyers disappear, many of your clients will cut their budgets, downsize or discontinue several services or products that they use. Small businesses which survive this downturn are the ones who certainly experience an exponential growth once the economy starts to turn around. Since many of your competitors will bundle up during the recession, it creates a huge vacuum when the demand starts to pick up again. Therefore, recession can actually be an opportunity for growth for those who sail through these rough seas.

Hire a Debt Collection Agency to recover money from unpaid bills of customers who you have already serviced. This should be done quickly because of the financial condition of most people starts to incrementally-deteriorate as time passes by.
Accumulate or secure enough working capital, set up a cash flow planner. Best time to secure financing is before a downturn hits, plan in advance.
Hold daily scrums (short group meetings), let everyone speak up what they did and plan to do in the following days. This also helps to boost the productivity of employees.
Reducing headcount should be done judiciously. In-fact you can hire the top talent who has been laid off from your competitors.
Take your accounts receivable very seriously, hire a Debt Collections Agency. People are less likely to pay if the recession prolongs, so act quickly and shorten your receivables cycle. Instead of waiting 90 days, transfer accounts to collections after 60 days after the payment was due.
Maintain or improve your credit rating. Small business loans are often among the first to disappear during a recession. Use debt or lines of credit very sensibly. Curb non-essential spending.
Do not fire your marketing staff. They are your wings. Trim if really needed. Look for low-cost marketing options like digital marketing.
Keep communicating with your customers. Their requirements might have changed versus a year back. Instead of reducing the price of your product, throw in more features. This is the time to offer more not less. Additionally, keep your clients informed of your other products and services.
Start a business referral policy with your existing clients, reward them when you succeed in winning that customer.
Go above and beyond, which may include courtesy calls to your clients. In good times a client is like your business partner, but during hard times he is your God.
Expand internationally if you can. Last recession (Great recession of 2008-2010) impacted USA severely but was not so bad for many foreign countries.
Delay unnecessary purchases like new laptops or furniture. Think about ways to reduce inventory costs.
Negotiate concessions from your own service providers and suppliers. They don’t want to lose you either during a recession. Can you get the same item or service for a better price?
Prepare for better times. Have a strategy to scale up when new orders pick up.
Sometimes during the recession, the damage happens from inside by ill-informed employees spread negative news about your company to other employees and customers. If things are under control and you have a proper plan and vision, then share it with your employees so that they think and talk positively about the company.
Diversify your services and product in good times, so that entire business is not impacted adversely. But during the recession, focus more only on your core business expertise and those areas which are most profitable.

If you are looking for a Collection Agency to assist with your accounts receivable: Contact us

10 Ways to Increase Profits Quickly for a Small Business

Being in the accounts receivable industry, we interact with customers all the time, often personally over a cup of a coffee. Nearly all small businesses are constantly looking for ways to increase profits quickly, without increasing costs or by taking drastic measures.

Here are the ten simple changes you can incorporate easily to increase sales, cut costs, increase profits and recover your own money.

1. Handle Account Receivables Efficiently:

This is the money which should have already come to you. Having a proper plan to address past-due accounts will immediately improve your cash flow and profitability.
Most businesses do not have their own sufficiently trained staff and tools to recover money, and it is a lot cheaper to transfer accounts to a reputable third-party Collection Agency.
Nearly all our small business clients are pleasantly surprised how much of a difference it makes when this unexpected cash is infused from accounts that they had virtually written off from their books. Some clients were just a bit non-serious about transferring accounts to a Collections Agency after 60-90 days of non-payment. Click here to find the cost of hiring a collections agency.
Charging a late fee is a great way to encourage clients to make payments on time.

2. Cost Cutting:

Cost-cutting does not always mean laying off people.
If your small business is experiencing a temporary slowdown or you need extra cash to be infused to improve your profits, then do a deep review if you are overspending on the services subscribed. May be you can you downgrade that service plan by one notch and work nearly the same way.
You have possibly leased out too much office space.
May be you can turn off that air-conditioner of the conference room which is hardly used.
Those magazines, industry publications, or that cable TV connection can be canceled which no one uses.
May be the frequency of your cleaning crew can be reduced by half.
Have you been taking advantage of all the tax breaks that you can qualify for. Asset depreciation is a big tax break that many businesses overlook.
A careful assessment of maintenance contracts or warranties that you have subscribed.

3. Increase your rates:

Have the cost of your raw material increased recently, yet you have been absorbing those costs without passing them on to your customers?
May be you are undercharging compared to your competitors in your geographic area.
If you genuinely explain to customers the underlying reason for your own increase in operational costs, most of them would be willing to accommodate a 2% to 10% increase and will likely not threaten to leave you.

4. Are you being overcharged?

Can you get the same raw material from a different supplier for a lower rate or online?
Reduce the logistics cost by selecting someone nearby.
Or may be you can re-negotiate with your existing supplier to lower his costs by giving references of other suppliers you just researched.

5. Bigger and repeat orders:

Is your sales team concentrating only on bringing in new business and forgetting about reorders from existing clients?
Yes, clients often forget to reorder them-self until someone reminds them.
Maybe their business has been doing quite well and can easily place a larger order than last time.
Why don’t you reach out to your old customers who have stopped using your service a while back, and offer them special promotions to re-board.

6. Using technology efficiently

A very simple example is that fax machine that breaks down twice a year or requires servicing or ink refill. Ditch that and go with online fax services which charge as little as $5 per month for unlimited faxes.
Paying for toll-free numbers from traditional land-line providers can be a rip-off. Newer providers like Grasshopper and Mightly Call are super cheap and provide tons of free add-ons, for which you might have been paying a premium price with your existing provider.
May be your website hosting provider is too costly, prices of cloud hosting have dropped significantly in the last few years and new providers often transfer your website to their platform for free.
Your IT costs could be unnecessarily high too.
Even big businesses have started using WordPress for hosting their websites and online stores. WordPress is super-duper cheap to setup and run. It can be integrated with almost anything you can imagine and software/security upgrades are almost always free. Godaddy and Amazon Web Services are my personal recommendations.

7. Online advertisement for sales:

Facebook Advertising and Google Adwords are excellent places to find new customers. To be honest, you do not need to hire anyone to do this for you, it is very easy. Watch a few online video’s and you will be good to go.
Instead of hiring a new salesperson, you can get five times more sales leads by doing targeted advertising on these Google/Facebook platforms. Do not be fearful of trying these out, you can set monthly budgets, and these online platforms will never charge you beyond that. Start small and then increase budgets once you become more comfortable using them.
Higher sales will quickly increase profits for your small business with this simple change.

8. Boost operational efficiency:

Are those daily/weekly meetings really helping you?
Can your receptionist or a clerk who is not being 100% utilized to take care of some additional tasks?
Is your inventory system automated? Labor-intensive tasks are more prone to mistakes.
Are you using cost-effective accounting software? In recent years, providers like Zoho have been offering the same services like the big guys but at half the price.
Ask your employees how your office efficiency can be improved or unnecessary costs can be cut, and give rewards ( like gift cards) for those brilliant ideas which you decide to adopt.

9. Offer long-term plans:

If a significant portion of your customers utilize your services only for a few months and leave, offer a discounted yearly plan if they pay upfront.
You will get more money from the same client, and probably after one year, they will love your service so much that they will renew your service again.

10. Be Certified:

Those accreditations, licenses, and certifications may be easy to get and may appear to carry no value. But they play a huge role in gaining the trust of potential clients who do not know you but believe in those certifications.
Make strategic alliances with other companies so that your clients can get more services under one platform.

Biggest Consumer & Commercial Collection Agencies in USA

The “largest” agencies are defined by a mix of metrics, including public revenue, estimated market share, and verifiable niche dominance (e.g., total dollars recovered or client-base saturation). Each collection agency has its own set of strengths ( and shortcomings). Selecting a debt collection company that fits your needs requires carefully evaluating their services, experience, and recovery rates.

Largest 14 Consumer (B2C) Collection Agencies

These firms primarily focus on collecting debts from individuals, such as credit card bills, medical debt, and personal loans. This sector is dominated by a few large, publicly traded debt buyers and major diversified servicing companies.

Encore Capital Group (and subsidiaries Midland Credit Management/Midland Funding)
A publicly traded (NASDAQ: ECPG) specialty finance company and one of the largest debt buyers in the U.S. It purchases defaulted consumer debt portfolios from major banks. Its 2025 trailing-twelve-month (TTM) revenue was $1.46 billion.
PRA Group (and subsidiary Portfolio Recovery Associates
A major publicly traded (NASDAQ: PRAA) global leader in acquiring and collecting nonperforming consumer loans. Its 2025 TTM revenue was $1.14 billion, with $1.9 billion in total cash collections for 2024.
Alorica Inc.
A massive business process outsourcing (BPO) and customer experience (CX) leader estimated to control 10.4% of the total debt collection agency market. It is one of the largest first-party collections servicers in the U.S. market.
Sherman Financial Group (and subsidiary LVNV Funding)
A major private debt buyer and a primary competitor to Encore and PRA. It is the parent company of Credit One Bank, a large financial institution that reported $1.52 billion in 2023 revenue.
Transworld Systems Inc. (TSI)
One of the largest Accounts Receivable Management (ARM) providers in the U.S. It is a large-scale private company (estimated 1,895–5,000 employees) with a major focus on B2C verticals, including healthcare, government, and education.
Credit Control, LLC
A large (200+ employees) consumer collection agency focused on the financial services sector. Its clients include 13 of the top 15 banks in the U.S.
Williams & Fudge, Inc.
A dominant specialist in the higher education vertical, collecting student loans and tuition receivables. It is recognized as a “Large Employer” (200+ employees) and cited by clients like Texas Tech as its “highest performing agency.”
ConServe
A top-performing ARM company and “Large Employer” (200+ employees) specializing in collections for higher education (student loans) and government agencies, including the IRS.
IC System
A third-generation, family-owned agency with over 85 years of experience. It was named “Best for B2C” collections in 2025 rankings by Business News Daily.
CBE Group Inc.
A “Large Employer” (200+ employees) recognized as a trusted leader in public sector and healthcare patient account collections.
Allianz Trade Collections (Euler Hermes / Allianz Trade)
The commercial collections arm of Allianz Trade, a leading global trade-credit insurer, providing B2B debt recovery and receivables management services for exporters and domestic businesses in the U.S. and worldwide.
Altus Receivables Management
One of the largest pure commercial collection agencies in North America, specializing in third-party and first-party B2B collections, with global legal networks and strong coverage in manufacturing, distribution, logistics, and industrial trade.
ABC-Amega
A long-standing commercial collection agency focused on B2B receivables, industry credit groups, and international collections, serving corporate clients across many sectors and countries.
Coface Collections
The collections arm of Coface, another major global trade-credit insurer, offering B2B debt recovery and amicable/legal collection services for companies trading internationally, including U.S. exporters.

Need a collection agency with 20+ years of experience? Contact Us

Largest 14 Commercial (B2B) Collection Agencies

These firms specialize in recovering debts owed by businesses to other businesses, such as unpaid invoices or service contract fees. This sector is defined by industry expertise and the total value of accounts managed.

Caine & Weiner
A major B2B-focused agency that handles over $1 billion in placed accounts annually. Its client base includes 20% of Fortune 500 companies. It is also ranked as a top agency for the construction industry.
The Kaplan Group:
One of the largest commercial collection companies in the USA. The owner, Dean Kaplan has 30 years of business and negotiating experience, has closed over $500 million of transactions (per Linkedin), and has an MBA from a top 5 university. 85% Success Rate on viable claims over $10,000.
Greenberg, Grant & Richards Inc.
A CLLA-certified commercial agency that has collected over $1.5 billion to date for its clients. In recent years, it has collected over $100 million in each of the past two years.
Brown & Joseph, LLC
The leading commercial collection firm for the insurance industry. It recovers more than $200 million in delinquent premiums for its clients annually.
Transworld Systems Inc. (TSI)
A leading technology-enabled provider of revenue recovery solutions to businesses. Its B2B services are a core focus, including Accounts Receivable Management and Healthcare Revenue Cycle Management.
Prestige Services Inc. (PSI)
A nationwide commercial agency consistently ranked as “Best for B2B Collections” by Business News Daily (2020-2025). It holds an A+ BBB rating.
Atradius Collections
A major global firm consistently ranked as a top-5 agency for 2025. It specializes in B2B debt collection in the U.S. and internationally.
Mesa Revenue Partners
A top-rated commercial collection agency founded in 1976. It specializes in corporate collections, including for complex industries like construction.
C2C Resources
A CLLA-certified commercial agency with over 25,000 business clients. It is also noted as a top specialist for the construction industry.
Murkin Group
A highly-regarded specialist agency focused on the construction industry, a major B2B vertical.
Saba & Associates
A top-ranked collection agency that specializes in serving commercial clients within the construction industry.
GC Services (InteLogix)
A large, privately held accounts receivable management and call-center company handling high-volume consumer collections for banks, credit card issuers, telecoms, government, and utilities across the U.S.
Radius Global Solutions
A major ARM and contact-center provider with thousands of employees, focused heavily on consumer receivables in healthcare, financial services, utilities, and telecom, using omnichannel outreach and compliance-driven workflows.
iQor
A global CX/BPO company with a long history in first-party and third-party consumer collections, especially in credit card, telecom, and cable, operating large call-center networks that handle early-stage and late-stage delinquent accounts.

We can assist you in selecting a good one based on your specific requirements based on our experience and opinion.

Note: Most collection agencies are private entities whose revenue is not often disclosed. We have compiled this list based on many parameters on the internet. We believe this list is nearly accurate. To help us improve this article (in case we have missed out on any), email us at support@nexacollect.com. Their size does not sort the list above.

AMCA, one of the biggest medical collection agencies, was shut down because of a huge data breach that proved too costly.

Mergers + Machines: How Debt-Collection Agencies Can Survive and Thrive

“In a market where compliance costs more than commissions, scale isn’t optional—it’s existential.”

1. Why “bigger” suddenly means “safer”

Rising compliance overhead. New rules—from the 2025 Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) filing thresholds now set at US $252.9 million to expanded Hart-Scott-Rodino forms that demand five years of prior-deal disclosures—are pushing smaller agencies to join forces just to keep up with paperwork. (Federal Trade Commission, White & Case)
Tech capital requirements. AI-driven analytics, omnichannel platforms and SOC-2-level cybersecurity cost six figures to deploy. Pooling resources through mergers, joint ventures or managed-service partnerships spreads that burden.
Pricing power. Consolidated firms command better contingency-fee splits and cheaper data services—collectors with >10 million active accounts report skip-tracing costs under US $0.04 per hit versus US $0.50–1.25 for independents (industry survey, 2024).

2. The legal landscape shaping consolidation

Rule / Law	Why It Matters in 2025	Practical Take-away
HSR Act (FTC/DOJ)	New filing fees & lower size-of-transaction thresholds capture mid-market deals.	Budget for legal counsel before issuing a letter of intent. (Federal Trade Commission)
FTC “AI Comply” actions	The FTC now treats exaggerated AI claims as deceptive advertising.	Audit marketing decks & vendor claims; fines now reach US $50,120 per violation. (Federal Trade Commission)
California SB 1286	Extends Rosenthal Act protections to many commercial debts in 2025.	Merging into, or buying, a CA-licensed shop? Confirm processes meet the new business-debt standards.
FDCPA + Reg F	Still the ceiling on consumer contacts; CFPB’s 2024 report flags “zombie mortgage” abuses.	Ensure any automated workflows in the acquired system honor call-caps & 7-in-7 rules. (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau)

3. Real-world consolidation stories

ReceivablesInfo M&A Round-Table (May 2025): Experts noted that agencies with built-in litigation partners fetched 1.4× higher EBITDA multiples than dial-only competitors.
Panthera (Australia, Dec 2024): Sold after regulatory sanctions—proof that reputation can decide a sell-versus-shut-down outcome. (The Guardian)
Private-equity roll-ups: In 2024-25, three separate funds announced “platform” buys of regional ARM firms, citing AI and compliance economies of scale (AccountsRecovery deal tracker).

4. The AI multiplier (and minefield)

AI delivers smarter segmentation, but the regulator’s patience is thin. The FTC’s April 2025 order against Workado overhyped detection claims, and similar scrutiny is heading for debt-collection chatbots. (Federal Trade Commission)

Checklist before touting “AI-powered” after a merger

Validate models (precision/recall) with third-party testing.
Log every decision for auditability; keep logs for ≥ 5 years.
Offer a human-opt-out on any automated platform where the debtor did not initiate contact.

5. Survival playbook for small & mid-size agencies

Pursue “friendly” mergers first. Look for partners with complementary licenses (e.g., healthcare focus + government contracts).
Negotiate earn-outs tied to net placements, not just gross collections—protects both sides from post-deal attrition.
Bundle compliance assets (Reg F scripts, NY DFS 24-hour breach workflows) into your valuation narrative.
Stay acquisition-ready: up-to-date SOC 2, zero unresolved CFPB complaints, and audited financials for the past three years.
Leverage co-op buying groups for telephony, letter vendors and skip-trace APIs while merger talks advance.

6. Bottom line

The next 18 months will reward agencies that either achieve scale or specialize ruthlessly. Those caught in the middle—without deep tech or a clear niche—risk being acquired at a discount, or worse, disappearing from the CFPB registry altogether. Start cultivating partners, shoring up compliance gaps, and showcasing your unique data assets now if you want to set your own price tomorrow.