Consumer Debt Elimination Opportunities Are Increasing Even With Top Earners

By James Schulze

This article discusses recent findings about consumer debt delinquencies, particularly with top earning Americans. It also shares insights on the best performing sales leads that consumer debt elimination companies can use to grow their debt settlement and debt validation businesses.  

A recent report from Bloomberg suggests that even the highest earning Americans are falling behind on credit card and auto payments. They cited two studies in particular:

• VantageScore, a credit-score modeling company created by Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, conducted a study from June 2023 to June 2025. Their data showed that delinquencies on consumer debts by individuals having annual incomes of at least $150,000 rose nearly 20% over the two years, a faster rate than for those with lesser incomes.
• The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis conducted a study of delinquency data from the first quarter of 1999 through the first quarter of 2025 for individuals aged 20 to 64. They found that the percentage of individuals making late credit card payments (i.e., at least 30 days delinquent) within the highest-income zip codes has risen twice as much over the last year compared to rates in the lowest-income zip codes. Credit card delinquency is widespread and continuing. The current percentage of credit card debt that is in delinquency is approaching a level we haven’t seen since the global financial crisis in 2008. Even more concerning, the current percentage of people in delinquency has already surpassed the 2008 level, surprisingly given the relatively stronger labor market today versus 2008. 

Clearly, many Americans are under significant financial stress, regardless of their income levels. The Federal Reserve refusing to lower interest rates and the end of COVID-era student loan forbearance programs have heightened the stress. For debt elimination companies, this environment presents a significant opportunity.

How debt elimination companies can capitalize on this opportunity

The best way for debt settlement and debt validation companies to capture new business in this environment is to obtain the “right” leads. The right leads will connect you with individuals who best fit your target profile in terms of their debt load size, expressed interest to resolve their debt, and other characteristics. 

What leads work best in this environment

Aged leads have worked well in the past, but they may not have the same level of efficacy in this new environment. Aged leads may not include the plethora of individuals, particularly high income earners, who have most recently started to miss their consumer debt payments. Debt elimination companies should consider two other types of leads to tap into this new opportunity:

• Real-time leads – Real-time leads are consumers who respond to an online creative that asks specifically if they would like assistance in getting out of debt. While many debt elimination companies target consumers with $10,000 or more in unsecured consumer debt, the debt threshold can be raised to specifically capture higher income earners. We can also run “hardship” loans. These are consumers who are looking for access to quick credit or responding to being behind on auto loans.

• Direct mail leads – Direct mail leads are the highest performing leads for consumer debt elimination companies. Using our proprietary targeting algorithm, we identify the specific consumers who can best benefit from your assistance and are likely to be open to receiving help. These consumers are sent a high-quality, debt elimination-specific direct mail creative. They respond to this creative, placing an inbound call to your team. As this is a consumer-initiated call, it offers the highest level of TCPA compliance.

Getting the right leads and support to grow your business

At The Leads Warehouse, we offer more than just the “right” leads. We support your team by providing campaign tactics, tech tips, recommended scripts, and guidance on how to stay compliant in your marketing efforts. We can work with and train your team on how to best take advantage of this unique opportunity in the changing consumer debt marketplace. The smart companies stay ahead of the curve instead of reacting to the market. In the words of “The Great One”, Wayne Gretzky:

“I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.”

The puck is moving in the consumer debt marketplace. Let us help you skate to where it is moving to.

If you would like more information on how you can grow your consumer debt sales, give The Leads Warehouse a call at 1-800-884-8371 or visit our website at http://theleadswarehouse.com.