Credit Counseling Groups Laying Off Staff. Even the NFCC HQ Had a Recent Layoff.

A story out today in Collections & Credit Risk highlights some of the issues facing credit counseling groups now with decreased demand by consumers.

• “Consumers have resolved their credit card problems to such an extent over the past year that nonprofit credit-counseling firms are noticing a significant decline in demand for their services, resulting in layoffs at some firms.”
• “The total number of consumers that received credit counseling last year from the foundation’s member agencies declined 17.9%, to 3.2 million from 3.9 million in 2009, and the foundation expects the number to decline further this year.”
• “The foundation did not disclose the number of consumers who have sought counseling so far this year, but Cunningham confirms that its members are reporting staff layoffs caused by declining demand for their services. “Business is slow,” Cunningham says.”
• “The falloff in demand for credit-counseling is no surprise, given lenders’ crackdown on credit card borrowers beginning in 2008, Ezra Becker, vice president of consulting and research at the Chicago-based credit bureau TransUnion LLC.”

You can read the full story here.

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