what is a debt collector 
a debt collector is a person or organization that recovers money owed on delinquent accounts creditors hire debt collectors when they are owed money by individuals collectors are paid a flat fee or a certain percentage of the amount they collect some debt collectors are debt buyers such that they purchase debt at a fraction of its face value and then attempt to recover the full amount of the debt or as much of it as they can a debt collector may also be known as a collection agency cecilie arcurs gettyimagesunderstanding debt collectors