Americans are carrying record levels of debt right now , which has caused an uptick in payment delinquencies, compounding interest charges and other issues for borrowers. Credit card rates also remain elevated at over 21%, on average, making it tough to keep up with the ballooning balances, and, in turn, more lenders are turning to aggressive collection tactics to recover what they're owed. In other words, the consequences of carrying credit card debt in today's economic landscape are becoming