Only 10 jobs, including used car salesman, lobbyist, and telemarketer, outranked debt collectors on Insider Monkey’s 20 Least Respected Professions in America list.
“Debt collectors often struggle with trust due to aggressive collection tactics, harassment allegations, and a reputation for putting financial interests above consumers’ well-being, cultivating negative perceptions. It is one of the least trusted professions in the U.S.,” according to the report.
Insider Monkey shared how the study was conducted.
“Please note that the list is highly subjective and does not comment on any individual’s personal integrity. The list is purely based on the perception of the common people’s trust in these professions,” it added.
And while the study might not be fully scientific, debt collector is a job that’s so unpopular, even the people doing it don’t like the profession.
Career matching platform CareerExplorer ranks debt collection in the bottom 1% of professions for job satisfaction, according to Wired.
Synergy Reorg has a limited public-facing presence, and its bankruptcy filings provide little detail about the types of debts it works to recover.
Debt collectors aren’t very popular
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) shared a study showing how consumers feel about debt collectors.
27% of consumers contacted about a debt said they felt threatened by the creditor or collector.
53% said at least one collection effort in the previous year was mistaken in some way — including the wrong amount, a debt they didn’t owe, or a debt belonging to a family member.
37% said their most recent creditor or collector usually contacted them four or more times a week.
About 40% said they had asked a collector or creditor to stop contacting them; of those, three-quarters said the collector didn’t honor the request.
“The Bureau today casts light on troubling problems in the debt collection industry,” said former CFPB Director Rich Cordray in a release about the 2017 report.
“More than one-in-four consumers report feeling threatened by a debt collector, and a majority of those contacted about debt say the calls persist even after requests to stop. The Bureau is working to clean up abuses in this industry, and to see that all consumers are treated with fairness, decency, and respect.”
Synergy Reorg LLC is part of a bigger filing
Synergy Reorg, LLC, a Washington, DC-based collection and debt recovery entity, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Sept. 4, 2026, in the District of Columbia, according to documents filed on PacerMonitor.
As stated in bankruptcy filings, the company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Synergy CHC Corp.
“Current operations are focused on debt resolution and legal restructuring amid significant financial distress, with liabilities far exceeding assets. The filing follows reports of liquidity challenges and debt restructuring efforts by its parent company throughout 2025 and 2026,” according to CH11.ai.
Jointly, the various Synergy brands’ largest obligation is $18.9 million owed to ACP Agency, LLC.
Debt collection has generally been a very unpopular industry. Shutterstock
Synergy Reorg Chapter 11 bankruptcy at a glance
Synergy Reorg filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Sept. 4, 2026, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Columbia.
Case No. 1:26-bk-00464
The case is a voluntary Chapter 11 filing and has been designated as a complex Chapter 11 case.
Synergy Reorg lists assets of $1 million to $10 million and liabilities of $10 million to $50 million.
The company lists 1 to 49 creditors.
The debtor’s address is 20 F Street NW, 7th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001.
The case is assigned to U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Elizabeth L. Gunn.Source: PacerMonitor
Synergy CHC has asked the courts to jointly administer its multiple filings, but each debtor will maintain its own schedules and its own statement of financial affairs, according to the Synergy Reorg Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition.
The parent listed its assets in the amount of $2.45 million and liabilities in the amount of $34.43 million.
Lauren Berret shall serve as the chief restructuring officer for the various brands.
A look at Synergy Reorg’s parent company
Synergy Reorg has a very limited public presence, and it’s unclear exactly what types of debts it works to recover.
The parent company, Synergy CHC Corp., the maker of Focus Factor, which is described on its Amazon sales page as a “Brain Supplement for Memory, Concentration and Focus,” also sells a number of other supplements and functional beverages.
Synergy CHC warned of potential significant financial problems after it received notice from Costco that the warehouse club would be dropping the company’s products.
“On July 15, 2026, Costco Wholesale Corporation informed Synergy CHC Corp. that Costco will discontinue carrying the Company’s Focus Factor products. Costco has been a significant customer of the Company for more than 16 years,” it shared in an SEC filing.
It’s important to note that Costco did not share a reason for dropping Synergy CHC’s brands.
“Costco accounted for approximately 58% of the Company’s net revenue during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025. The Company expects Costco’s decision to have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, results of operations, liquidity, and financial condition and is evaluating available financing and other strategic alternatives,” the filing continued.
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