Bad times for the economy at large can spark good times for the debt-collection industry — but those good times are limited when cash-strapped borrowers have no way to pay, according to local collectors.

Paul Donatio, district manager at Transworld Systems Inc. in Lexington, said customers are not sitting back this year waiting to collect debts.

“We’re in a record-breaking year,” said Donatio. With credit card use at an all-time high and fallout from the foreclosure crisis pushing the credit market into a tailspin, more businesses are turning to debt collectors.

Market analysts expect collections industry revenue to reach a 10-year high of $14 billion in 2008 and project growth for the next five years.