Through the first four months of 2010, the number of lawsuits filed citing Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) violations is far ahead of the record pace set in 2009, according to data from the U.S. District Courts. Consumers filed an estimated 3,262 FDCPA cases through April.
At that pace, the year-end total would reach nearly 9,800. In 2009, consumers filed 8,287 FDCPA cases, a number that easily topped the previous record high of 5,188 FDCPA cases in 2008. The total through April actually exceeds the 3,220 total FDCPA cases filed in full-year 2006.
In the first four months of this year, consumers filed 3,825 lawsuits citing violations of consumers statutes. While the majority of cases cited the FDCPA, others listed violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the Truth-in-Lending Act, the Electronic Fund Transfers Act and state-specific consumer statute concerns - with California leading that list. Research firm WebRecon LLC compiles the data from the court dockets and typically breaks down data on lawsuits in 15-day periods.
In the last half of April, data from the courts showed consumers sued 489 different collection agencies and creditors. There were an estimated 556 lawsuits filed in the period, including 483 FDCPA suits and 41 FCRA suits.
Lawsuits were filed in 110 different U.S. District Court branches. The top three courts for lawsuit filings include the California Central District Court - Western Division, Los Angeles (43), the New York Eastern District Court - Brooklyn (33), and the Minnesota District Court - DMN (32).
