Consumer litigation is going through some wild swings this year, according to the latest report from WebRecon, a data-tracking firm that pulls lawsuit numbers from U.S. district courts.
Fair Debt Collection Practices Act litigation dropped 12.6% in August to 925 compared with 1,058 FDCPA lawsuits in July. Still, FDCPA lawsuits are still tracking 18.1% ahead of a year ago through the same period - 7,826 to 6,628.
Fair Credit Reporting Act lawsuits totaled 300 in August, down 2.3% from 307 in July. FCRA cases year-to-date reached 2,125, tracking far ahead (32.3%) of the year-ago 1,606 pace.
Telephone Consumer Protection Act lawsuits totaled just 256 in August, exactly the same number reached in July. Year-to-date TCPA cases reached 1,835 compared, a 1.7% increase from 1,804 through August last year, according to WebRecon.
Approximately 34% of all consumer litigation plaintiffs in August had sued at least once before under consumer litigation statutes. Approximately 805 different companies were sued during the month.
The Pennsylvania Eastern District Court in Philadelphia tallied the most filings nationally, with 58 lawsuits invoking consumer statutes.
Attorneys David H Krieger and Craig Thor Kimmel tied for representing the most consumers in August with 26. Attorney Craig B. Sanders leads the way for 2015 with 193.
Elsewhere, complaints with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau dropped 10% in August compared with July. However, most of that movement appears to be the result of a large CFPB data drop after WebRecon ran the numbers a month ago.
"CFPB numbers are riding just above break even year to date over 2014, with a 3% increase. Once all the cases trickle in, that will likely be bumped up a few points,” said Jack Gordon, CEO at WebRecon.
An estimated 834 different debt collectors were complained about to the CFPB in August. California logged 470 complaints against debt collectors, followed by Texas with 381.
