Lawsuits Filed Against 452 Agencies, Creditors

An estimated 452 different collection agencies and creditors are named in 482 consumer statute lawsuits filed nationwide in the second half of May, according to data from U.S. District Court complaint dockets. In the first half of May, consumers sued an estimated 425 agencies and creditors in 495 consumer statute lawsuits.

The late May total (May 16-31) includes 406 cases citing violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), down from 434 FDCPA cases filed in the first half of May and down from 483 in the last half of April.

Research firm WebRecon LLC in Grand Rapids, Mich. compiles the data from the courts and commonly provides trend analysis. Jack Gordon, chief executive at WebRecon, predicts FDCPA lawsuits will spike this year to nearly 12,000, up from a record 8,287 in 2009, see story.

The May 16-31 total also includes 42 Fair Credit Report Act lawsuits, compared with 37 in early May. Some other consumer statutes listed in the monthly data include the Truth-in-Lending Act (19 lawsuits), the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (7 lawsuits), the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (4), the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (4), and various state consumer statutes.

Of the 482 consumer statute lawsuits filed May 16-31, there were an estimated 500 unique plaintiffs, including an estimated 181 who previously sued citing consumer statute violations. Combined, those plaintiffs have filed an estimated 1,015 lawsuits since 2001.

To comment on this story, contact Darren Waggoner at darren.waggoner@sourcemedia.com or 815.463.9008.

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
Consumer banking Debt collection
MORE FROM AMERICAN BANKER