U.S. consumers filed an estimated 13,901 lawsuits against collection agencies and creditors last year, including 10,914 Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) cases.
Both numbers shattered the previous records set in 2009, according to WebRecon LLC, the Grand Rapids, Mich.-based research firm that compiles the data from the courts.
Recent annual totals include:
2010: 10,914 FDCPA lawsuits and 1,299 Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) cases
2009: 9,135 FDCPA lawsuits and 1,174 FCRA cases
2008: 6,025 FDCPA lawsuits and 1,164 FCRA cases
2007: 4,372 FDCPA lawsuits and 1,347 FCRA cases
2006: 3,710 FDCPA lawsuits and 955 FCRA cases
WebRecon analyzes the lawsuit filings twice per month. In the Dec. 16-31 period, an estimated 392 different collection agencies and creditors were sued in 102 different U.S. District Court branches. Of the cases, there were an estimated 454 unique plaintiffs, including 149 who previously had sued citing consumer statute violations. Combined, those plaintiffs have filed 753 lawsuits since 2001.
The last half of December also saw a total of 393 FDCPA lawsuits, 61 FCRA cases, 27 Truth-in-Lending lawsuits and 19 Telephone Consumer Protection Act cases.
Jack Dennis Card was the most active consumer attorney in 2010, representing 412 consumers. He is followed by Sergei Lemberg at 353.
