Total lawsuits filed in the U.S. this year citing alleged Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) violations reached 10,402 through mid-October, well ahead of last year's pace when the 10,000 mark was reached on Dec. 1, according to WebRecon LLC, a Grand Rapids, Mich.-based company that tracks the data from the courts.
Through Nov. 15, the number of consumer statute lawsuits reached 11,176 this year. Consumer statute lawsuits include violations of the FDCPA, the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) (1,656), the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (419) and the Truth-in-Lending Act (1,342). Many of the lawsuits list more than one alleged violation.
For the latest reporting period of Nov. 1-15, consumers sued an estimated 474 different collection agencies and creditors, down from 498 in the Oct. 16-31 period and 597 in the Oct. 1-15 period. Of the lawsuits filed in the first half of November, 472 cited alleged FDCPA violations and 84 cited alleged FCRA violations.
Yaakov Saks was the most active consumer attorney in the Nov. 1-15 period, representing 31 consumers. For the year, attorney David M. Larson has represented 314 consumers, followed by Feng Li (299), Craig T. Kimmel (218) and Sergei Lemberg (214).
The top courts for lawsuits in the first half of November include: New Jersey Direct Court - Newark (40 lawsuits); Minnesota District Court (34); Colorado District Court - Denver (28) and California Central District Court - Western Division - Los Angeles (27).
