Consumers sued an estimated 386 different collection agencies and creditors in the Feb. 16-28 period, down from 444 in the first half of the month. The drop, in part, can be attributed to the short month and fewer days in the typical "second half" reviewed by WebRecon, the Grand Rapids, Mich.-based research firm that compiles the data from the courts.
An estimated 394 lawsuits were filed under various consumer statutes in the Feb. 16-28 period, including 378 citing Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) violations, 21 listing Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) violations, 17 citing Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) violations and 12 listing Truth-in-Lending Act (TILA) violations. Several lawsuits listed more than one.
There were approximately 410 unique plaintiffs in the period. Of those plaintiffs, 125 had sued under consumer statutes before, filing an estimated 754 lawsuits since 2001.
Year-to-date, consumers have filed 1,750 total lawsuits - including 1,676 citing FDCPA violations, 181 FCRA cases, 97 TCPA lawsuits and 88 TILA cases.
The most active courts in the recent half-month period include: Colorado District Court in Denver, with 26 lawsuits; Illinois Northern District Court in Chicago, with 21 lawsuits; California Central District Court in Los Angeles, with 16 lawsuits and Michigan Eastern District Court in Detroit, with 14 lawsuits. The most active consumer attorneys were David M. Larson, representing 15 consumers, and Jack Dennis Card, representing 12 consumers.
Last year, consumers filed an estimated 13,901 lawsuits against collection agencies and creditors last year, including 10,914 FDCPA cases. Both numbers shattered the previous records set in 2009 (
To comment, contact Darren Waggoner at darren.waggoner@sourcemedia.com or 815.463.9008.
