Fair Debt Collection Practices Act lawsuits will spike this year to an estimated 11,750 cases – up from the record 8,287 cases in 2009, according to a forecast by one research firm.
Jack Gordon, chief executive at WebRecon, made that prediction at the Washington State Collector’s Association conference in May. He pointed out that the anticipated record actually would represent a minor cooling off in the growth rate, from 2009’s nearly 60% growth over 2008, to a still strong 42% growth. There were 5,188 FDCPA lawsuits in 2008 and 3,813 in 2007.
For more information about FDCPA lawsuit trends and recent numbers,
There is no one reason for the ever-increasing number of lawsuits, says Gordon. He believes several factors are contributing to the growth, including aggressive consumer attorneys and consumer websites that tend encourage lawsuits. The economy and negative media coverage also are factors, he says.
Despite the rising number of FDCPA cases, lawsuits citing alleged Telephone Consumer Protection Act and Fair Credit Reporting Act lawsuits are expected to stay relatively flat this year.
