For the first time in more than a year, the number of lawsuits against companies in the credit and collection industry alleging violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act were up while the number of suits alleging violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act were down on a month-over-month basis, according to data released earlier this week by WebRecon.
The number of FDCPA suits was up 9.4% in March, compared with April, while the number of TCPA suits was 7.9% higher. There were 10% fewer FCRA suits filed in March, according to WebRecon.
Through the first quarter of 2019, there were 4,039 suits filed, which is more than 10% lower than the 4,504 that were filed during the same period last year.
Another interesting trend noted by WebRecon in its monthly report is an increase in the number of class action suits that are being filed. More than 40% of all TCPA suits that were filed in March were class action, and nearly 20% of all FDCPA suits were as well.
While higher in March than February, the number of complaints filed with the Better Business Bureau and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau were also down during the first quarter. There were 25% fewer complaints filed with the CFPB and 14% fewer filed with the BBB, compared to the first three months of last year.
