There was an uptick in the number of lawsuits filed in October alleging violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, according to data released yesterday by WebRecon.
On a month-over-month basis, the number of FDCPA claims was up nearly 6%, the number of FCRA claims was up 1.4%, and the number of TCPA claims was 11% higher. However, the number of FDCPA and TCPA claims were down in October when comparing them to the same month last year and the number of FDCPA and TCPA claims are still down on a year-to-date basis compared with 2018.
The number of FDCPA claims is down 9% through the first 10 months of 2019, compared with last year, and the number of TCPA claims is down 16% on a year-over-year basis. The number of FCRA claims is up 9% compared with last year.
Along with an overall decline in the number of lawsuits, the number of complaints filed against collection agencies with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau also continued to drop. Through the first 10 months of 2019, there were 11.4% fewer complaints than during the same timeframe of last year, according to WebRecon.
The data from WebRecon is incredibly helpful for collection agencies that should be interested in understanding the direction that plaintiffs and consumer attorneys are heading, in terms of the lawsuits they are filing against companies in the accounts receivable management industry. The knowledge can help companies shore up possible areas where they might get sued or prepare for suits that might be filed against them.
