Consumers are filing fewer lawsuits, but are filing more complaints, according to data released yesterday by WebRecon. It will be interesting to keep an eye on that lawsuit total and see if the relatively significant increase in complaints leads to a similar increase in lawsuits in the coming months.
The number of Fair Debt Collection Practices Act lawsuits was down 19% in November compared with October, while the number of Fair Credit Reporting Act lawsuits was down nearly 25%. Only the Telephone Consumer Protection Act saw a month-over-month increase, rising 5.6% from October to November. Compared with last November, the number of suits for all three statutes was down — 31% for the FDCPA, 5% for FCRA, and 34$ for the TCPA.
While the number of complaints filed by consumers with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was 8% lower in November than it was in October, the 4,570 that were submitted was 30% higher than the same month last year. Through the first 11 months of 2020, the number of complaints is up 14% from the same period of 2019, according to WebRecon’s data.
The most common complaint filed by consumers with the CFPB was for an attempt to collect a debt that was not owed, which accounted for 47% of the submissions. That was followed by written notifications about debt (32%), and then there was a big drop-off to false statements or representation (7%).
One other interesting point from the data — 37% of individuals who filed a lawsuit in November had done so previously. That is the highest percentage of repeat filers in any month since August 2019. It bears watching whether that means more repeat filers will remain active in the coming months.
