While the number of lawsuits against companies in the accounts receivable management industry continued to decline, the individuals who are filing more than one lawsuit is on the rise, according to data released recently by WebRecon.
The number of suits alleging violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act were down in July, compared with June and compared with July last year. And through the first seven months of 2021, only FCRA suits are higher than they were at this point last year. TCPA suits, it should be noted, are down 51% on a year-to-date basis.
One number that did go up, WebRecon noted, was the percentage of individuals who filed a lawsuit in July and had done so previously, what WebRecon refers to as “repeat filers.” Normally, about one-third of all lawsuits filed in a given month are filed by repeat filers. In July, that figure was 45%. Given that the overall number of lawsuits is dropping, it appears as though the drop is a result of fewer “one-off” filers deciding to sue a collection agency. In June, for example 38% of all suits were filed by repeat filers. That represents about 500 lawsuits. Last month, repeat filers accounted for about 506 lawsuits. That is a very rough, back-of-the-envelope calculation, but helps provide some context.
While the number of lawsuits is on the way down, the number of complaints filed with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau continues to climb. The total for July was 3% higher than the number filed in June, 41% higher than the number filed last July, and the total for the first seven months of the year is 38% higher than the pace set through the same period last year. The 6,845 complaints filed in July were filed against 881 different debt collectors, according to WebRecon.
