The number of lawsuits alleging violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and Telephone Consumer Protection Act all took a nosedive in February, compared with a month earlier, according to data released last week by WebRecon. Of particular note, the number of TCPA lawsuits through the first two months of 2022 is down 40% from the same period last year.
Each of the three statutes saw a double-digit decrease from January to February, according to WebRecon’s data. The number of FCRA suits dropped 19.8%, the number of FDCPA suits dropped 12.9%, and the number of TCPA suits was 16.8% lower in February than January. Compared with last February, only the number of FCRA suits was higher.
Through the first two months of 2022, the number of FDCPA suits is 0.3% higher, while the number of FCRA suits is up 8.1%. Noting that it is way too early in the year to call anything a trend, WebRecon did hint that the uptick in FDCPA lawsuits is somewhat interesting. The number of FDCPA suits has been steadily declining for more than five years. Could Regulation F be behind this small increase? Only time will tell.
One thing that shows no signs of slowing down are complaints filed with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The 5,519 submitted in February were 9% higher than the total submitted in January and through the first two months of the year, complaints are 2.7% ahead of last year’s pace, which set a record for the most number of complaints filed in a calendar year.
