Consumer debt lawsuit filings rose again in 2025 in nearly every state tracked by data firm January Advisors, and The Pew Charitable Trusts is using the numbers to press state lawmakers for new documentation requirements, garnishment protections, and service-of-process rules that could reshape how collection cases move through the courts.
The data, published last week and amplified in a companion piece from Pew, shows filings climbing in seven of eight tracked states between 2024 and 2025. Missouri led the pack at 188% of its 2019 total, followed by Texas at 177% and Massachusetts at 153%. Alabama filings hit their highest level on record. Only Virginia remained below its pre-pandemic baseline, at 98%. Metro-level data tells the same story, with St. Louis filings nearly doubling their 2019 count and Boston reaching 168%.
The analysis singles out one plaintiff by name. LVNV Funding filed nearly five times as many cases in 2025 as it did in 2019 across four states with complete case-level data, accounting for roughly 23% of all consumer debt filings in that sample, up from under 6% in 2019. In Massachusetts, LVNV is now the largest filer in the state, responsible for 22% of all consumer debt cases.
January Advisors attributes the surge to two forces: households that have exhausted their pandemic-era savings amid elevated prices and resumed student loan payments, and a supply side where filing has become cheaper and faster. The firm raised, without answering, the question of whether AI tools are making it easier to generate complaints at scale.
The policy implications are where industry professionals should focus. Pew is urging states to follow Virginia and Washington, which this year passed laws requiring debt collection complaints to include a recent statement, chain of title, or original contract, with courts obligated to verify the documentation. Pew also wants more states to join the 14 that automatically shield $1,000 in consumer bank accounts from garnishment, and floated GPS verification of service as a way to combat sewer service claims. Notably, Pew acknowledged that research from California, Connecticut, and Minnesota suggests courts in states with documentation mandates may not be thoroughly reviewing what plaintiffs submit.
Courts themselves are turning to AI. The Los Angeles Superior Court is working with Stanford researchers on AI-assisted review of debt claims, with preliminary results showing a 53% reduction in errors and 33% less time spent compared with human-only review.
