Lawsuits Against the Industry Up Across the Board

The total number of lawsuits filed by consumers claiming violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) increased substantially in June. The increase was 16% over the same time last year. There was also a double digit increase from the prior month.

According to data from Web Recon, Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) cases and Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) cases also had a double digit increases from May to June.

There was a 64.9% increase in TCPA cases in June over the prior month. Though, surprisingly, TCPA volume is still down over last year, but by a much smaller margin than last month. The dramatic increase in June TCPA cases cut the YTD decline almost in half from 9.2% to 5.1%.

FCRA cases are up 22.7% over this time last year, and 2014 was a record year for FCRA case filings.

Web Recon highlights some interesting statistic in its monthly reports.

For instance:

• In June 2015, about 36% of all consumer litigation plaintiffs had sued at least once before.

• Also, in June about 817 different companies were sued.

• Potential class action cases of all types are approximately 11-14% of the total suits filed.