The TCPA increase is limited to a few cases, while other consumer litigation filings and complaints appear level during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to latest WebRecon report.
5/26/2020 8:30
Consumer complaints and litigation filings reflect minimal impact from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the latest report from WebRecon LLC for April 2020, except for the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.
“Last month’s numbers are almost totally normal and average: CFPB complaints are up a bit, FDCPA complaints are down a hair, FCRA complaints are up a lot and TCPA complaints … well those require a bit of explanation,” WebRecon CEO Jack Gordon noted in the report.
TCPA filings did increase 160%, from 250 in March to 650 in April, but Gordon said it represents an increase in “the record number of plaintiffs represented, which is the metric we have used forever in these comparison grids. In terms of the number of unique filings, TCPA last month was a totally average 286.”
Gordon reports 364 of the 650 TCPA consumer plaintiffs were co-plaintiffs in five cases across the U.S.
Meanwhile, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act cases decreased 1.3% from 611 in March to 603 in April, and Fair Credit Reporting Act cases increased 12.7% from 408 to 460, according to the report.
Year-to-date litigation filings for the FCRA and TCPA increased.
There were 1,523 filings for the FCRA from Jan. 1 through April 30, 2019, compared to 1,772 from Jan. 1 through April 30, 2020, a 16.3% increase, according to the report.
TCPA filings show a 46.1 % increase comparing Jan. 1 through April 30, 2020 to that time this year. There were 1,167 and 1,705 filings under the TCPA, respectively.
Year-to-date FDCPA filings did decrease, however, by 14.8 % or from 2,930 to 2,495 according to the report.
Complaints to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau increased 7.4% from March 2020 to April 2020. Year-to-date complaints increased 8.4%. Timely responses from financial services companies continue to come in at strong rate, 97 %.