Filings and complaints decline from July, but FCRA and TCPA increases for the year reflect long-term trends.
9/24/2020 12:00
WebRecon CEO Jack Gordon said in his latest report “there’s a lot of red on August’s consumer complaint grid.” In other words, filings under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Telephone Consumer Protection Act and Fair Credit Reporting Act all declined since July.
“CFPB complaints and FDCPA, TCPA and FCRA complaints were all down from July; all but FCRA were all down from August 2019; and CFPB complaints and FDCPA complaints are both down [year-to-date],” Gordon said in the report. “FCRA and TCPA are still up for the year, continuing long-term trends.”
Looking at the Monthly Numbers
TCPA filings increased 4.7% from 236 in July to 225 in August, according to the report.
FDCPA cases declined 15.7% percent from 631 in July to 532 in August, and FCRA cases declined 4.1% from 436 in July to 418 in August.
Year-to-Date Filings
Gordon reports litigation filings mostly declined, with the exception of the FCRA, when comparing August 2019 to August 2020.
The FDCPA declined 16.6% from 638 filings in August 2019 to 532 in August 2020; the FCRA increased 0.7% from 415 in August 2019 to 418 in August 2020; and the TCPA declined 13.8% from 261 in August 2019 to 225 in August 2020.
Overall, there were 3,308 filings for the FCRA from Jan. 1 through Aug. 31, 2019, compared to 3,423 from Jan. 1 through Aug. 31, 2020, a 3.5.% increase, according to the report.
TCPA filings increased 9.1% comparing data from Jan. 1 through Aug. 31, 2019, to that same timeframe this year. There were 2,356 and 2,571 filings under the TCPA, respectively.
The 16.1% decrease in FDCPA filings comparing Jan. 1 through Aug. 31, 2019, to that time this year is 5,742 to 4,915, respectively.
Complaints to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau declined 3% from July to August this year. Year-to-date complaints declined by 7%. Timely responses from financial services companies continue to come in at strong rate: 97%.
Read more findings in the complete WebRecon report here.
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