In an unpublished decision, the Ninth Circuit affirmed summary judgment in favor of a debt collector defendant, finding that the bona fide error defense applied to the debt collector’s efforts to collect a debt that may have been overstated.
September 2025 Consumer Litigation Filings: Mixed Bag
According to a recent report by WebRecon, court filings under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) rose by double digits while litigation under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) trended slightly down. Complaints filed with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) saw a modest increase.
New Jersey Appellate Division Upholds Dismissal in FDCPA Third-Party Letter Vendor Case
In a recent decision, the Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division, upheld the dismissal of a class action lawsuit filed against First National Collection Bureau, Inc. (FNCB). In an unpublished opinion, the court affirmed the lower court’s ruling that the plaintiff’s complaint failed to state a claim under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). This decision clarifies the scope of third-party communications under the FDCPA, particularly in the context of using third-party vendors for mailing collection letters.
Third Circuit Holds that the Continuing Violation Theory is Inapplicable to the FDCPA
In an unpublished case, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held that actions to obtain a judgment and enforce that judgment in a collection lawsuit filed outside the statute of limitations do not create a continuing violation under the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA).
August 2025 Consumer Litigation Filings: Everything Down for Month
According to a recent report by WebRecon, court filings under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), and complaints filed with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) were all down for the month of August. However, year over year, only FDCPA complaints have decreased, and not by much.
July 2025 Consumer Litigation Filings: Everything Up
According to a recent report by WebRecon, court filings under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), and complaints filed with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) were all up for the month of July. Year over year, only FDCPA complaints have decreased, and not by much.
Fourth Circuit Holds Filing a Time-Barred Collections Lawsuit Waives Right to Arbitrate
After a debt collector filed suit to collect an expired debt, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held that the debt collector could not later compel arbitration of the debtor’s class action because arbitration had been waived.
CFPB Will Not Reissue Medical Debt Advisory Opinion
On July 14, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) filed a status report announcing its decision not to reissue its Medical Debt Collection Advisory Opinion, which had been issued in 2024 to “remind debt collectors of their obligations to comply with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act [FDCPA] and Regulation F’s prohibition on false, deceptive, or misleading representations or means in connection with the collection of any medical debt and unfair or unconscionable means to collect or attempt to collect any medical debt.” The Advisory Opinion had been challenged in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by ACA International and Collection Bureau Services, Inc.
May 2025 Consumer Litigation Filings: Mostly Up
According to a recent report by WebRecon, court filings under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), and complaints filed with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) were all up for the month. Only Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) filings were down for May.
WebRecon reports the overall statistics for
Texas Federal District Court Grants Summary Judgment on FDCPA and TDCA Claims Over Texts and Calls to a Wrong Number
In a recent decision from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, the court granted summary judgment in favor of the defendants in a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and Texas Debt Collection Act (TDCA) case, finding three texts and three phone messages over eight weeks was not harassing and because the messages were clearly for another person, an unsophisticated consumer could not have thought defendants were attempting to collect a debt from the plaintiff.