WebRecon March 2026 Stats

Litigation Analysis

Quick analysis: Everything up but TCPA

In a complete reversal from February, TCPA (-3.1%) litigation ticked down in March, while FDCPA (+17.3%) and FCRA (+18.9%) both had strong increases. Year-to-date, everything was up though, with TCPA (+23.7%), FDCPA (+12.1%) and FCRA (+40.1%) all still tracking well ahead of the same time in 2025.CFPB complaints were also up for the month (+18.9%) and the year (+46.6%), continuing the rally in the CFPB complaint portal despite the agency pulling back from its strong enforcement of this sector.

In other news, putative class actions represented 6.8% of FDCPA, 77.7% of TCPA and 1.3% of FCRA lawsuits filed last month. TCPA class actions are still extraordinarily high, historically speaking. About 43% of all plaintiffs who filed suit last month had filed at least once before. And finally, South Florida attorney Gerald Lane (from The Law Offices of Jibrael S. Hindi) continued for a 14th straight month to represent both the most consumers in March (115) as well as YTD (267).

Complaint Statistics:

33397 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 1358 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Mar 01, 2026 to Mar 31, 2026.

• 33397 CFPB Complaints
• 413 FDCPA, 28 Class Action (6.8%)
• 283 TCPA, 220 Class Action (77.7%)
• 931 FCRA, 12 Class Action (1.3%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 1358 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 583, or (43%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 11421 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 164 different US District Court branches.
• About 807 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 94 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court - Atlanta
• 93 Lawsuits: California Central District Court - Western Division - Los Angeles
• 92 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court - Chicago
• 72 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court - Tampa
• 54 Lawsuits: California Central District Court - Southern Division - Santa Ana
• 42 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court - San Diego
• 34 Lawsuits: Florida Southern District Court - Miami
• 31 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court - Brooklyn
• 29 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court - Orlando
• 29 Lawsuits: New Jersey District Court - Newark

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 115 Consumers: GERALD DONALD LANE
• Representing 45 Consumers: ZANE CHARLES HEDAYA
• Representing 31 Consumers: MITCHELL DAVID HANSEN
• Representing 24 Consumers: JEFF LOHMAN
• Representing 22 Consumers: KYLE W SCHUMACHER
• Representing 17 Consumers: MARK A CAREY
• Representing 16 Consumers: OCTAVIO GOMEZ
• Representing 16 Consumers: ANTHONY I PARONICH
• Representing 15 Consumers: JONATHAN ALEXANDER HEEPS

Statistics Year to Date:
4001 total lawsuits for 2026, including:

• 1162 FDCPA
• 2546 FCRA
• 798 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2026: 3589 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 267 Consumers: GERALD DONALD LANE
• Representing 97 Consumers: MARK A CAREY
• Representing 79 Consumers: ZANE CHARLES HEDAYA
• Representing 56 Consumers: JEFF LOHMAN
• Representing 49 Consumers: MITCHELL DAVID HANSEN
• Representing 48 Consumers: JONATHAN ALEXANDER HEEPS
• Representing 46 Consumers: OCTAVIO GOMEZ
• Representing 40 Consumers: ESTHER NNEKA OISE
• Representing 40 Consumers: ANTHONY I PARONICH

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CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 33397 complaints filed against debt collectors from Mar 01, 2026 to Mar 31, 2026.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 1206

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 22044 I do not know (66%)
• 3692 Other debt (11%)
• 3527 Credit card debt (11%)
• 1236 Telecommunications debt (4%)
• 1139 Rental debt (3%)
• 730 Medical debt (2%)
• 536 Auto debt (2%)
• 302 Payday loan debt (1%)
• 72 Private student loan debt (0%)
• 71 Federal student loan debt (0%)
• 48 Mortgage debt (0%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 15903 Attempts to collect debt not owed (48%)
• 7932 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (24%)
• 4901 Written notification about debt (15%)
• 3301 False statements or representation (10%)
• 795 Communication tactics (2%)
• 366 Electronic communications (1%)
• 199 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (1%)

The top five subissues were:

• 9905 Debt is not yours (30%)
• 7438 Threatened or suggested your credit would be damaged (22%)
• 4804 Debt was result of identity theft (14%)
• 3268 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (10%)
• 3134 Attempted to collect wrong amount (9%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 6021 Complaints: TX
• 3469 Complaints: FL
• 2826 Complaints: GA
• 2624 Complaints: CA
• 1767 Complaints: SC
• 1401 Complaints: NC
• 1178 Complaints: PA
• 1098 Complaints: NY
• 1085 Complaints: IL
• 957 Complaints: AL

The status of the month’s complaints are as follows:

• 22053 Closed with explanation (66%)
• 6318 In progress (19%)
• 4168 Closed with non-monetary relief (12%)
• 826 Untimely response (2%)
• 32 Closed with monetary relief (0%)

This includes 32378 (97%) timely responses to complaints, and 1019 (3%) untimely responses.

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