WebRecon September 2026 Stats

Mixed Month of September, Everything Still Up YTD

While the month of September was mostly down (FDCPA -1.9%, TCPA -3.5%, CFPB complaints -2.4%) with FCRA lawsuits the only ones up (+11.9), the overall trend remains - everything is still increasing in 2026 over 2025's numbers. YTD numbers show this in detail: TCPA (+13.4%), FCRA (+43.8%), FDCPA (+7.2%) and CFPB complaints (+14.2%).

Assuming this continues to hold, it will represent the second year in a row of substantive increases in FDCPA litigation after a solid decade of decreasing numbers.

In other news, putative class actions represented 9.5% of FDCPA, 68.6% of TCPA and 0.9% of FCRA lawsuits filed last month. About 37% of all plaintiffs who filed suit last month had filed at least once before. And finally, Dallas attorney Jonathan Heeps represented the most (48) consumers in September, while South Florida attorney Gerald Lane has represented the most (504) consumers YTD.

Complaint Statistics:

21410 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 1354 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Sep 01, 2026 to Sep 30, 2026.

• 21410 CFPB Complaints
• 357 FDCPA, 34 Class Action (9.5%)
• 191 TCPA, 131 Class Action (68.6%)
• 1083 FCRA, 10 Class Action (0.9%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 1354 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 497, or (37%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 11211 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 158 different US District Court branches.
• About 609 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 153 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court - Atlanta
• 84 Lawsuits: District Court For The Northern District Of Illinois
• 77 Lawsuits: California Central District Court - Western Division - Los Angeles
• 58 Lawsuits: California Central District Court - Southern Division - Santa Ana
• 50 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court - Tampa
• 47 Lawsuits: Michigan Eastern District Court - Detroit
• 46 Lawsuits: Texas Eastern District Court - Sherman
• 45 Lawsuits: Ohio Northern District Court - Cleveland
• 40 Lawsuits: Texas Southern District Court - Houston
• 37 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court - Orlando

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 48 Consumers: JONATHAN ALEXANDER HEEPS
• Representing 40 Consumers: KYLE W SCHUMACHER
• Representing 37 Consumers: ESTHER NNEKA OISE
• Representing 37 Consumers: KIANA N WITCHER
• Representing 37 Consumers: BLAKE R BAUER
• Representing 36 Consumers: SEID MUSIC
• Representing 34 Consumers: KURT A OKEEFE
• Representing 34 Consumers: JOEL S HALVORSEN
• Representing 31 Consumers: JEFF LOHMAN
• Representing 25 Consumers: VINIT ROY VENKATESH

Statistics Year to Date:
12362 total lawsuits for 2026, including:

• 3342 FDCPA
• 8329 FCRA
• 2096 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2026: 10595 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 504 Consumers: GERALD DONALD LANE
• Representing 256 Consumers: JONATHAN ALEXANDER HEEPS
• Representing 222 Consumers: ESTHER NNEKA OISE
• Representing 211 Consumers: KYLE W SCHUMACHER
• Representing 169 Consumers: JEFF LOHMAN
• Representing 161 Consumers: MARK A CAREY
• Representing 151 Consumers: BLAKE R BAUER
• Representing 150 Consumers: JOEL S HALVORSEN
• Representing 148 Consumers: SEID MUSIC

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CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 21410 complaints filed against debt collectors from Sep 01, 2026 to Sep 30, 2026.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 1212

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 13066 I do not know (61%)
• 2960 Credit card debt (14%)
• 2194 Other debt (10%)
• 930 Telecommunications debt (4%)
• 850 Rental debt (4%)
• 589 Medical debt (3%)
• 441 Auto debt (2%)
• 210 Payday loan debt (1%)
• 65 Private student loan debt (0%)
• 55 Federal student loan debt (0%)
• 50 Mortgage debt (0%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 11079 Attempts to collect debt not owed (52%)
• 3484 Written notification about debt (16%)
• 3263 False statements or representation (15%)
• 2347 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (11%)
• 653 Communication tactics (3%)
• 336 Electronic communications (2%)
• 248 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (1%)

The top five subissues were:

• 8029 Debt is not yours (38%)
• 3169 Attempted to collect wrong amount (15%)
• 2220 Debt was result of identity theft (10%)
• 1962 Threatened or suggested your credit would be damaged (9%)
• 1746 Didn't receive enough information to verify debt (8%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 3610 Complaints: TX
• 2216 Complaints: FL
• 1796 Complaints: GA
• 1382 Complaints: CA
• 910 Complaints: NC
• 790 Complaints: MS
• 772 Complaints: NY
• 766 Complaints: PA
• 680 Complaints: IL
• 652 Complaints: SC

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

• 10653 Closed with explanation (50%)
• 5770 In progress (27%)
• 4379 Closed with non-monetary relief (20%)
• 591 Untimely response (3%)
• 17 Closed with monetary relief (0%)

This includes 20814 (97%) timely responses to complaints, and 596 (3%) untimely responses.

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