McClatchy reports, “Since the recession hit in 2007, federal lawsuits filed under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act have more than doubled, while complaints about problem collectors have skyrocketed.” Attorney Sergei Lemberg, whose “firm has filed about 1,500 such lawsuits in the past three years,” said, “I think debt collectors have become more aggressive by necessity because folks just have less money.” He added, “And consumers are more likely to think legal when they’re being cornered.” Jack Gordon, the president of WebRecon, “a website that tracks…filings for the collections industry,” said that “the spike in lawsuits” is linked to internet ads from plaintiffs’ lawyers. Gordon said that “costs are an even bigger driver in the lawsuit surge,” as it’s often “cheaper for collection agencies to settle rather than fight a case.”
From the American Association for Justice press release.