FDCPA and TCPA Lawsuits Increase as FCRA Filings Fall in August

August produced mixed results, but filings under all three statutes and CFPB complaints continue to trend above last year’s numbers.

Consumer litigation activity produced mixed results in August, according to the latest WebRecon report.

Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) lawsuits increased 4%, and Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) lawsuits rose 11.9%, while Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) lawsuits declined 14.7%. Even with the month-to-month changes, filings under all three statutes remain higher year-to-date, with FCRA lawsuits up 42.4%, TCPA lawsuits up 20.2%, and FDCPA lawsuits up 10.2%.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) complaints also declined in August but are still 19.6% higher year-to-date.

“One trend for 2026 is becoming clear — everything is increasing in 2026 over 2025’s numbers,” said Jack Gordon, CEO of WebRecon.

Here is a breakdown of claims under receivable management industry laws, as well as CFPB complaints, for August 2026:

Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

FDCPA lawsuits increased 4% in August, with 365 filings compared with 351 in July. Year-to-date, FDCPA lawsuits have increased 10.2%, and are still higher than they were at this point last year.

Putative class actions accounted for 34 FDCPA lawsuits, or 9.3% of the month’s filings.

Telephone Consumer Protection Act

TCPA lawsuits increased 11.9% in August, with 198 filings compared with 177 in July. Year-to-date, TCPA lawsuits have increased by 20.2%.

Of the month’s TCPA filings, 143 were putative class actions, representing 72.2% of all TCPA lawsuits.

Fair Credit Reporting Act

FCRA lawsuits had the largest decline of the three major consumer protection statutes in August, falling 14.7% to 968 filings from 1,134 in July.

Despite the monthly decline, FCRA lawsuits have increased 42.4% year-to-date, continuing to show the strongest annual growth among the three statutes. Putative class actions accounted for 11 filings, or 1.1% of the month’s FCRA lawsuits.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

CFPB complaints decreased about 4.5% in August to 20,953 complaints, which is down from 21,936 in July. Even with the decline in August, CFPB complaints remain 19.6% higher year-to-date, with 227,907 complaints compared with 189,809 during the same period last year.

The types of debt behind the CFPB complaints were:

• 12,962 I do not know (62%)
• 2,715 Credit card debt (13%)
• 2,259 Other debt (11%)
• 907 Telecommunications debt (4%)
• 835 Rental debt (4%)
• 572 Medical debt (3%)
• 377 Auto debt (2%)
• 203 Payday loan debt (1%)
• 46 Private student loan debt (0%)
• 42 Mortgage debt (0%)
• 35 Federal student loan debt (0%)

Read the August 2026 WebRecon Report.