Consumer Debt Filings Kept Climbing in 2025
Consumer debt filings kept climbing in 2025 and are above historical averages in 7 out of 8 states.
David McClendon
When Real Debt Collection Lawsuits Look Like Scams: The Problem with Pocket Filing in Minnesota
Imagine opening your mailbox to find a letter from a debt collector claiming you owe $2,000 for an old credit card debt. The document looks official. There’s a summons, a complaint, legal language about judgments and garnishment. But something’s off. There’s no court case number. You do what any reasonable person would do: you try … Read more
43 states have online voter registration. Why not Texas?
Online voter registration in Texas would not favor one party over the other, and we analyzed the data to back it up.
Most people sued for debt never get their day in court. We can fix that.
When people get sued for debt, most can’t afford a lawyer. In many states, they also can’t simply show up to court to defend themselves. They have to file a formal written answer within tight deadlines, sometimes paying hundreds of dollars in filing fees to participate in their own case. Only then will the court … Read more
Could stronger wage garnishment protections mean fewer debt collection lawsuits?
Debt collection lawsuits are surging. After years of pandemic-era decline, case filings are climbing back toward pre-pandemic levels across the country. Our recent analysis found that courts in eight states saw dramatic increases in debt collection filings in 2024, with some jurisdictions reporting their highest volume in years. The New York Times covered these findings … Read more
Consumer Debt Cases Are Surging Again—and One Company Is Leading the Charge
Consumer debt lawsuits dropped sharply during the pandemic, but new data shows they are surging again in 2024 and 2025. Across the country, cases where businesses sue consumers over unpaid debts have increased significantly. In some places, filings have climbed well past pre-pandemic levels. This analysis examines the scope and drivers of this trend, drawing … Read more
How campaign donations affect indigent defense in Harris County
Yesterday, in honor of National Public Defense Day, January Advisors hosted a webinar about judicial campaign donations and how they affect the appointment of indigent defense counsel. Building on pre-pandemic work of Jay Jenkins and Georgetown Law, we partnered with the Texas Center for Justice and Equity to analyze whether campaign donations are associated with … Read more
Measuring racial disparities in consumer debt lawsuits
Here at January Advisors, we’ve been expanding our research on civil courts to include not just evictions but also debt collection lawsuits. Consumer debt lawsuits, as they are also known, are among the most common cases in civil courts, often involving unpaid medical bills, credit card defaults, and overdue utility bills. Yet, their impact extends … Read more
A scary new era for evictions in Harris County
As we approach the three-year anniversary of the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, we’re entering a scary new era for evictions in Harris County. Evictions aren’t just back to normal, they’re higher than ever before. At the beginning of the pandemic, there was a sharp drop in eviction filings. Across the country, eviction filings fell … Read more
Redrawing Houston’s Eviction Courts: Any Map is Better Than What We Have Now
Every Monday morning, Judge Israel Garcia, Jr., who serves as Harris County Justice of the Peace for Precinct 5, stares down a punishing docket of eviction, debt collection, and traffic cases for the week. His courtroom has a line out the door of parents and children, desperate to resolve a dispute with their landlord or … Read more