The number of consumer debt cases filed in state courts jumped to 146,000 in 2025, a more than 60% increase from two years ago, according to new data released by the Massachusetts Trial Court.
The data, released in a new publicly available dashboard, shows that more than three-quarters of these cases last year were filed by nine companies, most of them in the state’s small claims court.
The data shows an accelerating trend in Massachusetts small claims and civil courts that have long been swamped by debt buyers and credit card companies suing people for debts that range from hundreds to thousands of dollars.
Consumer law advocates told GBH News that the new data confirms that courts are increasingly serving as “an arm” of debt collectors.
“It’s troubling,” said Alexa Rosenbloom, director of the consumer protection clinic at the Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School. The number of cases are “back up with a vengeance, is what that seems to indicate.’’
April Kuehnhoff, senior attorney at the National Consumer Law Center, said the new data points to the urgent need for reform to defend people facing such debt collection lawsuits filed largely by big, out-of-state companies.
“It’s important to use that information to try to better work with individuals who are being sued, provide the resources, provide procedures that work,” Kuehnhoff said.
Small claims courts were created to provide a more user-friendly forum for people to solve minor disputes without the same high cost and delays of traditional courts.
“Small claims used to be, you know, ‘the people’s court,’ right? The idea that small claims was for people to resolve their issues without complicated processes,” Rosenbloom said. “All this data confirms that there’s been even more capture of the courts by these corporate entities.”
The court data shows top three filers in 2025 were LVNV Funding LLC, Midland Credit Management Inc. and Portfolio Recovery Associates LLC — all major debt buyers that together filed more than half of the state’s consumer debt cases.
Their pace of filing has skyrocketed: LVNV’s case filings jumped by more than 170% from 2023 to 2025. Midland Funding’s cases rose more than 70% in that timeframe.
Court filings typically show the amount owed, not the purchases made, but experts said that increasingly, the amounts owed are medical debt, ranging from co-pays to medical devices. Kuehnhoff said courts everywhere are increasingly seeing people putting “survival expenses” on their credit cards.
“We also see all sorts of basic necessities that are being charged to credit cards, and those can include things like groceries or getting your car fixed so that you can get to work,” Kuehnhoff said.
There are national efforts to help clear old medical bills, led by the nonprofit Undue Medical Debt. This week, that organization, along with partners, announced medical debt relief for nearly 30,000 residents in Eastern Massachusetts through a program that acquires the medical debt of low and middle income residents. The group said this effort will clear more than $42 million in medical debt.
The Massachusetts rise in debt cases aligns with what’s being seen in other states. Experts examining court data nationally saw a dip in cases during the pandemic and starting in 2024 have seen a sharp rebound in cases. They cite the end of pandemic relief, the lending practices of the largest creditors as major factors, and an aggressive push by major debt buyers and banks to file more cases.
The new dashboard also shows debt cases by zip code. This information, previously not available, can help reveal the demographics of those struggling with debt.
Harvard Law’s Rosenbloom said reports from other states have shown that there are large racial disparities in filings, and that people of color are significantly more impacted in these cases.
“We’ve always suspected that to be the case in Massachusetts, but we’ve never had the data to analyze whether that’s actually the case. This data will allow us to analyze that data,” Rosenbloom said.
In 2025, the total number of cases that end in default judgments — rulings in favor of the party suing — increased to 56%, the data shows.
Experts say this is largely due to defendants failing to show up to court. People don’t appear for many reasons: fear, lack of time due to work or child care, or they never receive a court notice in the mail. They also may not recognize the name of the company behind the debt or the debt buyers.
“The majority of the time, the decision-maker just sort of rubber stamps it, whatever the plaintiff’s asking for,” Rosenbloom said. “When the defendant hasn’t appeared, they will say, ‘You get that, you, creditor, automatically win whatever you’re asking for.’”
The data also shows that when defendants do show up in court most defend themselves without the help of a lawyer. While small claims courts were supposed to be a venue for people to represent themselves, those defending against debt claims face lawyers or experts representing the companies collecting debt.
In Massachusetts, judgment amounts in debt cases can grow quickly. The state allows 12% interest annually on judgments — the highest rate in the nation.
“As a result, these judgments that are entered just grow and grow and grow,” Rosenbloom said, “[and] make it very difficult for a debtor — a consumer — to ever pay off a judgment that they have entered against them.”
Efforts by the state legislature to significantly reduce that interest rate, as well as to protect a larger part of people’s wages from collection, have failed despite years of discussion.
The Debt Collection Fairness Act has been filed in some form every year since 2017 without success. It was passed by the Senate in July, and now awaits action by the House.
“All this data we have about these cases, I think is yet another reason why it’s important that we pass this legislation,” Rosenbloom said.
