The New York Times published a phenomenal article on a disturbing debt collection trend: at a time when taxpayer-funded court systems are trying to do more with less, debt collection agencies are stressing the burdened justice system with sometimes frivolous lawsuits against consumers. Andrew Martin reports that Cohen & Slamowitz, for example, file around 80,000 lawsuits each year.

Martin crunches the numbers, and determines that the average number of lawsuits filed per Cohen & Slamowitz lawyer is 5,700 – an astronomical number that is only made possible by automating the process using computer software. The result is that numerous cases are filed on the basis of a law firm having only the consumers, name, address, and alleged amount owed.

Martin reports that this approach is problematic on a number of levels, in that the wrong person may be named in the suit, the amount owed may be incorrect, and the plaintiff in the lawsuit may not even legally own the debt. Unfortunately, in a large number of cases, the consumer isn’t represented by an attorney, or doesn’t appear in court to defend him or herself, and judges have no choice but to rule in favor of the debt buyer.

The article also discusses some states’ efforts to curb debt collection lawsuit abuses by forcing debt collection attorneys to provide further substantiation of the debt, and the pushback by the debt collection industry.