California

295,206

lawsuits from July 2022 to November 2023

98.3%

of defendants did not have legal representation

55.6%

of lawsuits resulted in default judgments

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Top Debt Collectors

July 2022 - March 2025

Out of 589 debt collectors in California, the top 10 (1.7%) are responsible for 172,618 (58.5%) of 295,206 lawsuits.

Cavalry SPV
23,912 lawsuits (8.1%)
Discover Bank
21,366 lawsuits (7.2%)
LVNV Funding LLC
20,801 lawsuits (7.0%)
Midland Credit Management
18,233 lawsuits (6.2%)
Capital One
17,293 lawsuits (5.9%)
TD Bank
15,264 lawsuits (5.2%)
Portfolio Recovery Associates LLC
14,983 lawsuits (5.1%)
Bank Of America
14,562 lawsuits (4.9%)
JP Morgan Chase
13,886 lawsuits (4.7%)
Citibank
12,318 lawsuits (4.2%)
Other
122,588 lawsuits (41.5%)

Debt Collection Lawsuits By Year

On average, April is the month with the most debt collection lawsuits filed, accounting for 9.8% of the filings for the year.

Geography of Debt Collection Lawsuits

July 2022 - March 2025

California is split into 58 counties. On the map you can see debt collection lawsuit statistics, shown as circles, and ACS statistics, shown as shaded backgrounds, for each county.

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Lawsuits Per 100 Adults

Lawsuits

Select American Community Survey (2023, 5 year estimate) statistic:

Overview of Debt Collection Lawsuits by County

July 2022 - March 2025

The table to the right shows data for the 21 counties in California. Use the search below to find a specific tract.

Last updated: March 2025

Location	Lawsuits	Default Judgments
Los Angeles County	104,807	41,478	View report ›	Jump to map
Orange County	27,595	2,901	View report ›	Jump to map
Riverside County	26,719	476	View report ›	Jump to map
San Diego County	26,387	581	View report ›	Jump to map
San Bernardino County	22,827	1,733	View report ›	Jump to map
Sacramento County	13,106	2,912	View report ›	Jump to map
Santa Clara County	10,292	1,591	View report ›	Jump to map
Fresno County	9,647	2,166	View report ›	Jump to map
Alameda County	8,513	31	View report ›	Jump to map
Kern County	8,263	1,181	View report ›	Jump to map
The top 10 counties by number of lawsuits are listed above. Click the table headers to change sorting metrics for the entire dataset. Use search to find a specific location.