Quick analysis: 2016 Year in Review: FDCPA 12% Down, FCRA Up 3.9% & TCPA Up 31.8%
2016 ended about as we expected, with:
- A significant loss of traction for FDCPA, down 12% from 2015 (though, notably, still higher than 2014)
- FCRA more or less treading water with a less-than-anticipated 3.9% growth rate from 2015, but maintaining last year’s huge growth spurt over 2014 and prior years
- Continued explosive growth for TCPA, finishing 31.8% ahead of 2015 and decisively overtaking the #2 spot from FCRA – even if it didn’t quite crack 5k this year (if I can make the safest-sounding prediction for 2017 this early, look for TCPA to surpass 5k filings this fall).
Putative class actions were all fairly robust in 2016, with 17.1% of all FDCPA suits being filed on behalf of a class, as well as 21.3% for TCPA and 9.7% for FCRA.
Todd Friedman in California was the most active consumer attorney of the year, representing 410 consumers.
A total of 14,401 consumers were plaintiffs in 15,860 separate filings for the year. Of those plaintiffs, about 4995 (or 35%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
CFPB complaints, as expected, overtook 2015’s numbers – but just barely at 1.4%. That is consistent with 2015’s small 2.1% increase over 2014. 2013 was an incomplete year (and the first year) so its numbers don’t say much.
Read on for all of the numbers!
| Comparisons: | Current Period: | Previous Period: | Previous Year Comp: | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 01, 2016 Dec 31, 2016 |
Nov 01, 2016 Nov 30, 2016 |
Dec 01, 2015 Dec 31, 2015 |
|||
| CFPB Complaints | 3433 | 3286 | 4.5% | 2903 | 18.3% |
| FDCPA lawsuits | 784 | 739 | 6.1% | 833 | -5.9% |
| FCRA lawsuits | 279 | 390 | -28.5% | 416 | -32.9% |
| TCPA lawsuits | 362 | 330 | 9.7% | 300 | 20.7% |
| YTD CFPB Complaints | 40735 | 40183 | 1.4% | ||
| YTD FDCPA lawsuits | 10402 | 11816 | -12.0% | ||
| YTD FCRA lawsuits | 3960 | 3811 | 3.9% | ||
| YTD TCPA lawsuits | 4860 | 3687 | 31.8% | ||
Complaint Statistics:
3433 consumers filed CFPB complaints against debt collectors and about 1191 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Dec 01, 2016 to Dec 31, 2016. Here is an approximate breakdown:
- 3433 CFPB Complaints
- 784 FDCPA, 120 Class Action (15.3%)
- 362 TCPA, 64 Class Action (17.7%)
- 279 FCRA, 38 Class Action (13.6%)
Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):
- Of those cases, there were about 1191 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
- Of those plaintiffs, about 452, or (38%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
- Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 1795 lawsuits since 2001
- Actions were filed in 150 different US District Court branches.
- About 789 different collection firms and creditors were sued.
The top courts where lawsuits were filed:
- 82 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
- 62 Lawsuits: Nevada District Court – Las Vegas
- 51 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Los Angeles
- 49 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
- 48 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
- 44 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Central Islip
- 40 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
- 35 Lawsuits: Florida Southern District Court – Fort Lauderdale
- 33 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court – San Diego
- 33 Lawsuits: Minnesota District Court – Dmn
The most active consumer attorneys were:
- Representing 49 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
- Representing 45 Consumers: AHMAD TAYSEER SULAIMAN
- Representing 37 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
- Representing 36 Consumers: DAVID H KRIEGER
- Representing 33 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
- Representing 31 Consumers: MOHAMMED OMAR BADWAN
- Representing 21 Consumers: MICHAEL KIND
- Representing 21 Consumers: PAUL JONATHAN SIEG
- Representing 21 Consumers: SERGEI LEMBERG
- Representing 20 Consumers: HERBERT LO
Statistics Year to Date:
15860 total lawsuits for 2016, including:
- 10402 FDCPA
- 3960 FCRA
- 4860 TCPA
Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2016: 14401 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)
The most active consumer attorneys of the year:
- Representing 410 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
- Representing 403 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
- Representing 323 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
- Representing 315 Consumers: ELLIOT WAYNE GALE
- Representing 307 Consumers: DAVID H KRIEGER
- Representing 289 Consumers: PAUL JONATHAN SIEG
- Representing 285 Consumers: AHMAD TAYSEER SULAIMAN
- Representing 269 Consumers: MOHAMMED OMAR BADWAN
- Representing 262 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
- Representing 258 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
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CFPB Complaint Statistics:
There were 3433 complaints filed against debt collectors from Dec 01, 2016 to Dec 31, 2016.
Total number of debt collectors complained about: 746
The types of debt behind the complaints were:
- 1231 Other (i.e. phone, health club, etc.) (36%)
- 698 Medical (20%)
- 580 I do not know (17%)
- 514 Credit card (15%)
- 125 Payday loan (4%)
- 93 Auto (3%)
- 93 Mortgage (3%)
- 50 Non-federal student loan (1%)
- 49 Federal student loan (1%)
Here is a breakdown of complaints:
- 1520 Contd attempts collect debt not owed (44%)
- 1007 Disclosure verification of debt (29%)
- 370 Communication tactics (11%)
- 195 False statements or representation (6%)
- 190 Improper contact or sharing of info (6%)
- 151 Taking/threatening an illegal action (4%)
The top five subissues were:
- 898 Debt is not mine (26%)
- 747 Not given enough info to verify debt (22%)
- 362 Debt was paid (11%)
- 222 Frequent or repeated calls (6%)
- 215 Right to dispute notice not received (6%)
The top states complaints were filed from are:
- 424 Complaints: CA
- 412 Complaints: FL
- 367 Complaints: TX
- 225 Complaints: GA
- 172 Complaints: NY
- 141 Complaints: NC
- 118 Complaints: OH
- 109 Complaints: VA
- 106 Complaints: IL
- 102 Complaints: NJ
The status of the month’s complaints are as follows:
- 3433 (100%)
This includes 3173 (92%) timely responses to complaints, and 260 (8%) untimely responses.
Of the company responses, consumers accepted 0 (%) of them, disputed 528 (15%) of them, and 2905 (85%) were N\A.
The top five days for complaints were:
- 257 Complaints: Fri, 12/16/2016
- 189 Complaints: Mon, 12/19/2016
- 181 Complaints: Mon, 12/12/2016
- 175 Complaints: Wed, 12/07/2016
- 168 Complaints: Wed, 12/21/2016