Quick analysis: May was a light month all around for consumer complaints, with the notable exception of FCRA complaints which had a slight increase of 3.4%.
CFPB complaints (down 15.8%), FDCPA (down 15.4%) and surprisingly TCPA (down 8.3%) all showed declines compared to the prior month, though FCRA and TCPA litigation are both still up very significantly over this time last year (up 11% and 32.1%, respectively).
FDCPA litigation continues its gradual slide, down 19.3% over this time last year.
| Comparisons: | Current Period: | Previous Period: | Previous Year Comp: | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 01 – 31, 2014 | Apr 01 – 30, 2014 | May 01 – 31, 2013 | |||
| CFPB Complaints | 3188 | 3693 | -15.8% | – | – |
| FDCPA lawsuits | 774 | 893 | -15.4% | 812 | -4.9% |
| FCRA lawsuits | 206 | 199 | 3.4% | 153 | 25.7% |
| TCPA lawsuits | 216 | 234 | -8.3% | 132 | 38.9% |
| YTD CFPB Complaints | 17114 | – | – | ||
| YTD FDCPA lawsuits | 4058 | 4841 | -19.3% | ||
| YTD FCRA lawsuits | 1003 | 893 | 11.0% | ||
| YTD TCPA lawsuits | 1118 | 759 | 32.1% | ||
Litigation Statistics:
3188 consumers filed CFPB complaints against debt collectors and about 1122 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes in May 2014. Here is an approximate breakdown:
- 3188 CFPB Complaints
- 774 FDCPA
- 216 TCPA
- 206 FCRA
Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):
- Of those cases, there were about 1122 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
- Of those plaintiffs, about 386, or (34%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
- Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 2022 lawsuits since 2001
- Actions were filed in 156 different US District Court branches.
- About 1060 different collection firms and creditors were sued.
The top courts where lawsuits were filed:
- 59 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
- 54 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
- 46 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
- 46 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Los Angeles
- 40 Lawsuits: Colorado District Court – Denver
- 30 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
- 29 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court – San Diego
- 28 Lawsuits: Virginia Eastern District Court – Alexandria
- 27 Lawsuits: Indiana Southern District Court – Indianapolis
- 22 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
The most active consumer attorneys were:
- Representing 30 Consumers: SERGEI LEMBERG
- Representing 29 Consumers: ADAM JON FISHBEIN
- Representing 24 Consumers: THOMAS RAY BREEDEN
- Representing 17 Consumers: JOHN THOMAS STEINKAMP
- Representing 17 Consumers: DAVID MICHAEL LARSON
- Representing 15 Consumers: SHIREEN HORMOZDI
- Representing 15 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
- Representing 15 Consumers: JOSHUA B SWIGART
- Representing 15 Consumers: MICHAEL ANTHONY EADES
- Representing 14 Consumers: STUART A EISENBERG
Statistics Year to Date:
5293 total lawsuits for 2014, including:
- 4058 FDCPA
- 1003 FCRA
- 1118 TCPA
Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2014: 5360 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)
The most active consumer attorneys of the year:
- Representing 281 Consumers: SERGEI LEMBERG
- Representing 118 Consumers: DAVID MICHAEL LARSON
- Representing 92 Consumers: JOHN THOMAS STEINKAMP
- Representing 89 Consumers: MICHAEL ANTHONY EADES
- Representing 81 Consumers: ADAM JON FISHBEIN
- Representing 80 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
- Representing 66 Consumers: DAVID J PHILIPPS
- Representing 63 Consumers: ANGIE K ROBERTSON
- Representing 61 Consumers: JOSHUA B SWIGART
- Representing 60 Consumers: ERIKSON M DAVIS
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CFPB Complaint Statistics:
There were 3188 complaints filed against debt collectors in May 2014.
Total number of debt collectors complained about: 701
The types of debt behind the complaints were:
- 834 Other (phone, health club, etc.) (26%)
- 704 (22%)
- 648 Credit card (20%)
- 321 Medical (10%)
- 282 Payday loan (9%)
- 149 Mortgage (5%)
- 104 Auto (3%)
- 76 Federal student loan (2%)
- 70 Non-federal student loan (2%)
Here is a breakdown of complaints:
- 1234 Cont’d attempts collect debt not owed (39%)
- 632 Communication tactics (20%)
- 571 Disclosure verification of debt (18%)
- 285 Improper contact or sharing of info (9%)
- 234 False statements or representation (7%)
- 232 Taking/threatening an illegal action (7%)
The top five subissues were:
- 771 Debt is not mine (24%)
- 409 Not given enough info to verify debt (13%)
- 407 Frequent or repeated calls (13%)
- 334 Debt was paid (10%)
- 176 Attempted to collect wrong amount (6%)
The top states complaints were filed from are:
- 454 Complaints: CA
- 320 Complaints: TX
- 282 Complaints: FL
- 176 Complaints: NY
- 131 Complaints: GA
- 120 Complaints: PA
- 114 Complaints: IL
- 105 Complaints: OH
- 98 Complaints: NJ
- 93 Complaints: VA
The status of the month’s complaints are as follows:
- 2211 Closed with explanation (69%)
- 546 Closed with non-monetary relief (17%)
- 187 In progress (6%)
- 130 Closed (4%)
- 60 Untimely response (2%)
- 54 Closed with monetary relief (2%)
This includes 3032 (95%) timely responses to complaints, and 156 (5%) untimely responses
Of the company responses, consumers accepted 2659 (83%) of them, and disputed 529 (17%) of them
The top five days for complaints were:
- 179 Complaints: Wed, 05/07/2014
- 169 Complaints: Mon, 05/19/2014
- 168 Complaints: Wed, 05/14/2014
- 165 Complaints: Tue, 05/13/2014
- 158 Complaints: Tue, 05/06/2014