Quick analysis: In December, FCRA led the way with a 12.8% increase over November, while TCPA (-6.7%) and FDCPA (-3%) were both down. The pattern holds for full year numbers as well, with FCRA (+3.5%) up and TCPA (-48.3%) & FDCPA (-4.4%) both down for the full year of 2021.
CFPB complaints against creditors and debt collectors slipped in December by -13.6%, but were up for the full year a pretty significant +30.4%.
In other news, putative class actions represented 18.2% of FDCPA, 38.1% of TCPA and 2.6% of FCRA lawsuits filed last month. About 39%(!) of all plaintiffs who filed suit last month had filed at least once before. And finally, New York attorney Craig B Sanders* took the top spot for representing the most consumers in December (20) while Georgia attorney Matthew Thomas Berry was the most active consumer attorney of the year with 298 consumers represented in all of 2021.
* Note, in the rankings below Steven Harry Meyer is listed as representing the most consumers in December, which is technically true, but he did it by packing a bunch of consumers plaintiffs into just two lawsuits. So we’re giving the actual award to Craig B Sanders.
| Current Month: | Previous Month: | Previous Year: |
Year to Date: | Year to Date Comp: |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 01, 2021 Dec 31, 2021 |
Nov 01, 2021 Nov 30, 2021 |
Dec 01, 2020 Dec 31, 2020 |
Jan 01, 2021 Dec 31, 2021 |
Jan 01, 2020 Dec 31, 2020 |
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| CFPB | 4929 | 5702 | -13.6% | 4648 | 6.0% | 70333 | 53939 | 30.4% | |
| FDCPA | 457 | 471 | -3.0% | 493 | -7.3% | 6582 | 6882 | -4.4% | |
| FCRA | 459 | 407 | 12.8% | 447 | 2.7% | 5406 | 5224 | 3.5% | |
| TCPA | 97 | 104 | -6.7% | 194 | -50.0% | 1708 | 3302 | -48.3% | |
Complaint Statistics:
4929 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 897 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Dec 01, 2021 to Dec 31, 2021.
- 4929 CFPB Complaints
- 457 FDCPA, 83 Class Action (18.2%)
- 97 TCPA, 37 Class Action (38.1%)
- 459 FCRA, 12 Class Action (2.6%)
Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):
- Of those cases, there were about 897 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
- Of those plaintiffs, about 348, or (39%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
- Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 3704 lawsuits since 2001
- Actions were filed in 139 different US District Court branches.
- About 560 different collection firms and creditors were sued.
The top courts where lawsuits were filed:
- 47 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
- 40 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
- 38 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
- 38 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
- 37 Lawsuits: Minnesota District Court – Dmn
- 34 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
- 33 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
- 27 Lawsuits: Florida Southern District Court – Fort Lauderdale
- 26 Lawsuits: New York Southern District Court – Foley Square
- 25 Lawsuits: Nevada District Court – Las Vegas
The most active consumer attorneys were:
- Representing 25 Consumers: STEVEN HARRY MEYER
- Representing 20 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
- Representing 19 Consumers: ALAIN CESAR
- Representing 17 Consumers: DAVID H KRIEGER
- Representing 16 Consumers: THOMAS JOHN PATTI
- Representing 16 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
- Representing 15 Consumers: MICHAEL FREDERICK CARDOZA
- Representing 14 Consumers: SHAWN WAYNE MILLER
- Representing 13 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
- Representing 12 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
Statistics Year to Date:
12231 total lawsuits for 2021, including:
- 6582 FDCPA
- 5406 FCRA
- 1708 TCPA
Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2021: 11075 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)
The most active consumer attorneys of the year:
- Representing 298 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
- Representing 248 Consumers: THOMAS JOHN PATTI
- Representing 205 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
- Representing 189 Consumers: JIBRAEL JARALLAH SAID HINDI
- Representing 189 Consumers: ALEJANDRO EMMANUEL FIGUEROA
- Representing 177 Consumers: DAVID M BARSHAY
- Representing 166 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
- Representing 166 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
- Representing 160 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
- Representing 148 Consumers: DAVID J PHILIPPS
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CFPB Complaint Statistics:
There were 4929 complaints filed against debt collectors from Dec 01, 2021 to Dec 31, 2021.
Total number of debt collectors complained about: 783
The types of debt behind the complaints were:
- 1261 Credit card debt (26%)
- 1245 Other debt (25%)
- 1198 I do not know (24%)
- 684 Medical debt (14%)
- 285 Auto debt (6%)
- 105 Payday loan debt (2%)
- 88 Mortgage debt (2%)
- 34 Federal student loan debt (1%)
- 29 Private student loan debt (1%)
Here is a breakdown of complaints:
- 2940 Attempts to collect debt not owed (60%)
- 923 Written notification about debt (19%)
- 422 False statements or representation (9%)
- 330 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (7%)
- 256 Communication tactics (5%)
- 58 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (1%)
The top five subissues were:
- 1263 Debt is not yours (26%)
- 1244 Debt was result of identity theft (25%)
- 685 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (14%)
- 377 Debt was paid (8%)
- 351 Attempted to collect wrong amount (7%)
The top states complaints were filed from are:
- 820 Complaints: TX
- 459 Complaints: CA
- 452 Complaints: FL
- 422 Complaints: GA
- 239 Complaints: NY
- 210 Complaints: IL
- 203 Complaints: PA
- 195 Complaints: OH
- 168 Complaints: NC
- 152 Complaints: NJ
The status of the month’s complaints are as follows:
- 3936 Closed with explanation (80%)
- 494 Closed with non-monetary relief (10%)
- 408 In progress (8%)
- 59 Untimely response (1%)
- 32 Closed with monetary relief (1%)
This includes 4792 (97%) timely responses to complaints, and 137 (3%) untimely responses.