Quick analysis: FDCPA & FCRA are down, TCPA is up. After several months of such trending, this appears to be the new normal. FDCPA is down 6% YTD from last year, FCRA is down 3% YTD, and TCPA is up a staggering 70% over YTD 2012. Note that TCPA is set to become even stricter starting October 16 (the date of this report), meaning that future months will reflect an even more fertile environment for consumer litigation. Our new projection for FDCPA litigation in 2013 is around 10,850 lawsuits, FCRA should have around 2300 lawsuits and TCPA will end up around 1775 lawsuits.
Full Statistics:
There were about 983 lawsuits filed under consumer statutes in September 2013. Here is an approximate breakdown:
- 800 FDCPA
- 207 FCRA
- 162 TCPA
Summary:
- Of those cases, there were about 1088 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
- Of those plaintiffs, about 418, or (38.4%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
- Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 2088 lawsuits since 2001
- Actions were filed in 141 different US District Court branches.
- About 841 different collection firms and creditors were sued.
The top courts where lawsuits were filed:
- 60 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
- 44 Lawsuits: Colorado District Court – Denver
- 37 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
- 37 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
- 35 Lawsuits: Indiana Southern District Court – Indianapolis
- 30 Lawsuits: Michigan Eastern District Court – Detroit
- 30 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
- 27 Lawsuits: Minnesota District Court – Dmn
- 26 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Los Angeles
- 24 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court – San Diego
The most active consumer attorneys were:
- Representing 43 Consumers: Jody Berke Burton
- Representing 28 Consumers: John Thomas Steinkamp
- Representing 28 Consumers: Michael Anthony Eades
- Representing 26 Consumers: David Michael Larson
- Representing 21 Consumers: Sergei Lemberg
- Representing 18 Consumers: Daniel A Edelman
- Representing 15 Consumers: Angie K Robertson
- Representing 15 Consumers: David J Philipps
- Representing 15 Consumers: Mary Elizabeth Philipps
- Representing 14 Consumers: David J Syrios
Statistics Year to Date:
9323 total lawsuits for 2013, including:
- 8131 FDCPA
- 1677 FCRA
- 1332 TCPA
Number of Unique Plaintiffs: 9934 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)
The most active consumer attorneys of the year:
- Representing 271 Consumers: Sergei Lemberg
- Representing 214 Consumers: David Michael Larson
- Representing 175 Consumers: Craig Thor Kimmel
- Representing 171 Consumers: Daniel A Edelman
- Representing 163 Consumers: David J Philipps
- Representing 143 Consumers: Gary D Nitzkin
- Representing 132 Consumers: Mary Elizabeth Philipps
- Representing 131 Consumers: Angie K Robertson
- Representing 126 Consumers: Cathleen M Combs
- Representing 123 Consumers: James O Latturner