FDCPA and Other Consumer Rights Lawsuit Statistics, September 1-15, 2009
There were about 424 lawsuits filed under consumer statutes in the first half of September (down a bit due to the Labor Day holiday). Here is an approximate breakdown:
- 346 Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
- 39 Fair Credit Reporting Act
- 2 Telephone Consumer Protection Act
- 14 Truth In Lending Act
- 1 Consumer Legal Remedies Act
- 1 Driver’s Privacy Protection Act
- 1 Electronic Fund Transfers Act
- 1 Employee Retirement Income Security Act
- 4 Federal Trade Commission Act
- 1 Home Affordable Modification Program
- 1 Home Affordable Refinance Program
- 1 Missouri Merchandising Practices Act
- 6 Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act
- 1 Securities Exchange Act
- 1 Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act
- 6 Unfair Business Practices
- 3 Unjust Enrichment
- 2 West Virginia Consumer Credit & Protection Act
- Of those cases, there were about 430 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
- Of those plaintiffs, about 82 had sued under consumer statutes before.
- Combined, those 82 plaintiffs have filed about 555 lawsuits since 2001
- Actions were filed in 101 different US District Court branches.
- About 446 different collection firms and creditors were sued.
The top courts where lawsuits were filed:
- 40 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
- 32 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Los Angeles
- 17 Lawsuits: Connecticut District Court – New Haven
- 16 Lawsuits: Minnesota District Court – DMN
- 14 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
- 13 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court – San Diego
- 13 Lawsuits: Florida Southern District Court – Fort Lauderdale
- 12 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
- 12 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
- 11 Lawsuits: New York Western District Court – Buffalo
The most active consumer attorneys were:
- Representing 18 Consumers: Donald A. Yarbrough
- Representing 18 Consumers: Sergei Lemberg
- Representing 17 Consumers: Michael S Agruss
- Representing 13 Consumers: Todd Michael Friedman
- Representing 13 Consumers: Daniel A. Edelman
- Representing 10 Consumers: Robert T. Healey, Jr.
- Representing 10 Consumers: James Marvin Feagle
- Representing 8 Consumers: Ryan Scott Lee
- Representing 8 Consumers: Nicholas J. Bontrager
- Representing 8 Consumers: George Thomas Martin, III
Statistics Year to Date:
6654 total lawsuits for 2009:
- 5488 FDCPA
- 875 FCRA
- 13 TCPA
Number of unique Plaintiffs: 6607 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)
The most active consumer attorneys of the year:
- Representing 343 Consumers: Ryan Scott Lee
- Representing 222 Consumers: Nicholas J. Bontrager
- Representing 176 Consumers: Kenneth R. Hiller
- Representing 169 Consumers: Todd Michael Friedman
- Representing 145 Consumers: Daniel A. Edelman