Blog/ Litigation Stats

Quick analysis: A Stunning Fall…

And we ain’t talking about the coming autumn. FDCPA, FCRA and TCPA litigation all tumbled in July, after two of the three fell in June as well. May was the last robust month for consumer litigation.

How much did the numbers fall? All three statutes were down between 20% and 40% over the previous month. In fact, we had to go all the way back to January 2015 to find the last time numbers were this low across the board.

After two straight months of slippage (with the exception of a slight increase in FCRA June over May), FDCPA is down more than 5% YTD, and TCPA down 2.6% YTD. Only FCRA posted a slight gain, up 6/10 of a point from 6.2% to 6.8% YTD.

NEW: We are excited to add BBB tracking to our monthly stats. BBB complaints against debt collectors and creditors rose quite a bit over the last month (+11.4%), but are only slightly up YTD from last year (+.9%).

CFPB complaints are continuing their 2017 rally, up 12.4% over last month and a whopping 26.9% over this time last year.

Back to litigation…

Putative class actions remain relatively stable with 21.5% of FDCPA, 15.6% of TCPA and 9.6% of FCRA lawsuits filed that way.

About 33% of all plaintiffs who filed suit last month had filed at least once before.

And finally, The Sulaiman Law Group overtakes our list of the most active consumer attorneys this month with a total of four entrants – Ahmad Sulaiman (40), Mohammed Badwan (34), Taxiarchis Hatzidimitriadis (28) and Nathan Volheim (28). New York attorney Craig B Sanders keeps the crown for representing the most consumers year-to-date (333).

Complaint Statistics:

1141 consumers filed BBB complaints, 4144 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 1095 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Jul 01, 2017 to Jul 31, 2017.

• 1141 BBB Complaints
• 4144 CFPB Complaints
• 679 FDCPA, 146 Class Action (21.5%)
• 276 TCPA, 43 Class Action (15.6%)
• 302 FCRA, 29 Class Action (9.6%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for BBB and CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 1095 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 362, or (33%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 2155 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 138 different US District Court branches.
• About 657 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 92 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 65 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 59 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 45 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 43 Lawsuits: Nevada District Court – Las Vegas
• 41 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Central Islip
• 38 Lawsuits: Indiana Southern District Court – Indianapolis
• 32 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 30 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court – San Diego
• 29 Lawsuits: California Northern District Court – San Jose

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 40 Consumers: AHMAD TAYSEER SULAIMAN
• Representing 34 Consumers: MOHAMMED OMAR BADWAN
• Representing 31 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 30 Consumers: DAVID H KRIEGER
• Representing 28 Consumers: TAXIARCHIS HATZIDIMITRIADIS
• Representing 28 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 27 Consumers: ELLIOT WAYNE GALE
• Representing 22 Consumers: JOHN D BLYTHIN
• Representing 21 Consumers: SCOTT JOSEPH SAGARIA
• Representing 21 Consumers: SCOTT MATTHEW JOHNSON

Statistics Year to Date:
9217 total lawsuits for 2017, including:

• 5936 FDCPA
• 2419 FCRA
• 2792 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2017: 8858 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 333 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
• Representing 288 Consumers: AHMAD TAYSEER SULAIMAN
• Representing 247 Consumers: MOHAMMED OMAR BADWAN
• Representing 232 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 225 Consumers: DAVID H KRIEGER
• Representing 220 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 218 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 184 Consumers: TAXIARCHIS HATZIDIMITRIADIS
• Representing 145 Consumers: PAUL JONATHAN SIEG
• Representing 144 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON

——————————————————————————————————-
BBB Complaint Statistics:

There were a total of 1141 BBB complaints against debt collectors and creditors from Jul 01, 2017 to Jul 31, 2017. That is up 11.4% from last month.

The categories of complaints filed were:

• 775 Billing/Collection Issues (68%)
• 343 Problems with Product/Service (30%)
• 18 Advertising/Sales Issues (2%)
• 3 Guarantee/Warranty Issues (0%)
• 2 Delivery Issues (0%)

The dispositions of these complaints are:

• 835 The Business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer did not accept the response, OR BBB has not heard back from the consumer as to their satisfaction. (73%)
• 222 The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction. (19%)
• 69 The business failed to respond to the dispute. (6%)
• 9 BBB is unable to locate the business. (1%)
• 6 The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it. (1%)

——————————————————————————————————-
CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 4144 complaints filed against debt collectors from Jul 01, 2017 to Jul 31, 2017.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 832

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 1528 Other debt (37%)
• 717 I do not know (17%)
• 714 Credit card debt (17%)
• 664 Medical debt (16%)
• 144 Auto debt (3%)
• 131 Mortgage debt (3%)
• 113 Payday loan debt (3%)
• 72 Federal student loan debt (2%)
• 61 Private student loan debt (1%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 1633 Attempts to collect debt not owed (39%)
• 1214 Written notification about debt (29%)
• 402 False statements or representation (10%)
• 387 Communication tactics (9%)
• 373 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (9%)
• 135 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (3%)

The top five subissues were:

• 974 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (24%)
• 948 Debt is not yours (23%)
• 358 Debt was paid (9%)
• 330 Attempted to collect wrong amount (8%)
• 235 Debt was result of identity theft (6%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 532 Complaints: CA
• 524 Complaints:
• 437 Complaints: FL
• 408 Complaints: TX
• 216 Complaints: GA
• 180 Complaints: NY
• 140 Complaints: NC
• 127 Complaints: OH
• 96 Complaints: TN
• 94 Complaints: PA

The status of the month’s complaints are as follows:

• 3330 Closed with explanation (80%)
• 344 Closed with non-monetary relief (8%)
• 302 In progress (7%)
• 134 Untimely response (3%)
• 34 Closed with monetary relief (1%)

This includes 3936 (95%) timely responses to complaints, and 208 (5%) untimely responses.

Quick analysis: WebRecon Stats for June 2017: Mostly Downward Movement, But Not Really…

Quick analysis: After a very robust May, June tells a different story with CFPB complaints down 26.1%, FDCPA complaints down 7.8%, TCPA complaints down 11.3% and FCRA complaints up 2.4%.

But… CFPB complaints are still up 21.7% year-to-date (YTD), TCPA complaints are still up 3.8% YTD and FCRA complaints are up 6.2% YTD. Only FDCPA suits are down at 3% YTD.

“Moral of the story… there is very little comprehensible pattern to be discerned, beyond the fact that the overarching pattern seems to be pretty steady in spite of the monthly ups and downs” said WebRecon CEO Jack Gordon.

Here are some raw numbers for the first six months of 2017: 7865 unique consumer plaintiffs filed 5230 FDCPA, 2494 TCPA and 2115 FCRA lawsuit actions against debt collectors and creditors.

Putative class actions were relatively stable last month with 19.1% of FDCPA, 12.0% of TCPA and 11.9% of FCRA lawsuits filed that way.

About 32% of all plaintiffs who filed suit last month had filed at least once before.

And finally, Florida attorney Christopher W Boss took the crown for representing the most consumer plaintiffs (74) in June (all in ONE lawsuit!), and New York attorney Craig B Sanders keeps the crown for representing the most consumers year-to-date (314).

Complaint Statistics:

3033 consumers filed CFPB complaints against debt collectors and about 1477 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Jun 01, 2017 to Jun 30, 2017. Here is an approximate breakdown:

• 3033 CFPB Complaints
• 894 FDCPA, 171 Class Action (19.1%)
• 449 TCPA, 54 Class Action (12.0%)
• 386 FCRA, 46 Class Action (11.9%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 1477 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 472, or (32%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 2104 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 178 different US District Court branches.
• About 826 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 118 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 80 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Central Islip
• 66 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 63 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 53 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 42 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
• 42 Lawsuits: Nevada District Court – Las Vegas
• 41 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court – San Diego
• 27 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 25 Lawsuits: Florida Southern District Court – Fort Lauderdale

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 74 Consumers: CHRISTOPHER W BOSS
• Representing 57 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
• Representing 47 Consumers: AHMAD TAYSEER SULAIMAN
• Representing 46 Consumers: MOHAMMED OMAR BADWAN
• Representing 42 Consumers: WILLIAM CRAFT HUGHES
• Representing 32 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 30 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 29 Consumers: TAXIARCHIS HATZIDIMITRIADIS
• Representing 25 Consumers: MICHAEL JACOB WOOD
• Representing 25 Consumers: CELETHA CHATMAN

Statistics Year to Date:
8139 total lawsuits for 2017, including:

• 5257 FDCPA
• 2117 FCRA
• 2515 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2017: 7893 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 314 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
• Representing 248 Consumers: AHMAD TAYSEER SULAIMAN
• Representing 213 Consumers: MOHAMMED OMAR BADWAN
• Representing 203 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 201 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 195 Consumers: DAVID H KRIEGER
• Representing 190 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 156 Consumers: TAXIARCHIS HATZIDIMITRIADIS
• Representing 136 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
• Representing 124 Consumers: PAUL JONATHAN SIEG

——————————————————————————————————-
CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 3033 complaints filed against debt collectors from Jun 01, 2017 to Jun 30, 2017.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 739

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 919 Other debt (30%)
• 584 Credit card debt (19%)
• 568 Medical debt (19%)
• 557 I do not know (18%)
• 108 Mortgage debt (4%)
• 107 Payday loan debt (4%)
• 85 Auto debt (3%)
• 60 Private student loan debt (2%)
• 45 Federal student loan debt (1%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 1305 Attempts to collect debt not owed (43%)
• 708 Written notification about debt (23%)
• 348 Communication tactics (11%)
• 325 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (11%)
• 271 False statements or representation (9%)
• 76 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (3%)

The top five subissues were:

• 680 Debt is not yours (22%)
• 505 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (17%)
• 364 Debt was paid (12%)
• 224 Attempted to collect wrong amount (7%)
• 171 Debt was result of identity theft (6%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 389 Complaints: TX
• 352 Complaints: CA
• 307 Complaints: FL
• 217 Complaints: GA
• 159 Complaints: NY
• 145 Complaints:
• 109 Complaints: NJ
• 92 Complaints: IL
• 87 Complaints: PA
• 84 Complaints: NC

The status of the month’s complaints are as follows:

• 3033 (100%)

This includes 2884 (95%) timely responses to complaints, and 149 (5%) untimely responses.

Of the company responses, consumers accepted (%) of them, disputed (%) of them, and (%) were N\A.

The top five days for complaints were:

• 181 Complaints: Tue, 06/06/2017
• 180 Complaints: Fri, 06/09/2017
• 162 Complaints: Tue, 06/20/2017
• 159 Complaints: Thu, 06/01/2017
• 148 Complaints: Wed, 06/14/2017

Quick analysis: Lawsuit Complaints Surge in May

After a month of stunning declines (in April) across the board in consumer litigation, the numbers came roaring back with equally stunning increases in May. The end result? Everything is pretty much back on track, in line with last year and years prior.

FDCPA had the weakest comeback, with only (!) a 20.7% increase over April. FCRA was next with a 41.7% increase, and TCPA led with a 43.5% increase.

Year-to-date, FDCPA is the only one still down a bit from this time last year, trailing 2016 by 2.3%. TCPA is up slightly, with a 1.5% YTD increase and FCRA is stealing the show so far with a 9.7% YTD increase.

After the last few years of TCPA being the most aggressive growth property, maybe the consumer bar is ready to really test new consumer reporting theories.

In contrast to consumer litigation May saw a slight dip in CFPB complaints over April, down 3.7% from last month. That is the second monthly decline in a row, though April’s decline over March was much larger at 12.7%. Even so, these two monthly declines did nothing to stem the YTD complaint explosion so far. The total complaints have increased to 26.9% over this same time last year.

Back to litigation, putative class actions were uneven last month with 24.1% of FDCPA, 13.5% of TCPA and 10.3% of FCRA lawsuits filed that way.

About 34% of all plaintiffs who filed suit last month had filed at least once before.

And finally, New York attorney Craig B Sanders keeps the crown another month for representing the most consumer plaintiffs (83) in May, and also for representing the most consumers year-to-date (257).

Complaint Statistics:

4012 consumers filed CFPB complaints against debt collectors and about 1561 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from May 01, 2017 to May 31, 2017. Here is an approximate breakdown:

• 4012 CFPB Complaints
• 967 FDCPA, 233 Class Action (24.1%)
• 505 TCPA, 68 Class Action (13.5%)
• 377 FCRA, 39 Class Action (10.3%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 1561 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 527, or (34%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 2186 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 163 different US District Court branches.
• About 901 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 145 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 93 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 93 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Central Islip
• 67 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 60 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 49 Lawsuits: Nevada District Court – Las Vegas
• 40 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 38 Lawsuits: New Jersey District Court – Newark
• 34 Lawsuits: Texas Northern District Court – Dallas
• 33 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court – San Diego

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 83 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
• Representing 46 Consumers: AHMAD TAYSEER SULAIMAN
• Representing 41 Consumers: MOHAMMED OMAR BADWAN
• Representing 38 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 33 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 32 Consumers: DAVID H KRIEGER
• Representing 32 Consumers: WILLIAM PEERCE HOWARD
• Representing 31 Consumers: TAXIARCHIS HATZIDIMITRIADIS
• Representing 27 Consumers: SEYED ABBAS KAZEROUNIAN
• Representing 26 Consumers: PAUL JONATHAN SIEG

Statistics Year to Date:
6799 total lawsuits for 2017, including:

• 4360 FDCPA
• 1731 FCRA
• 2065 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2017: 6578 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 257 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
• Representing 200 Consumers: AHMAD TAYSEER SULAIMAN
• Representing 189 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 171 Consumers: DAVID H KRIEGER
• Representing 171 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 166 Consumers: MOHAMMED OMAR BADWAN
• Representing 157 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 127 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
• Representing 126 Consumers: TAXIARCHIS HATZIDIMITRIADIS
• Representing 102 Consumers: PAUL JONATHAN SIEG

——————————————————————————————————-
CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 4012 complaints filed against debt collectors from May 01, 2017 to May 31, 2017.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 832

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 1216 Other debt (30%)
• 775 I do not know (19%)
• 759 Credit card debt (19%)
• 714 Medical debt (18%)
• 152 Payday loan debt (4%)
• 127 Mortgage debt (3%)
• 125 Auto debt (3%)
• 77 Federal student loan debt (2%)
• 67 Private student loan debt (2%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 1663 Attempts to collect debt not owed (41%)
• 964 Written notification about debt (24%)
• 460 Communication tactics (11%)
• 420 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (10%)
• 383 False statements or representation (10%)
• 122 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (3%)

The top five subissues were:

• 899 Debt is not yours (22%)
• 654 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (16%)
• 435 Debt was paid (11%)
• 313 Attempted to collect wrong amount (8%)
• 284 Didnt receive notice of right to dispute (7%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 467 Complaints: TX
• 426 Complaints: CA
• 390 Complaints: FL
• 293 Complaints: GA
• 237 Complaints: NY
• 187 Complaints:
• 129 Complaints: NC
• 122 Complaints: IL
• 111 Complaints: OH
• 103 Complaints: NJ

The status of the month’s complaints are as follows:

• 4012 (100%)

This includes 3815 (95%) timely responses to complaints, and 197 (5%) untimely responses.

Of the company responses, consumers accepted (%) of them, disputed (%) of them, and (%) were N\A.

The top five days for complaints were:

• 208 Complaints: Tue, 05/16/2017
• 205 Complaints: Tue, 05/09/2017
• 203 Complaints: Wed, 05/03/2017
• 203 Complaints: Wed, 05/10/2017
• 185 Complaints: Tue, 05/02/2017

Quick analysis: A Pre-Summer Dip?

April consumer litigation took a bit of a dive in April 2017. The last time the big three statutes (FDCPA, TCPA, FCRA) collectively were lower was all the way back in Jan 2016, though the numbers we saw in Dec 2016 comes close.

Compared to last month (March 2017), all three statutes were down by double digits – FDCPA by 14.9%, TCPA by 18.1% and FCRA by a whopping 34.5%. All three were also down by double digits compared to April last year, FDCPA by 19.4%, TCPA by 20.4% and FCRA by 26.1%.

Of the three statutes, the only uptick to be found anywhere is in YTD numbers for FCRA, which is maintaining a 6.5% lift over same period in 2016. FDCPA is down YTD by 6.1% and TCPA (!) is down 6.8%

Even CFPB complaints, which have been on a tear recently with 26.9% growth at the end of March over the previous year, slowed down in April with a 12.7% decrease over the previous month. CFPB complaints for the year are still up over 2015 by 22.4%.

Back to litigation, putative class actions are all robust with 20.6% of FDCPA, 21.9% of TCPA and 18% of FCRA lawsuits filed that way.

About 33% of all plaintiffs who filed suit last month had filed at least once before.

And finally, New York attorney Craig B Sanders takes the crown for representing the most consumer plaintiffs (61) in April, and also for representing the most consumers year-to-date (174).

Complaint Statistics:

4027 consumers filed CFPB complaints against debt collectors and about 1199 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Apr 01, 2017 to Apr 30, 2017. Here is an approximate breakdown:

• 4027 CFPB Complaints
• 801 FDCPA, 165 Class Action (20.6%)
• 352 TCPA, 77 Class Action (21.9%)
• 266 FCRA, 48 Class Action (18.0%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 1199 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 401, or (33%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 5440 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 157 different US District Court branches.
• About 780 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 83 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 66 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Central Islip
• 60 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 54 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 45 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 39 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Los Angeles
• 36 Lawsuits: Nevada District Court – Las Vegas
• 30 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court – San Diego
• 30 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 30 Lawsuits: Missouri Eastern District Court – St. Louis – Eastern Division

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 61 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
• Representing 34 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 31 Consumers: AHMAD TAYSEER SULAIMAN
• Representing 29 Consumers: TAXIARCHIS HATZIDIMITRIADIS
• Representing 29 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 28 Consumers: DAVID H KRIEGER
• Representing 26 Consumers: MOHAMMED OMAR BADWAN
• Representing 22 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
• Representing 22 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 20 Consumers: MICHAEL JAMES PASCUCCI

Statistics Year to Date:
5271 total lawsuits for 2017, including:

• 3392 FDCPA
• 1353 FCRA
• 1560 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2017: 5167 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 174 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
• Representing 171 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 154 Consumers: AHMAD TAYSEER SULAIMAN
• Representing 139 Consumers: DAVID H KRIEGER
• Representing 133 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 125 Consumers: MOHAMMED OMAR BADWAN
• Representing 124 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 115 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
• Representing 95 Consumers: TAXIARCHIS HATZIDIMITRIADIS
• Representing 91 Consumers: JOHN D BLYTHIN

——————————————————————————————————-
CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 4027 complaints filed against debt collectors from Apr 01, 2017 to Apr 30, 2017.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 860

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 1069 Other (i.e. phone, health club, etc.) (27%)
• 717 I do not know (18%)
• 626 Medical (16%)
• 502 Credit card (12%)
• 283 Other debt (7%)
• 189 Medical debt (5%)
• 166 Credit card debt (4%)
• 122 Payday loan (3%)
• 88 Auto (2%)
• 58 Mortgage (1%)
• 44 Non-federal student loan (1%)
• 39 Payday loan debt (1%)
• 32 Federal student loan (1%)
• 27 Federal student loan debt (1%)
• 25 Mortgage debt (1%)
• 25 Auto debt (1%)
• 15 Private student loan debt (%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 1315 Contd attempts collect debt not owed (33%)
• 939 Disclosure verification of debt (23%)
• 425 Communication tactics (11%)
• 390 Attempts to collect debt not owed (10%)
• 346 False statements or representation (9%)
• 195 Written notification about debt (5%)
• 171 Improper contact or sharing of info (4%)
• 127 Taking/threatening an illegal action (3%)
• 96 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (2%)
• 23 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (1%)

The top five subissues were:

• 789 Debt is not mine (20%)
• 714 Not given enough info to verify debt (18%)
• 446 Debt was paid (11%)
• 296 Attempted to collect wrong amount (7%)
• 215 Debt is not yours (5%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 649 Complaints: TX
• 471 Complaints: CA
• 380 Complaints: FL
• 275 Complaints: GA
• 176 Complaints: NY
• 142 Complaints: OH
• 141 Complaints: IL
• 122 Complaints: NC
• 103 Complaints: PA
• 101 Complaints: MD

The status of the month’s complaints are as follows:

• 4027 (100%)

This includes 3797 (94%) timely responses to complaints, and 230 (6%) untimely responses.

Of the company responses, consumers accepted 2818 (91%) of them, disputed 271 (9%) of them, and 7 (%) were N\A.

The top five days for complaints were:

• 237 Complaints: Wed, 04/05/2017
• 220 Complaints: Thu, 04/20/2017
• 212 Complaints: Tue, 04/04/2017
• 211 Complaints: Wed, 04/26/2017
• 207 Complaints: Tue, 04/18/2017

Quick analysis: What’s up with CFPB Complaints?

March was a robust month in consumer complaints, with FDCPA, TCPA and FCRA all easily exceeding February and keeping us within a percent or two of last year’s numbers – with the exception of this year’s second breakout month for FCRA (there have only been three months so far!) setting it more than 50% ahead of last month and almost 20% ahead of where we were last year.

The real story, however, seems to be in March’s CFPB complaint numbers. With over 4500 complaints filed against debt collectors and credit reporting agencies, we are 14.1% ahead of Feb and 25.3% ahead of where we were at this time last year. With the threat of severe CFPB reform on the horizon, are people starting to worry that they may lose their opportunity to have their voices heard?

Back to litigation, putative class actions are about normal with 15.8% of FDCPA, 20.9% of TCPA and only 8.9% of FCRA lawsuits filed that way.

About 34% of all plaintiffs who filed in February had filed at least once before.

And finally, Atlanta attorney Matthew Thomas Berry takes the crown for representing the most consumer plaintiffs (49) in March, while Los Angeles attorney Todd M. Friedman retains the crown for representing the most consumers year-to-date (137).

Complaint Statistics:

4544 consumers filed CFPB complaints against debt collectors and about 1509 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Mar 01, 2017 to Mar 31, 2017. Here is an approximate breakdown:

• 4544 CFPB Complaints
• 941 FDCPA, 149 Class Action (15.8%)
• 430 TCPA, 90 Class Action (20.9%)
• 406 FCRA, 36 Class Action (8.9%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 1509 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 510, or (34%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 3353 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 160 different US District Court branches.
• About 974 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 102 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 75 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 71 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 62 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Los Angeles
• 56 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 55 Lawsuits: Nevada District Court – Las Vegas
• 48 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 46 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Central Islip
• 42 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court – San Diego
• 35 Lawsuits: Wisconsin Eastern District Court – Milwaukee

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 49 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 42 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
• Representing 42 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 40 Consumers: AHMAD TAYSEER SULAIMAN
• Representing 34 Consumers: AMY LYNN BENNECOFF GINSBURG
• Representing 34 Consumers: MOHAMMED OMAR BADWAN
• Representing 33 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 32 Consumers: DAVID H KRIEGER
• Representing 30 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
• Representing 30 Consumers: JOHN D BLYTHIN

Statistics Year to Date:
4112 total lawsuits for 2017, including:

• 2591 FDCPA
• 1087 FCRA
• 1208 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2017: 4072 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 137 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 123 Consumers: AHMAD TAYSEER SULAIMAN
• Representing 113 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
• Representing 111 Consumers: DAVID H KRIEGER
• Representing 111 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 99 Consumers: MOHAMMED OMAR BADWAN
• Representing 95 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 93 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
• Representing 72 Consumers: JOHN D BLYTHIN
• Representing 71 Consumers: ELLIOT WAYNE GALE

——————————————————————————————————-
CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 4544 complaints filed against debt collectors from Mar 01, 2017 to Mar 31, 2017.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 926

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 1556 Other (i.e. phone, health club, etc.) (34%)
• 882 Medical (19%)
• 824 Credit card (18%)
• 758 I do not know (17%)
• 149 Payday loan (3%)
• 135 Auto (3%)
• 94 Mortgage (2%)
• 84 Non-federal student loan (2%)
• 62 Federal student loan (1%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 1890 Contd attempts collect debt not owed (42%)
• 1373 Disclosure verification of debt (30%)
• 466 Communication tactics (10%)
• 347 False statements or representation (8%)
• 256 Improper contact or sharing of info (6%)
• 212 Taking/threatening an illegal action (5%)

The top five subissues were:

• 1042 Debt is not mine (23%)
• 1022 Not given enough info to verify debt (22%)
• 554 Debt was paid (12%)
• 296 Right to dispute notice not received (7%)
• 273 Attempted to collect wrong amount (6%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 579 Complaints: CA
• 533 Complaints: TX
• 441 Complaints: FL
• 304 Complaints: GA
• 226 Complaints: NY
• 161 Complaints: NC
• 147 Complaints: IL
• 142 Complaints: OH
• 141 Complaints: NJ
• 133 Complaints: PA

The status of the month’s complaints are as follows:

• 4544 (100%)

This includes 4251 (94%) timely responses to complaints, and 293 (6%) untimely responses.

Of the company responses, consumers accepted 0 (%) of them, disputed 672 (15%) of them, and 3872 (85%) were N\A.

The top five days for complaints were:

• 233 Complaints: Tue, 03/21/2017
• 222 Complaints: Wed, 03/15/2017
• 211 Complaints: Tue, 03/14/2017
• 199 Complaints: Thu, 03/30/2017
• 197 Complaints: Wed, 03/22/2017

Quick analysis: Quick analysis: Consumer Litigation Down a Bit, Up a Bit in Feb 2017

Consumer litigation last month was mostly flat for FDCPA (up .7%), down a lot for FCRA (-36.3%) and down a bit for TCPA (-6.7%). While that seems like a good trend, it did not change the fact that all three categories were still up over the same period of time in 2016 (FDCPA +5.6%, FCRA +23.6%, TCPA +5.3%)

So, while it is way too early in the year to try to draw a conclusion, it is safe to say that litigation is going to stay unpredictable and (it seems likely) at approximately the same levels we have seen it over the last few years.

CFPB complaints, on the other hand, seem to have exploded in 2017. While only up nominally from January, they are up a whopping 19.6% from this month last year and an even more impressive 22.1% YTD. Maybe people are rushing to get their complaints on the record while the agency is still in it’s current form?

Back to litigation, putative class actions are about normal with 17.9% of FDCPA, 24% of TCPA and only 9.1% of FCRA lawsuits filed that way.

About 34% of all plaintiffs who filed in February had filed at least once before.

And finally, California attorney Todd M. Friedman retakes the crown for representing the most consumer plaintiffs (37) in January and the most year-to-date (95).

Complaint Statistics:

3738 consumers filed CFPB complaints against debt collectors and about 1300 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Feb 01, 2017 to Feb 28, 2017. Here is an approximate breakdown:

• 3738 CFPB Complaints
• 828 FDCPA, 148 Class Action (17.9%)
• 375 TCPA, 90 Class Action (24.0%)
• 265 FCRA, 24 Class Action (9.1%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 1300 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 448, or (34%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 2527 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 156 different US District Court branches.
• About 795 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 111 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 65 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Los Angeles
• 65 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 61 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 49 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 43 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court – San Diego
• 42 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 35 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Central Islip
• 31 Lawsuits: Florida Southern District Court – Fort Lauderdale
• 27 Lawsuits: Indiana Southern District Court – Indianapolis

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 37 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 34 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 31 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
• Representing 30 Consumers: AHMAD TAYSEER SULAIMAN
• Representing 28 Consumers: SERGEI LEMBERG
• Representing 27 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
• Representing 24 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 24 Consumers: MOHAMMED OMAR BADWAN
• Representing 22 Consumers: TAMMY GRUDER HUSSIN
• Representing 19 Consumers: MICHAEL JACOB WOOD

Statistics Year to Date:
2624 total lawsuits for 2017, including:

• 1650 FDCPA
• 681 FCRA
• 777 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2017: 2666 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 95 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 83 Consumers: AHMAD TAYSEER SULAIMAN
• Representing 79 Consumers: DAVID H KRIEGER
• Representing 71 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
• Representing 65 Consumers: MOHAMMED OMAR BADWAN
• Representing 63 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
• Representing 62 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 62 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 53 Consumers: SERGEI LEMBERG
• Representing 47 Consumers: ELLIOT WAYNE GALE

——————————————————————————————————-
CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 3738 complaints filed against debt collectors from Feb 01, 2017 to Feb 28, 2017.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 828

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 1291 Other (i.e. phone, health club, etc.) (35%)
• 685 I do not know (18%)
• 659 Medical (18%)
• 642 Credit card (17%)
• 140 Payday loan (4%)
• 105 Auto (3%)
• 92 Mortgage (2%)
• 72 Federal student loan (2%)
• 52 Non-federal student loan (1%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 1489 Contd attempts collect debt not owed (40%)
• 1151 Disclosure verification of debt (31%)
• 430 Communication tactics (12%)
• 266 False statements or representation (7%)
• 219 Improper contact or sharing of info (6%)
• 183 Taking/threatening an illegal action (5%)

The top five subissues were:

• 879 Not given enough info to verify debt (24%)
• 860 Debt is not mine (23%)
• 415 Debt was paid (11%)
• 250 Frequent or repeated calls (7%)
• 220 Right to dispute notice not received (6%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 453 Complaints: TX
• 435 Complaints: CA
• 352 Complaints: FL
• 199 Complaints: GA
• 173 Complaints: NY
• 151 Complaints: IL
• 123 Complaints: NJ
• 114 Complaints: PA
• 113 Complaints: TN
• 113 Complaints: OH

The status of the month’s complaints are as follows:

• 3738 (100%)

This includes 3509 (94%) timely responses to complaints, and 229 (6%) untimely responses.

Of the company responses, consumers accepted 0 (%) of them, disputed 514 (14%) of them, and 3224 (86%) were N\A.

The top five days for complaints were:

• 219 Complaints: Fri, 02/03/2017
• 203 Complaints: Wed, 02/15/2017
• 193 Complaints: Tue, 02/07/2017
• 176 Complaints: Thu, 02/09/2017
• 171 Complaints: Fri, 02/10/2017

Quick analysis: Happy New Year… for Plaintiffs

It looks like 2017 is starting off with a litigation uptick across the board.

FDCPA: Jan was up 4.3% over (prev month) Dec, and 4.1% over (previous year) Jan 2016
TCPA: Jan was up 11% over (prev month) Dec, and 11.7% over (previous year) Jan 2016
FCRA: Jan was up a whopping 48.6% over (prev month) Dec, and 47% over (previous year) Jan 2016

Crazy coincidence… Jan 2017 looks an awful lot like Jan 2016. Cosmic interference?

Class actions are on the high-ish end of normal with 18.2% of FDCPA, 26.1 of TCPA and 26.1 of FCRA lawsuits filed that way.

About 35% of all plaintiffs who filed in January had filed at least once before.

And finally, Las Vegas attorney David Krieger takes the prize for the representing the most consumer plaintiffs (67) in January.

Complaint Statistics:

3410 consumers filed CFPB complaints against debt collectors and about 1425 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Jan 01, 2017 to Jan 31, 2017. Here is an approximate breakdown:

• 3410 CFPB Complaints
• 819 FDCPA, 149 Class Action (18.2%)
• 402 TCPA, 105 Class Action (26.1%)
• 416 FCRA, 39 Class Action (9.4%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 1425 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 501, or (35%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 2318 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 153 different US District Court branches.
• About 1005 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 104 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 94 Lawsuits: Nevada District Court – Las Vegas
• 75 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Los Angeles
• 57 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 54 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 41 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 39 Lawsuits: Florida Southern District Court – Fort Lauderdale
• 38 Lawsuits: New Jersey District Court – Newark
• 37 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Central Islip
• 37 Lawsuits: Indiana Southern District Court – Indianapolis

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 67 Consumers: DAVID H KRIEGER
• Representing 58 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 53 Consumers: AHMAD TAYSEER SULAIMAN
• Representing 47 Consumers: ELLIOT WAYNE GALE
• Representing 41 Consumers: MOHAMMED OMAR BADWAN
• Representing 40 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
• Representing 38 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 36 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
• Representing 28 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 25 Consumers: JOHN D BLYTHIN

Statistics Year to Date:
1389 total lawsuits for 2017, including:

• 819 FDCPA
• 416 FCRA
• 402 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2017: 1425 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 67 Consumers: DAVID H KRIEGER
• Representing 58 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 53 Consumers: AHMAD TAYSEER SULAIMAN
• Representing 47 Consumers: ELLIOT WAYNE GALE
• Representing 41 Consumers: MOHAMMED OMAR BADWAN
• Representing 40 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
• Representing 38 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 36 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
• Representing 28 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 25 Consumers: JOHN D BLYTHIN

——————————————————————————————————-
CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 3410 complaints filed against debt collectors from Jan 01, 2017 to Jan 31, 2017.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 784

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 1203 Other (i.e. phone, health club, etc.) (35%)
• 619 I do not know (18%)
• 585 Medical (17%)
• 582 Credit card (17%)
• 126 Payday loan (4%)
• 100 Auto (3%)
• 81 Mortgage (2%)
• 58 Non-federal student loan (2%)
• 56 Federal student loan (2%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 1447 Contd attempts collect debt not owed (42%)
• 943 Disclosure verification of debt (28%)
• 417 Communication tactics (12%)
• 252 False statements or representation (7%)
• 200 Improper contact or sharing of info (6%)
• 151 Taking/threatening an illegal action (4%)

The top five subissues were:

• 816 Debt is not mine (24%)
• 708 Not given enough info to verify debt (21%)
• 401 Debt was paid (12%)
• 276 Frequent or repeated calls (8%)
• 207 Attempted to collect wrong amount (6%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 479 Complaints: CA
• 398 Complaints: TX
• 334 Complaints: FL
• 206 Complaints: GA
• 169 Complaints: IL
• 160 Complaints: NY
• 107 Complaints: OH
• 94 Complaints: NJ
• 90 Complaints: PA
• 88 Complaints: MD

The status of the month’s complaints are as follows:

• 3410 (100%)

This includes 3196 (94%) timely responses to complaints, and 214 (6%) untimely responses.

Of the company responses, consumers accepted 0 (%) of them, disputed 485 (14%) of them, and 2925 (86%) were N\A.

The top five days for complaints were:

• 177 Complaints: Tue, 01/24/2017
• 172 Complaints: Thu, 01/26/2017
• 167 Complaints: Tue, 01/31/2017
• 150 Complaints: Wed, 01/11/2017
• 150 Complaints: Thu, 01/19/2017

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!

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

——————————————————————————————————-
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

Quick analysis: Happy Holidays: FDCPA to crack 10k, TCPA to miss important milestone…

Well, with the year almost over, it seems safe to make a couple of predictions about how consumer litigation will shake out for 2016.

First, FDCPA cases will break 10k for the year 2016 in December, but it will fall far short from matching 2015’s final tally of 11,813 cases with a decline of 12.4% so far for 2016. Both years fall short of 2011’s record number of 12,226 suits. We can expect FDCPA filings for 2016 to settle somewhere around 10.5k for the year, up from November’s YTD total of 9617.

Second, TCPA had a shot, briefly, of hitting a record 5k cases for the year – well above 2015’s 3687 cases. But that shot seems remote now thanks to a weaker-than-normal November. The 2016 eleven-month tally sits at 4499. To hit 5k, there would have to be at least 501 cases in December – a number that has never yet quite been reached. The highest we have seen to date is from last march when there were 472 cases filed. Expect TCPA to settle in the high 4k’s, maybe (but not necessarily) breaking 4900, with a growth rate of 32.8% so far for 2016.

Then there is FCRA. This is the year that FCRA gave way to TCPA as the 2nd largest cause of action in consumer filings after FDCPA. Still growing at an aggressive rate of 8.4% over 2015, the third most popular cause of action should settle somewhere just north of 4k suits for the year.

Finally, on the subject of CFPB complaints, there is good reason to believe 2016 complaints will overtake 2015’s numbers after being behind all year long. For most of 2016, CFPB complaints were trailing 6%-10% behind 2015 numbers. However, in just the last three months complaints have quickly closed the gap (Sept 3.9%, Oct 2.2%, Nov 1.1%). If that momentum is simply maintained, the year will have yet another dramatic photo-finish with an unexpected winner.

Read on for the numbers!

Complaint Statistics:

3027 consumers filed CFPB complaints against debt collectors and about 1216 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Nov 01, 2016 to Nov 30, 2016. Here is an approximate breakdown:

• 3027 CFPB Complaints
• 738 FDCPA, 144 Class Action (19.5%)
• 328 TCPA, 66 Class Action (20.1%)
• 389 FCRA, 31 Class Action (8.0%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 1216 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 441, or (36%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 3055 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 152 different US District Court branches.
• About 924 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 80 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 71 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 68 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Los Angeles
• 57 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 55 Lawsuits: California Northern District Court – San Francisco
• 47 Lawsuits: California Northern District Court – Oakland
• 37 Lawsuits: Nevada District Court – Las Vegas
• 36 Lawsuits: Indiana Southern District Court – Indianapolis
• 35 Lawsuits: New Jersey District Court – Newark
• 35 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Central Islip

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 90 Consumers: ELLIOT WAYNE GALE
• Representing 44 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 34 Consumers: SCOTT JOSEPH SAGARIA
• Representing 34 Consumers: SCOTT MATTHEW JOHNSON
• Representing 28 Consumers: PAUL JONATHAN SIEG
• Representing 25 Consumers: LOUIS D DAGOSTINO
• Representing 25 Consumers: EDMOND E KOESTER
• Representing 25 Consumers: CLAY C BROOKER
• Representing 25 Consumers: SARA ELIZABETH HANLEY
• Representing 22 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS

Statistics Year to Date:
14671 total lawsuits for 2016, including:

• 9617 FDCPA
• 3680 FCRA
• 4499 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2016: 13384 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 403 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 370 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 315 Consumers: ELLIOT WAYNE GALE
• Representing 274 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
• Representing 271 Consumers: DAVID H KRIEGER
• Representing 268 Consumers: PAUL JONATHAN SIEG
• Representing 255 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
• Representing 240 Consumers: AHMAD TAYSEER SULAIMAN
• Representing 238 Consumers: MOHAMMED OMAR BADWAN
• Representing 237 Consumers: SERGEI LEMBERG

——————————————————————————————————-
CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 3027 complaints filed against debt collectors from Nov 01, 2016 to Nov 30, 2016.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 737

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 1000 Other (i.e. phone, health club, etc.) (33%)
• 610 I do not know (20%)
• 522 Credit card (17%)
• 481 Medical (16%)
• 160 Payday loan (5%)
• 102 Mortgage (3%)
• 89 Auto (3%)
• 33 Federal student loan (1%)
• 30 Non-federal student loan (1%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 1307 Contd attempts collect debt not owed (43%)
• 874 Disclosure verification of debt (29%)
• 338 Communication tactics (11%)
• 190 False statements or representation (6%)
• 158 Improper contact or sharing of info (5%)
• 155 Taking/threatening an illegal action (5%)
• 5 Cont’d attempts collect debt not owed (%)

The top five subissues were:

• 765 Debt is not mine (25%)
• 662 Not given enough info to verify debt (22%)
• 347 Debt was paid (11%)
• 193 Frequent or repeated calls (6%)
• 161 Debt resulted from identity theft (5%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 414 Complaints: CA
• 334 Complaints: TX
• 296 Complaints: FL
• 199 Complaints: NY
• 182 Complaints: GA
• 110 Complaints: IL
• 107 Complaints: NJ
• 91 Complaints: NC
• 90 Complaints: MD
• 88 Complaints: PA

The status of the month’s complaints are as follows:

• 3027 (100%)

This includes 2733 (90%) timely responses to complaints, and 294 (10%) untimely responses.

Of the company responses, consumers accepted 0 (%) of them, disputed 362 (12%) of them, and 2665 (88%) were N\A.

The top five days for complaints were:

• 163 Complaints: Tue, 11/01/2016
• 157 Complaints: Thu, 11/03/2016
• 156 Complaints: Tue, 11/15/2016
• 145 Complaints: Tue, 11/08/2016
• 142 Complaints: Mon, 11/07/2016

Quick analysis: October was a mixed bag compared to September: FDPCA was down by 10.3%, FCRA up by a whopping 25.4% and TCPA essentially broke even with 450 cases, up just one from September’s 249.

Even though TCPA was unmoved, it did reach an important milestone with another one very likely imminent. It smashed through the 4000 barrier for the first time ever with 4164 suits filed so far in 2016. That is up 33.7% from 2015’s 3115 filings at this same time.

But, if TCPA filings continue at the same rate they have been going, it is on track to also smash through the 5000 filings barrier by the end of the year.

Think about that for a while…

In other YTD news, FDCPA seems pretty locked in to a 12%ish decline over 2015, effectively unmoved from there since summer with the decline consistently landing in the range of 10.9% to 13.2% each month since June. And FCRA seems to be headed for an increase of 8%-10%, if current trends hold.

There are lots of interesting data points buried in the stats below, for those interested in digging them out. Enjoy!

Complaint Statistics:

3103 consumers filed CFPB complaints against debt collectors and about 1306 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Oct 01, 2016 to Oct 31, 2016. Here is an approximate breakdown:

• 3103 CFPB Complaints
• 832 FDCPA, 139 Class Action (16.7%)
• 450 TCPA, 91 Class Action (20.2%)
• 355 FCRA, 39 Class Action (11.0%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 1306 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 468, or (36%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 1858 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 159 different US District Court branches.
• About 872 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 66 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 59 Lawsuits: California Northern District Court – San Francisco
• 48 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Central Islip
• 47 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 46 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Los Angeles
• 38 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 35 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 34 Lawsuits: Nevada District Court – Las Vegas
• 34 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 32 Lawsuits: California Northern District Court – Oakland

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 72 Consumers: ELLIOT WAYNE GALE
• Representing 65 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
• Representing 53 Consumers: SCOTT JOSEPH SAGARIA
• Representing 52 Consumers: CHRIS R MILTENBERGER
• Representing 43 Consumers: SCOTT MATTHEW JOHNSON
• Representing 38 Consumers: JOSEPH BRIAN ANGELO
• Representing 37 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 37 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 27 Consumers: AMY LYNN BENNECOFF GINSBURG
• Representing 27 Consumers: SERGEI LEMBERG

Statistics Year to Date:
13414 total lawsuits for 2016, including:

• 8861 FDCPA
• 3285 FCRA
• 4164 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2016: 12309 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 388 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 326 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 252 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
• Representing 251 Consumers: DAVID H KRIEGER
• Representing 245 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
• Representing 240 Consumers: PAUL JONATHAN SIEG
• Representing 225 Consumers: SERGEI LEMBERG
• Representing 223 Consumers: ELLIOT WAYNE GALE
• Representing 220 Consumers: AHMAD TAYSEER SULAIMAN
• Representing 219 Consumers: DAVID SCOTT KLAIN

——————————————————————————————————-
CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 3103 complaints filed against debt collectors from Oct 01, 2016 to Oct 31, 2016.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 728

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 1022 Other (i.e. phone, health club, etc.) (33%)
• 607 I do not know (20%)
• 543 Credit card (17%)
• 538 Medical (17%)
• 120 Payday loan (4%)
• 92 Mortgage (3%)
• 88 Auto (3%)
• 48 Non-federal student loan (2%)
• 45 Federal student loan (1%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 1227 Cont’d attempts collect debt not owed (40%)
• 931 Disclosure verification of debt (30%)
• 351 Communication tactics (11%)
• 222 False statements or representation (7%)
• 219 Improper contact or sharing of info (7%)
• 153 Taking/threatening an illegal action (5%)

The top five subissues were:

• 701 Not given enough info to verify debt (23%)
• 690 Debt is not mine (22%)
• 363 Debt was paid (12%)
• 203 Frequent or repeated calls (7%)
• 187 Right to dispute notice not received (6%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 387 Complaints: CA
• 332 Complaints: TX
• 317 Complaints: FL
• 208 Complaints: GA
• 189 Complaints: NY
• 109 Complaints: NJ
• 107 Complaints: NC
• 98 Complaints: PA
• 90 Complaints: IL
• 88 Complaints: OH

The status of the month’s complaints are as follows:

• 3103 (100%)

This includes 2903 (94%) timely responses to complaints, and 200 (6%) untimely responses.

Of the company responses, consumers accepted 0 (%) of them, disputed 466 (15%) of them, and 2637 (85%) were N\A.

The top five days for complaints were:

• 178 Complaints: Wed, 10/05/2016
• 161 Complaints: Tue, 10/11/2016
• 157 Complaints: Mon, 10/03/2016
• 151 Complaints: Wed, 10/12/2016
• 150 Complaints: Wed, 10/26/2016