Blog/ Litigation Stats

Quick analysis: August… same as it ever was.

With one slight exception, August continued many of the patterns that have become common this year. That exception? FDCPA lawsuits snapped a five-month losing streak in terms of month-over-month filings. Even so, it was only with a 1.4% increase, and it wasn’t enough to break the YTD trend which still dropped a bit from 12.8% last month to 13.2% this month.

Beyond FDCPA, TCPA filings were down a bit (10.2%) from the previous month, but are still up 39.7% YTD. And FCRA filings were up a lot from the previous month (39.6%) and are up 19.4% YTD.

CFPB complaint filings had a robust month as well, up just over 30% from the previous month. That helps to knock the long-time YTD trend of complaints lagging around 10% behind last year to its lowest point of 7% down from this time last year.

Fun Facts:

• For July 2016, 36% of all consumer litigation plaintiffs had sued at least once before under consumer litigation statutes.
• About 958 different companies were sued, up 7.2% over the 894 last month. And 819 different debt collectors were complained about to the CFPB, about 14.5% higher than last month’s 715.
• The percentage of suits filed as putative class actions were all over the board, with 16% for FDCPA, 20% for TCPA and only 6.9% for FCRA.
• California attorney Elliot Wayne Gale represented the most consumers for the month with 56 and California attorney Todd M. Friedman had the most consumers YTD with 289.

Complaint Statistics:

3954 consumers filed CFPB complaints against debt collectors and about 1382 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Aug 01, 2016 to Aug 31, 2016. Here is an approximate breakdown:

• 3954 CFPB Complaints
• 844 FDCPA, 135 Class Action (16.0%)
• 395 TCPA, 79 Class Action (20.0%)
• 377 FCRA, 26 Class Action (6.9%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 1382 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 491, or (36%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 2700 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 160 different US District Court branches.
• About 958 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 94 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 84 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Los Angeles
• 61 Lawsuits: California Northern District Court – San Jose
• 60 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 46 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 46 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 44 Lawsuits: Nevada District Court – Las Vegas
• 37 Lawsuits: Florida Southern District Court – Fort Lauderdale
• 36 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 35 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court – San Diego

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 56 Consumers: ELLIOT WAYNE GALE
• Representing 48 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 39 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 31 Consumers: DAVID H KRIEGER
• Representing 31 Consumers: JOHN D BLYTHIN
• Representing 31 Consumers: ADAM KLEIN
• Representing 28 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
• Representing 26 Consumers: DAVID SCOTT KLAIN
• Representing 25 Consumers: MOHAMMED OMAR BADWAN
• Representing 25 Consumers: AHMAD TAYSEER SULAIMAN

Statistics Year to Date:
10714 total lawsuits for 2016, including:

• 7093 FDCPA
• 2639 FCRA
• 3254 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2016: 9980 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 289 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 255 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 209 Consumers: DAVID H KRIEGER
• Representing 200 Consumers: PAUL JONATHAN SIEG
• Representing 193 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
• Representing 192 Consumers: DAVID SCOTT KLAIN
• Representing 177 Consumers: SERGEI LEMBERG
• Representing 162 Consumers: MICHAEL JACOB WOOD
• Representing 159 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 159 Consumers: CELETHA CHATMAN

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CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 3954 complaints filed against debt collectors from Aug 01, 2016 to Aug 31, 2016.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 819

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 1284 Other (i.e. phone, health club, etc.) (32%)
• 875 Credit card (22%)
• 738 I do not know (19%)
• 574 Medical (15%)
• 134 Mortgage (3%)
• 121 Payday loan (3%)
• 105 Auto (3%)
• 67 Non-federal student loan (2%)
• 56 Federal student loan (1%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 1459 Cont’d attempts collect debt not owed (37%)
• 1306 Disclosure verification of debt (33%)
• 489 Communication tactics (12%)
• 268 False statements or representation (7%)
• 230 Improper contact or sharing of info (6%)
• 202 Taking/threatening an illegal action (5%)

The top five subissues were:

• 1044 Not given enough info to verify debt (26%)
• 813 Debt is not mine (21%)
• 422 Debt was paid (11%)
• 292 Frequent or repeated calls (7%)
• 210 Attempted to collect wrong amount (5%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 498 Complaints: CA
• 437 Complaints: TX
• 415 Complaints: FL
• 224 Complaints: NY
• 204 Complaints: GA
• 137 Complaints: IL
• 119 Complaints: OH
• 107 Complaints: AZ
• 106 Complaints: NJ
• 105 Complaints: PA

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

• 3954 (100%)

This includes 3637 (92%) timely responses to complaints, and 317 (8%) untimely responses.

Of the company responses, consumers accepted 0 (%) of them, disputed 527 (13%) of them, and 3427 (87%) were N\A.

The top five days for complaints were:

• 248 Complaints: Thu, 08/11/2016
• 208 Complaints: Mon, 08/29/2016
• 202 Complaints: Tue, 08/16/2016
• 201 Complaints: Tue, 08/23/2016
• 186 Complaints: Tue, 08/09/2016

Quick analysis: Slip Slidin’ Away… FDCPA Trending Down 5 Months in a Row.

It is mostly business as usual for the month of July, 2016. FDCPA and FCRA are down over last month (fairly significantly with 12.6% and 35.1% drops respectively), and TCPA is up 13.1%.

Year to date, FDCPA is down from 2015 by 12.8%, and FCRA and TCPA are up by 20.7% and 43.3%(!) respectively.

The one really interesting thing that jumped out to us this month is that filed FDCPA litigation has been going down consistently for an awful long time. Looking back at previous months, we see July represents its 5th month in a row of declines, as compared to the same periods in 2015.

In real numbers that means that through July 2016, there are 6211 filed FDCPA cases, compared to 7120 at the same time last year. That decline of 909 lawsuits is good news for the industry, though a hollow victory as filed FCRA and TCPA litigation have increased in that same time period by 1233 suits, more than making up the difference.

CFPB complaint volume is lagging 2015 numbers by 10.9%, though when the final data trickles in that should drop to slightly below 10%. Still, good news for the industry on the CFPB complaint database front.

Fun Facts:

For July 2016, 35% of all consumer litigation plaintiffs had sued at least once before under consumer litigation statutes.

About 894 different companies were sued, up 1.6% over the 880 last month. And 715 different debt collectors were complained about to the CFPB, about 3.6% higher than last month’s 741 (but remember the caveat about more data trickling in).

The percentage of suits filed as putative class actions were all over the board, with 15.9% for FDCPA, 20% for TCPA and only 8.6% for FCRA.

California attorney Todd M. Friedman represented the most consumers for the month with 49 and the most consumers YTD with 249.

Complaint Statistics:

2747 consumers filed CFPB complaints against debt collectors and about 1263 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Jul 01, 2016 to Jul 31, 2016. Here is an approximate breakdown:

• 2747 CFPB Complaints
• 825 FDCPA, 131 Class Action (15.9%)
• 424 TCPA, 85 Class Action (20.0%)
• 266 FCRA, 23 Class Action (8.6%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 1263 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 453, or (36%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 2260 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 162 different US District Court branches.
• About 889 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 80 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 72 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Los Angeles
• 59 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 43 Lawsuits: Nevada District Court – Las Vegas
• 42 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 40 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 39 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 36 Lawsuits: New Jersey District Court – Newark
• 34 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Central Islip
• 32 Lawsuits: New Jersey District Court – Trenton

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 49 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 41 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
• Representing 34 Consumers: PAUL JONATHAN SIEG
• Representing 34 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 32 Consumers: DAVID H KRIEGER
• Representing 24 Consumers: SERGEI LEMBERG
• Representing 23 Consumers: MOHAMMED OMAR BADWAN
• Representing 23 Consumers: AHMAD TAYSEER SULAIMAN
• Representing 22 Consumers: MATTHEW G GRIMMER
• Representing 20 Consumers: WILLIAM CRAFT HUGHES

Statistics Year to Date:
9242 total lawsuits for 2016, including:

• 6211 FDCPA
• 2237 FCRA
• 2809 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2016: 8696 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 249 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 205 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 181 Consumers: PAUL JONATHAN SIEG
• Representing 178 Consumers: DAVID H KRIEGER
• Representing 164 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
• Representing 163 Consumers: DAVID SCOTT KLAIN
• Representing 156 Consumers: SERGEI LEMBERG
• Representing 155 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 138 Consumers: MICHAEL JACOB WOOD
• Representing 135 Consumers: CELETHA CHATMAN

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CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 2747 complaints filed against debt collectors from Jul 01, 2016 to Jul 31, 2016.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 715

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 898 Other (i.e. phone, health club, etc.) (33%)
• 519 I do not know (19%)
• 486 Credit card (18%)
• 468 Medical (17%)
• 113 Mortgage (4%)
• 101 Payday loan (4%)
• 69 Auto (3%)
• 53 Non-federal student loan (2%)
• 40 Federal student loan (1%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 1106 Cont’d attempts collect debt not owed (40%)
• 712 Disclosure verification of debt (26%)
• 401 Communication tactics (15%)
• 209 False statements or representation (8%)
• 174 Improper contact or sharing of info (6%)
• 145 Taking/threatening an illegal action (5%)

The top five subissues were:

• 636 Debt is not mine (23%)
• 506 Not given enough info to verify debt (18%)
• 332 Debt was paid (12%)
• 221 Frequent or repeated calls (8%)
• 163 Right to dispute notice not received (6%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 341 Complaints: CA
• 299 Complaints: TX
• 270 Complaints: FL
• 182 Complaints: GA
• 158 Complaints: NY
• 100 Complaints: AZ
• 93 Complaints: OH
• 91 Complaints: PA
• 91 Complaints: IL
• 74 Complaints: NJ

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

• 2747 (100%)

This includes 2562 (93%) timely responses to complaints, and 185 (7%) untimely responses.

Of the company responses, consumers accepted 0 (%) of them, disputed 405 (15%) of them, and 2342 (85%) were N\A.

The top five days for complaints were:

• 149 Complaints: Tue, 07/26/2016
• 146 Complaints: Thu, 07/28/2016
• 142 Complaints: Thu, 07/14/2016
• 136 Complaints: Wed, 07/06/2016
• 136 Complaints: Tue, 07/19/2016

Quick analysis: After a May that saw declines across the board, June picked up steam with increases in court filings for all three of the main consumer statutes (FDCPA, TCPA and FCRA).

FCRA led the charge with a robust 34.5% uptick in June, followed by FDCPA with an 11% increase and TCPA with a relatively anemic 6.3% increase.

Year to date, FDCPA is down 10.9% over the same period in 2015, but FCRA and TCPA are up a strong 27.6% and 46.8% respectively.

CFPB complaints are steady, down just a bit over last month (2.6%). But as usual we can expect that to go up a few points after all of the data finishes trickling in, so it will probably be a wash.

Fun Facts:

For June 2016, 35% of all consumer litigation plaintiffs had sued at least once before under consumer litigation statutes.

About 880 different companies were sued, down 5.3% over the 927 last month. And 741 different debt collectors were complained about to the CFPB, about 3.6% higher than last month’s 715 (but remember the caveat about more data trickling in).

The percentage of suits filed as putative class actions were fairly typical for two out of the three main statutes, with 15.1% for FDCPA, 16.3% for TCPA and only 3.9% for FCRA.

New York attorney Craig B. Sanders represented the most consumers for the month with 53, but Todd M. Friedman has represented the most consumers YTD with 199.

Complaint Statistics:

2970 consumers filed CFPB complaints against debt collectors and about 1415 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Jun 01, 2016 to Jun 30, 2016. Here is an approximate breakdown:

• 2970 CFPB Complaints
• 939 FDCPA, 142 Class Action (15.1%)
• 374 TCPA, 61 Class Action (16.3%)
• 409 FCRA, 16 Class Action (3.9%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 1415 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 497, or (35%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 2547 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 164 different US District Court branches.
• About 880 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 102 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 77 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Los Angeles
• 68 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 61 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 48 Lawsuits: California Northern District Court – San Jose
• 44 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Central Islip
• 44 Lawsuits: Nevada District Court – Las Vegas
• 41 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 38 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 38 Lawsuits: Arizona District Court – Phoenix

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 53 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
• Representing 43 Consumers: ELLIOT WAYNE GALE
• Representing 35 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 33 Consumers: DAVID H KRIEGER
• Representing 31 Consumers: DAVID M BARSHAY
• Representing 29 Consumers: AMY LYNN BENNECOFF GINSBURG
• Representing 28 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 27 Consumers: MICHAEL JACOB WOOD
• Representing 25 Consumers: SERGEI LEMBERG
• Representing 25 Consumers: JOHN D BLYTHIN

Statistics Year to Date:
8006 total lawsuits for 2016, including:

• 5371 FDCPA
• 1960 FCRA
• 2380 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2016: 7553 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 199 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 169 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 152 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 146 Consumers: DAVID H KRIEGER
• Representing 145 Consumers: PAUL JONATHAN SIEG
• Representing 145 Consumers: DAVID SCOTT KLAIN
• Representing 132 Consumers: SERGEI LEMBERG
• Representing 124 Consumers: MICHAEL JACOB WOOD
• Representing 123 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
• Representing 121 Consumers: CELETHA CHATMAN

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CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 2970 complaints filed against debt collectors from Jun 01, 2016 to Jun 30, 2016.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 741

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 953 Other (i.e. phone, health club, etc.) (32%)
• 601 Credit card (20%)
• 505 I do not know (17%)
• 496 Medical (17%)
• 130 Payday loan (4%)
• 126 Mortgage (4%)
• 73 Auto (2%)
• 48 Federal student loan (2%)
• 38 Non-federal student loan (1%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 1231 Cont’d attempts collect debt not owed (41%)
• 738 Disclosure verification of debt (25%)
• 409 Communication tactics (14%)
• 223 False statements or representation (8%)
• 187 Taking/threatening an illegal action (6%)
• 182 Improper contact or sharing of info (6%)

The top five subissues were:

• 679 Debt is not mine (23%)
• 526 Not given enough info to verify debt (18%)
• 388 Debt was paid (13%)
• 254 Frequent or repeated calls (9%)
• 171 Right to dispute notice not received (6%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 412 Complaints: CA
• 329 Complaints: FL
• 309 Complaints: TX
• 178 Complaints: NY
• 157 Complaints: GA
• 121 Complaints: NJ
• 101 Complaints: IL
• 98 Complaints: PA
• 96 Complaints: OH
• 84 Complaints: VA

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

• 2970 (100%)

This includes 2771 (93%) timely responses to complaints, and 199 (7%) untimely responses.

Of the company responses, consumers accepted 0 (%) of them, disputed 452 (15%) of them, and 2518 (85%) were N\A.

The top five days for complaints were:

• 147 Complaints: Thu, 06/23/2016
• 146 Complaints: Wed, 06/08/2016
• 146 Complaints: Wed, 06/29/2016
• 143 Complaints: Thu, 06/16/2016
• 142 Complaints: Thu, 06/02/2016

Quick analysis: A Summer Reprieve…

Welcome to summer! Everything is significantly down in May 2016 consumer complaints. TCPA is leading the charge with a 19.6% drop from April, while FDCPA and FCRA trail a bit behind at 14.8% and 15.4% down, respectively.

Even CFPB complaints are down more than usual, with a 14.6% drop from an April which was already down very significantly from March. Of course, we are still watching May data trickle in for a few more weeks, so expect that to go up a few points.

Good news all around for the collection industry. The only blanket we can throw on this month’s numbers is the fact that while TCPA and FCRA had significant dips in May activity, year-to-date they are still way up over 2015. And those YTD numbers are still pretty big: TCPA is up 56.6% and FCRA is up 26% over 2015 so far.

Fun Facts:

• For May 2016, 35% of all consumer litigation plaintiffs had sued at least once before under consumer litigation statutes.
• About 927 different companies were sued, down 2.5% over the 950 last month. And 715 different debt collectors were complained about to the CFPB, about 4% higher than last month’s 687 (but remember the caveat about more data trickling in).
• The percentage of suits filed as putative class actions were fairly strong for two out of the three main statutes, with 18% for FDCPA, 17.2% for TCPA and only 7.3% for FCRA.
• California attorney Todd M. Friedman represented the most consumers for the month with 30, and also the most consumers YTD with 171.

Complaint Statistics:

2725 consumers filed CFPB complaints against debt collectors and about 1267 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from May 01, 2016 to May 31, 2016. Here is an approximate breakdown:

• 2725 CFPB Complaints
• 839 FDCPA, 151 Class Action (18.0%)
• 349 TCPA, 60 Class Action (17.2%)
• 302 FCRA, 22 Class Action (7.3%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 1267 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 444, or (35%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 2704 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 161 different US District Court branches.
• About 927 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 108 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 52 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 49 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Los Angeles
• 48 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 40 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 37 Lawsuits: Arizona District Court – Phoenix
• 35 Lawsuits: New Jersey District Court – Newark
• 35 Lawsuits: Nevada District Court – Las Vegas
• 29 Lawsuits: Colorado District Court – Denver
• 28 Lawsuits: Minnesota District Court – Dmn

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 30 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 28 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 27 Consumers: JASON BRYANT MCGARY
• Representing 25 Consumers: DAVID H KRIEGER
• Representing 24 Consumers: PAUL JONATHAN SIEG
• Representing 24 Consumers: MICHAEL JACOB WOOD
• Representing 23 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 23 Consumers: DAVID SCOTT KLAIN
• Representing 23 Consumers: AHMAD TAYSEER SULAIMAN
• Representing 23 Consumers: MOHAMMED OMAR BADWAN

Statistics Year to Date:
6560 total lawsuits for 2016, including:

• 4425 FDCPA
• 1550 FCRA
• 2003 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2016: 6260 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 171 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 134 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 130 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 124 Consumers: DAVID SCOTT KLAIN
• Representing 124 Consumers: PAUL JONATHAN SIEG
• Representing 113 Consumers: DAVID H KRIEGER
• Representing 107 Consumers: SERGEI LEMBERG
• Representing 105 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
• Representing 97 Consumers: CELETHA CHATMAN
• Representing 97 Consumers: MICHAEL JACOB WOOD

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CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 2725 complaints filed against debt collectors from May 01, 2016 to May 31, 2016.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 715

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 878 Other (i.e. phone, health club, etc.) (32%)
• 498 Credit card (18%)
• 488 I do not know (18%)
• 469 Medical (17%)
• 127 Mortgage (5%)
• 110 Payday loan (4%)
• 54 Non-federal student loan (2%)
• 54 Auto (2%)
• 47 Federal student loan (2%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 1128 Cont’d attempts collect debt not owed (41%)
• 638 Disclosure verification of debt (23%)
• 375 Communication tactics (14%)
• 244 False statements or representation (9%)
• 185 Improper contact or sharing of info (7%)
• 155 Taking/threatening an illegal action (6%)

The top five subissues were:

• 612 Debt is not mine (22%)
• 448 Not given enough info to verify debt (16%)
• 363 Debt was paid (13%)
• 213 Frequent or repeated calls (8%)
• 182 Attempted to collect wrong amount (7%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 356 Complaints: CA
• 277 Complaints: TX
• 275 Complaints: FL
• 142 Complaints: NY
• 134 Complaints: GA
• 104 Complaints: OH
• 100 Complaints: IL
• 99 Complaints: MD
• 95 Complaints: NJ
• 77 Complaints: PA

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

• 2725 (100%)

This includes 2530 (93%) timely responses to complaints, and 195 (7%) untimely responses.

Of the company responses, consumers accepted 76 (3%) of them, disputed 286 (10%) of them, and 2363 (87%) were N\A.

The top five days for complaints were:

• 154 Complaints: Wed, 05/18/2016
• 144 Complaints: Thu, 05/19/2016
• 141 Complaints: Thu, 05/05/2016
• 137 Complaints: Wed, 05/11/2016
• 134 Complaints: Tue, 05/10/2016

Quick analysis: An Unstable Front-Runner…

No, not in politics – in consumer litigation. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act regularly proves to be the most unpredictable of consumer statutes when it comes to tracking monthly filings. After an unusually robust increase of 23.6% in March, it posted a small decrease of 2.7% in April keeping it at around 8% down for the year to date so far.

The other two major consumer statutes we track – the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) – both also slowed down, to a lesser extent, from the huge numbers posted in March. FCRA showed a modest April increase of 5.6%, compared to its increase of 20.6% in March. And TCPA decreased by 7.1% in April, compared to a 16.4% increase in March.

FCRA and TCPA are both still showing aggressive growth YTD though, 26.7% and 57.9% respectively.

CFPB complaints against debt collectors took a huge dive last month from 3505 complaints in March to 2816 complaints in April. That is a 19.7% decrease. It is not unusual to expect around 10% more complaints to filter in from the previous month in the month ahead of when we release our stats, but even taking that into consideration this drop is extraordinary.

Having said all of that… CFPB complaint volume is actually closer than ever in 2016 to closing the gap with 2015’s numbers. At 10.7% down, it is lower than March’s 11.2% deficit, February’s 12.5% deficit and January’s 17.6% deficit. If CFPB complaints are trending in any direction, it is toward growth not decline.

Fun Facts:

• For April 2016, 34% of all consumer litigation plaintiffs had sued at least once before under consumer litigation statutes.
• About 950 different companies were sued, down 6.5% over the 1012 last month. And 687 different debt collectors were complained about to the CFPB, about 1.1% lower than last month’s 760 (but remember the caveat about more data trickling in).
• The percentage of suits filed as putative class actions were fairly strong all around, with 16% for FDCPA, 21.6% for TCPA and 11.5% for FCRA.
• California attorney Todd M. Friedman represented the most consumers for the month with 40, and also the most consumers YTD with 140.

Complaint Statistics:

2816 consumers filed CFPB complaints against debt collectors and about 1402 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Apr 01, 2016 to Apr 30, 2016. Here is an approximate breakdown:

• 2816 CFPB Complaints
• 977 FDCPA, 156 Class Action (16.0%)
• 430 TCPA, 93 Class Action (21.6%)
• 356 FCRA, 41 Class Action (11.5%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 1402 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 474, or (34%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 2033 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 152 different US District Court branches.
• About 950 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 111 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 57 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Los Angeles
• 53 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 49 Lawsuits: Nevada District Court – Las Vegas
• 47 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 41 Lawsuits: Minnesota District Court – Dmn
• 41 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court – San Diego
• 39 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Southern Division – Santa Ana
• 35 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 34 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 40 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 35 Consumers: SHARINA TALBOT ROMANO
• Representing 32 Consumers: DAVID H KRIEGER
• Representing 31 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
• Representing 25 Consumers: ELLIOT WAYNE GALE
• Representing 24 Consumers: CELETHA CHATMAN
• Representing 23 Consumers: DAVID SCOTT KLAIN
• Representing 23 Consumers: MICHAEL JACOB WOOD
• Representing 23 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 22 Consumers: MEGHAN ELISABETH GEORGE

Statistics Year to Date:
5305 total lawsuits for 2016, including:

• 3568 FDCPA
• 1245 FCRA
• 1644 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2016: 5109 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 140 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 107 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 106 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 101 Consumers: DAVID SCOTT KLAIN
• Representing 100 Consumers: PAUL JONATHAN SIEG
• Representing 90 Consumers: SERGEI LEMBERG
• Representing 88 Consumers: DAVID H KRIEGER
• Representing 84 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
• Representing 81 Consumers: SHARINA TALBOT ROMANO
• Representing 75 Consumers: CELETHA CHATMAN

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CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 2816 complaints filed against debt collectors from Apr 01, 2016 to Apr 30, 2016.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 687

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 914 Other (i.e. phone, health club, etc.) (32%)
• 577 Credit card (20%)
• 467 I do not know (17%)
• 465 Medical (17%)
• 98 Payday loan (3%)
• 93 Mortgage (3%)
• 84 Non-federal student loan (3%)
• 72 Auto (3%)
• 46 Federal student loan (2%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 1208 Cont’d attempts collect debt not owed (43%)
• 651 Disclosure verification of debt (23%)
• 406 Communication tactics (14%)
• 221 False statements or representation (8%)
• 185 Improper contact or sharing of info (7%)
• 145 Taking/threatening an illegal action (5%)

The top five subissues were:

• 672 Debt is not mine (24%)
• 464 Not given enough info to verify debt (16%)
• 336 Debt was paid (12%)
• 255 Frequent or repeated calls (9%)
• 176 Attempted to collect wrong amount (6%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 409 Complaints: CA
• 278 Complaints: FL
• 257 Complaints: TX
• 146 Complaints: NY
• 113 Complaints: OH
• 105 Complaints: IL
• 104 Complaints: GA
• 99 Complaints: PA
• 89 Complaints: NJ
• 87 Complaints: VA

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

• 2816 (100%)

This includes 2619 (93%) timely responses to complaints, and 197 (7%) untimely responses.

Of the company responses, consumers accepted 2323 (82%) of them, disputed 258 (9%) of them, and 235 (8%) were N\A.

The top five days for complaints were:

• 170 Complaints: Mon, 04/11/2016
• 151 Complaints: Wed, 04/20/2016
• 150 Complaints: Tue, 04/19/2016
• 147 Complaints: Thu, 04/07/2016
• 143 Complaints: Tue, 04/12/2016

Quick analysis: Batman v Superman… v Wonder Woman?

March 2016 saw the big three statutes (FDCPA, TCPA, FCRA) battling for supremacy in a month where they could all be considered winners. Making, of course, the collection industry the big loser. This stinker of a month will earn bad reviews from everyone but the consumer bar and makes even more important to tools to identify and scrub litigious consumers.

Filings for all three statutes in March were up by double digits over February, with FDCPA up the most at 23.6%, FCRA next at 20.6% and TCPA bringing up the rear, up 16.6%.

By contrast, last month (February over January) was much more modest. While all were up, the increases were only 4.2% (FDCPA), .7% (FCRA), and 12.1% (TCPA)

For the year to date, FCRA and TCPA are both way up, 24.3% and 68.6% (!!) respectively. FDCPA is still down for the year (-7.6%), but by much less than it was last month (when it was down 13.9% over the previous month), meaning it gained significant ground with March’s strong showing. Another month like March, and FDCPA will be in easy striking distance of positive territory for the year again.

A special note for TCPA: It is evident from this month, more so than ever before, that TCPA is not finished evolving into the existential threat it is ultimately destined to be. TCPA is this report’s Batman. These numbers should strike fear into the hearts of everyone who dials for a living. Note the 84.8% increase in TCPA plaintiffs over the same month last year, in addition to the other impressive increases listed in this report.

CFPB complaints are still having trouble keeping up with 2015. While they are currently down a bit (-2.5%) from last month, when all of the complaints are counted it will probably more or less level out. However, that will do little to make up for the fact that CFPB complaints are running around 10% behind their numbers from 2015.

Fun Facts:

• For March 2016, 36% of all consumer litigation plaintiffs had sued at least once before under consumer litigation statutes.
• About 1012 different companies were sued, down 4% over the 1053 last month. And 760 different debt collectors were complained about to the CFPB, about 1% higher than last month’s 752 (but remember the caveat about more data trickling in).
• The percentage of suits filed as putative class actions were mixed, with 18.6% for FDCPA, 13% for TCPA and 8.4% for FCRA.
• Georgia attorney Matthew Thomas Berry represented the most consumers for the month with 40, and California attorney Todd M. Friedman has represented the most consumers YTD with 100.

Complaint Statistics:

3229 consumers filed CFPB complaints against debt collectors and about 1472 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Mar 01, 2016 to Mar 31, 2016. Here is an approximate breakdown:

• 3229 CFPB Complaints
• 1001 FDCPA, 186 Class Action (18.6%)
• 462 TCPA, 60 Class Action (13.0%)
• 334 FCRA, 28 Class Action (8.4%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 1472 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 534, or (36%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 2823 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 171 different US District Court branches.
• About 1012 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 126 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 67 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 63 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 52 Lawsuits: Nevada District Court – Las Vegas
• 49 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Los Angeles
• 44 Lawsuits: New Jersey District Court – Newark
• 41 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court – San Diego
• 41 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 39 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Southern Division – Santa Ana
• 35 Lawsuits: Minnesota District Court – Dmn

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 40 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 37 Consumers: PAUL JONATHAN SIEG
• Representing 34 Consumers: DANIEL A EDELMAN
• Representing 33 Consumers: DAVID H KRIEGER
• Representing 33 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 28 Consumers: DAVID SCOTT KLAIN
• Representing 25 Consumers: SERGEI LEMBERG
• Representing 22 Consumers: CATHLEEN M COMBS
• Representing 22 Consumers: JAMES O LATTURNER
• Representing 22 Consumers: MOHAMMED OMAR BADWAN

Statistics Year to Date:
3927 total lawsuits for 2016, including:

• 2588 FDCPA
• 886 FCRA
• 1213 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2016: 3801 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 100 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 90 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 87 Consumers: PAUL JONATHAN SIEG
• Representing 84 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 78 Consumers: DAVID SCOTT KLAIN
• Representing 70 Consumers: SERGEI LEMBERG
• Representing 66 Consumers: DANIEL A EDELMAN
• Representing 56 Consumers: DAVID H KRIEGER
• Representing 53 Consumers: JOHN D BLYTHIN
• Representing 53 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON

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CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 3229 complaints filed against debt collectors from Mar 01, 2016 to Mar 31, 2016.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 767

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 1001 Other (i.e. phone, health club, etc.) (31%)
• 617 I do not know (19%)
• 598 Credit card (19%)
• 550 Medical (17%)
• 142 Mortgage (4%)
• 118 Payday loan (4%)
• 83 Auto (3%)
• 62 Federal student loan (2%)
• 58 Non-federal student loan (2%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 1384 Cont’d attempts collect debt not owed (43%)
• 685 Disclosure verification of debt (21%)
• 508 Communication tactics (16%)
• 261 False statements or representation (8%)
• 203 Improper contact or sharing of info (6%)
• 188 Taking/threatening an illegal action (6%)

The top five subissues were:

• 829 Debt is not mine (26%)
• 463 Not given enough info to verify debt (14%)
• 352 Debt was paid (11%)
• 329 Frequent or repeated calls (10%)
• 207 Attempted to collect wrong amount (6%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 448 Complaints: CA
• 323 Complaints: FL
• 272 Complaints: TX
• 174 Complaints: NY
• 155 Complaints: GA
• 123 Complaints: IL
• 104 Complaints: VA
• 95 Complaints: OH
• 87 Complaints: TN
• 84 Complaints: MD

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

• 3229 (100%)

This includes 2979 (92%) timely responses to complaints, and 250 (8%) untimely responses.

Of the company responses, consumers accepted 2935 (91%) of them, disputed 294 (9%) of them, and 0 (%) were N\A.

The top five days for complaints were:

• 168 Complaints: Thu, 03/17/2016
• 161 Complaints: Wed, 03/02/2016
• 151 Complaints: Wed, 03/16/2016
• 151 Complaints: Thu, 03/10/2016
• 147 Complaints: Thu, 03/24/2016

Quick analysis:

The horse race – while a little less interesting than that other horse race going on in American politics right now – is just starting to heat up for the year. There are few February surprises in consumer complaints, as the big picture trends are pretty much on track from January numbers.

There are exceptions, however. One exception to the above is TCPA litigation. While it is still moving in the same direction as January (up), it seems to be moving significantly more aggressively than everything else.

The other noteworthy exception is FCRA litigation. Down 32.5% in the January stats, it has fought its way back to positive territory with a 1.5% increase in the February. Despite the slow start, FCRA litigation is still way up over 2015.

In February, FDCPA is up 6.2% over January. FCRA is up 1.5%. And TCPA is up 16.5%.

Year to date, FDCPA is actually down 12.5% over 2015. FCRA is up 20.6%. And TCPA is running away from 2015 – up a whopping 55.2%.

CFPB complaints against debt collectors are up nominally in Feb over Jan, just .6%. YTD CFPB complaints against debt collectors are down 14.8%. As always, expect those to go up a bit in the weeks to come as the data continues to trickle in.

It is waaaay too early to call anything. But if I was forced to handicap this race, I would say TCPA litigation is in for another banner year while FDCPA fights to keep up with 2015 and FCRA coasts somewhere between those two.

Fun Facts:

• For February 2016, 37% of all consumer litigation plaintiffs had sued at least once before under consumer litigation statutes.
• About 1053 different companies were sued, up 26.7% over the 831 last month. And 752 different debt collectors were complained about to the CFPB, practically identical to last month’s 748 (but remember the caveat about more data trickling in).
• The percentage of suits filed as putative class actions were mixed, with 20.7% for FDCPA, 32.2% for TCPA and 15.2% for FCRA.
• California attorney Todd M. Friedman represented the most consumers for the month with 51, and YTD with 80.

Complaint Statistics:

2968 consumers filed CFPB complaints against debt collectors and about 1276 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Feb 01, 2016 to Feb 29, 2016. Here is an approximate breakdown:

• 2968 CFPB Complaints
• 802 FDCPA, 166 Class Action (20.7%)
• 395 TCPA, 127 Class Action (32.2%)
• 277 FCRA, 42 Class Action (15.2%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 1276 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 473, or (37%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 2433 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 161 different US District Court branches.
• About 1053 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 95 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 62 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 57 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Los Angeles
• 46 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 39 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 37 Lawsuits: Indiana Southern District Court – Indianapolis
• 37 Lawsuits: Minnesota District Court – Dmn
• 36 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Southern Division – Santa Ana
• 34 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court – San Diego
• 32 Lawsuits: Arizona District Court – Phoenix

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 51 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 29 Consumers: PAUL JONATHAN SIEG
• Representing 29 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 27 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
• Representing 25 Consumers: JOHN D BLYTHIN
• Representing 24 Consumers: ALAN J SASSON
• Representing 22 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 22 Consumers: DAVID SCOTT KLAIN
• Representing 20 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
• Representing 19 Consumers: DANIEL A EDELMAN

Statistics Year to Date:
2404 total lawsuits for 2016, including:

• 1557 FDCPA
• 550 FCRA
• 734 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2016: 2405 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 80 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 51 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 50 Consumers: DAVID SCOTT KLAIN
• Representing 50 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 50 Consumers: PAUL JONATHAN SIEG
• Representing 44 Consumers: JOHN D BLYTHIN
• Representing 44 Consumers: SERGEI LEMBERG
• Representing 44 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
• Representing 34 Consumers: DENISE L MORRIS
• Representing 34 Consumers: MARK A ELDRIDGE

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CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 2968 complaints filed against debt collectors from Feb 01, 2016 to Feb 29, 2016.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 752

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 921 Other (i.e. phone, health club, etc.) (31%)
• 549 Credit card (18%)
• 544 I do not know (18%)
• 514 Medical (17%)
• 131 Payday loan (4%)
• 112 Mortgage (4%)
• 71 Auto (2%)
• 67 Non-federal student loan (2%)
• 59 Federal student loan (2%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 1229 Cont’d attempts collect debt not owed (41%)
• 688 Disclosure verification of debt (23%)
• 447 Communication tactics (15%)
• 235 False statements or representation (8%)
• 189 Taking/threatening an illegal action (6%)
• 180 Improper contact or sharing of info (6%)

The top five subissues were:

• 735 Debt is not mine (25%)
• 455 Not given enough info to verify debt (15%)
• 366 Debt was paid (12%)
• 269 Frequent or repeated calls (9%)
• 180 Attempted to collect wrong amount (6%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 405 Complaints: CA
• 295 Complaints: TX
• 268 Complaints: FL
• 195 Complaints: NY
• 160 Complaints: GA
• 107 Complaints: PA
• 106 Complaints: NJ
• 104 Complaints: VA
• 83 Complaints: OH
• 81 Complaints: IL

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

• 2968 (100%)

This includes 2753 (93%) timely responses to complaints, and 215 (7%) untimely responses.

Of the company responses, consumers accepted 2560 (86%) of them, disputed 408 (14%) of them, and 0 (%) were N\A.

The top five days for complaints were:

• 199 Complaints: Wed, 02/17/2016
• 174 Complaints: Thu, 02/11/2016
• 157 Complaints: Tue, 02/02/2016
• 149 Complaints: Tue, 02/23/2016
• 145 Complaints: Thu, 02/18/2016

Quick analysis: And… take a breath.

After a frenetic end to 2015, with consumer complaints in every category nearly off the charts, 2016 has had a relatively calmer (but still somewhat bumpy) start.

Sure, FCRA and TCPA are significantly up over Jan 2015 (+31.4% and +39.8% respectively), but that follows a multi-year trajectory for those statutes that does not seem to be abating anytime soon.

CFPB and FDCPA complaints balance it out with significantly fewer complaints (-17.6% and -19.1% respectively) than this time last year, also following their less dramatic (but still impressive) recent bumpy patterns.

As always, it is expected that the January CFPB complaint numbers will continue to settle over the coming weeks, and will likely close the gap a bit between 2015 and 2016 totals. The same is not going to be true about FDCPA lawsuits.

Fun Facts:

• For January 2016, 33% of all consumer litigation plaintiffs had sued at least once before under consumer litigation statutes.
• About 831 different companies were sued, and 748 different debt collectors were complained about to the CFPB.
• The percentage of suits filed as putative class actions were mixed, with 17.1% for FDCPA, 22.9% for TCPA and 16.9% for FCRA.
• The Illinois Northern District Court in Chicago once again had the most litigation filed in it, with 98 consumers represented in litigation there. California had the most CFPB complaints against debt collectors, with 359.
• Attorney Todd Friedman represented the most consumers for the month (and YTD) with 28.

Complaint Statistics:

2705 consumers filed CFPB complaints against debt collectors and about 1160 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Jan 01, 2016 to Jan 31, 2016. Here is an approximate breakdown:

• 2705 CFPB Complaints
• 755 FDCPA, 129 Class Action (17.1%)
• 362 TCPA, 83 Class Action (22.9%)
• 272 FCRA, 46 Class Action (16.9%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 1160 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 384, or (33%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 3366 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 151 different US District Court branches.
• About 831 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 98 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 58 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Los Angeles
• 40 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 38 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 37 Lawsuits: New Jersey District Court – Newark
• 36 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court – San Diego
• 30 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Southern Division – Santa Ana
• 28 Lawsuits: Texas Eastern District Court – Sherman
• 27 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 26 Lawsuits: Indiana Southern District Court – Indianapolis

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 28 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 27 Consumers: SERGEI LEMBERG
• Representing 24 Consumers: KRISTI CAHOON KELLY
• Representing 21 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 21 Consumers: DAVID S KLAIN
• Representing 21 Consumers: ANDREW JOSEPH GUZZO
• Representing 21 Consumers: PAUL JONATHAN SIEG
• Representing 20 Consumers: SHARINA TALBOT ROMANO
• Representing 19 Consumers: JOHN D BLYTHIN
• Representing 18 Consumers: SHPETIM ADEMI

Statistics Year to Date:
1141 total lawsuits for 2016, including:

• 755 FDCPA
• 272 FCRA
• 362 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2016: 1160 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 28 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 27 Consumers: SERGEI LEMBERG
• Representing 24 Consumers: KRISTI CAHOON KELLY
• Representing 21 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 21 Consumers: DAVID S KLAIN
• Representing 21 Consumers: ANDREW JOSEPH GUZZO
• Representing 21 Consumers: PAUL JONATHAN SIEG
• Representing 20 Consumers: SHARINA TALBOT ROMANO
• Representing 19 Consumers: JOHN D BLYTHIN
• Representing 18 Consumers: SHPETIM ADEMI

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

There were 2705 complaints filed against debt collectors from Jan 01, 2016 to Jan 31, 2016.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 748

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 810 Other (i.e. phone, health club, etc.) (30%)
• 533 Credit card (20%)
• 523 I do not know (19%)
• 478 Medical (18%)
• 134 Payday loan (5%)
• 81 Mortgage (3%)
• 52 Auto (2%)
• 50 Federal student loan (2%)
• 44 Non-federal student loan (2%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 1165 Cont’d attempts collect debt not owed (43%)
• 526 Disclosure verification of debt (19%)
• 392 Communication tactics (14%)
• 246 False statements or representation (9%)
• 208 Improper contact or sharing of info (8%)
• 168 Taking/threatening an illegal action (6%)

The top five subissues were:

• 718 Debt is not mine (27%)
• 353 Not given enough info to verify debt (13%)
• 307 Debt was paid (11%)
• 248 Frequent or repeated calls (9%)
• 194 Attempted to collect wrong amount (7%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 359 Complaints: CA
• 292 Complaints: TX
• 246 Complaints: FL
• 123 Complaints: NY
• 109 Complaints: GA
• 97 Complaints: PA
• 96 Complaints: OH
• 87 Complaints: IL
• 81 Complaints: WA
• 78 Complaints: MD

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

• 2705 (100%)

This includes 2455 (91%) timely responses to complaints, and 250 (9%) untimely responses.

Of the company responses, consumers accepted 2463 (91%) of them, disputed 242 (9%) of them, and 0 (%) were N\A.

The top five days for complaints were:

• 148 Complaints: Tue, 01/12/2016
• 143 Complaints: Mon, 01/11/2016
• 139 Complaints: Wed, 01/06/2016
• 136 Complaints: Thu, 01/28/2016
• 132 Complaints: Thu, 01/21/2016

Quick analysis:  The year 2016 has gone out like a lion, with consumer litigation continuing to evolve in uncertain, yet bold and dramatic ways. TCPA and FCRA not only broke old records, but destroyed them (with 45% and 53.4% increases over 2014, respectively). **

And FDCPA, after years in decline or plateau, scratched its way back to finish the year 2nd only to its highest ever in 2011. In 2015, there were 11,697 FDCPA litigants, up 16.1% from 10,071 in 2014. But 2015’s number was a mere 4.6% from the all-time high of 2011’s 12,237. With even a fraction of 2015’s momentum, 2016 could easily set a new record for FDCPA litigation. **

The total number of unique consumer plaintiffs has been growing aggressively, along with the total amount of litigation. After peaking in 2011, the number of unique litigants had more or less plateaued at around 13,000. That is, until this year, when it exploded to a record 15,854 unique individuals.

CFPB complaints against debt collectors also set a record-high in 2015, but only barely at this point (up 1.5%, from 39,367 in 2014 to 39,952 in 2015). Expect that to increase in the weeks ahead, but only nominally.

For the month, FDCPA was the only one to dip a bit over Nov, down 3.5%. TCPA was up 5.9% and FCRA was up 5.6%. CFPB suits were up 1.3%, and will likely keep inching up for another couple of weeks.

Fun Facts:

• For December 2015, a higher-than-average 42% of all consumer litigation plaintiffs had sued at least once before under consumer litigation statutes.
• About 883 different companies were sued, and 716 different debt collectors were complained about to the CFPB.
• The percentage of suits filed as putative class actions were high all around, with 19.3% for FDCPA, 21.1% for TCPA and 26.7% for FCRA.
• The Illinois Northern District Court in Chicago once again had the most litigation filed in it, with 90 consumers represented in litigation there.
• California had the most CFPB complaints against debt collectors, with 336.
• Attorney David Krieger represented the most consumers for the month with 54, and Todd Friedman represented the most year to date, with 365.

Fun Facts Year in Review:

• Over all of 2015, 35% of all consumer litigation plaintiffs had sued at least once before under consumer litigation statutes.
• The percentage of suits filed as putative class actions in 2015 were 16.6% for FDCPA (1938 total), 23.6% for TCPA (877 total) and 16.0% for FCRA (601 total).
• The Illinois Northern District Court in Chicago had by far the most litigation filed in it, with 1037 consumers represented in litigation there. California had the most CFPB complaints against debt collectors, with 5311.
• Todd Friedman represented the most consumers year to date, with 365. He was followed by Craig Sanders with 332, Sergei Lemberg with 250, Suren N Weerasuriya with 227 and Craig Thor Kimmel with 214.

Complaint Statistics:

2686 consumers filed CFPB complaints against debt collectors and about 1275 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Dec 01, 2015 to Dec 31, 2015. Here is an approximate breakdown:

• 2686 CFPB Complaints
• 827 FDCPA, 160 Class Action (19.3%)
• 289 TCPA, 61 Class Action (21.1%)
• 398 FCRA, 79 Class Action (19.8%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 1275 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 496, or (39%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 2219 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 158 different US District Court branches.
• About 883 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 90 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 68 Lawsuits: Nevada District Court – Las Vegas
• 51 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 51 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Los Angeles
• 49 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 46 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 44 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Central Islip
• 36 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court – San Diego
• 34 Lawsuits: New Jersey District Court – Newark
• 33 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 54 Consumers: DAVID H KRIEGER
• Representing 37 Consumers: STEPHEN R BASSER
• Representing 37 Consumers: WYLIE A AITKEN
• Representing 37 Consumers: SAMUEL M WARD
• Representing 37 Consumers: DARREN O\’LEARY AITKEN
• Representing 35 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
• Representing 30 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 29 Consumers: PAUL JONATHAN SIEG
• Representing 27 Consumers: DANNY HOREN
• Representing 24 Consumers: MARK D MAILMAN

Statistics Year to Date:
15853 total lawsuits for 2015, including:

• 11697 FDCPA
• 3714 FCRA
• 3710 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2015: 14543 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 365 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 332 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
• Representing 250 Consumers: SERGEI LEMBERG
• Representing 246 Consumers: DAVID H KRIEGER
• Representing 227 Consumers: SUREN N WEERASURIYA
• Representing 214 Consumers: CRAIG THOR KIMMEL
• Representing 213 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
• Representing 200 Consumers: MOHAMMED OMAR BADWAN
• Representing 191 Consumers: DANIEL A EDELMAN
• Representing 189 Consumers: AMY LYNN BENNECOFF GINSBURG

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

There were 2686 complaints filed against debt collectors from Dec 01, 2015 to Dec 31, 2015.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 716

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 791 Other (i.e. phone, health club, etc.) (29%)
• 565 Credit card (21%)
• 541 I do not know (20%)
• 438 Medical (16%)
• 137 Payday loan (5%)
• 80 Mortgage (3%)
• 58 Non-federal student loan (2%)
• 46 Auto (2%)
• 29 Federal student loan (1%)
• 1 Unknown (%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 1143 Cont’d attempts collect debt not owed (43%)
• 506 Disclosure verification of debt (19%)
• 469 Communication tactics (17%)
• 207 False statements or representation (8%)
• 184 Improper contact or sharing of info (7%)
• 177 Taking/threatening an illegal action (7%)

The top five subissues were:

• 701 Debt is not mine (26%)
• 313 Frequent or repeated calls (12%)
• 307 Not given enough info to verify debt (11%)
• 293 Debt was paid (11%)
• 176 Right to dispute notice not received (7%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 356 Complaints: CA
• 248 Complaints: TX
• 231 Complaints: FL
• 152 Complaints: NY
• 107 Complaints: GA
• 106 Complaints: PA
• 98 Complaints: IL
• 92 Complaints: OH
• 90 Complaints: NJ
• 87 Complaints: VA

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

• 2686 (100%)

This includes 2503 (93%) timely responses to complaints, and 183 (7%) untimely responses.

Of the company responses, consumers accepted 2403 (89%) of them, disputed 278 (10%) of them, and 5 (%) were N\A.

The top five days for complaints were:

• 161 Complaints: Tue, 12/15/2015
• 139 Complaints: Tue, 12/08/2015
• 127 Complaints: Wed, 12/02/2015
• 126 Complaints: Wed, 12/16/2015
• 122 Complaints: Mon, 12/21/2015

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** Important note: During end-of-year housekeeping, WebRecon staff discovered (and tapped into) a previously undiscovered, somewhat obscure source of additional federal FDCPA, FCRA and TCPA litigation in PACER. This has had a visible impact on the overall statistics.

Quick analysis: What goes up…

… must come down. FDCPA, TCPA and FCRA are all down, fairly significantly, from last month. But, before anyone gets too excited… they are all still up, fairly significantly, year-to-date.

FDCPA is down 12.5% for the month, but up 14% for the year.
TCPA is down 42% for the month, but up 11.4% for the year.
FCRA is down 8.8% for the month, but up 42.9% for the year.

CFPB complaints are down as well (20.8%), but with the usual caveat that the numbers are relatively meaningless until the full month’s data finishes trickling in. Overall, even with this month’s incomplete data, CFPB complaints are up 1.7% over this time last year. Look for those numbers to move closer together over the next month.

Next month, in addition to December statistics, we will be publishing our year in review.

Fun Facts:

• For November 2015, about 36% of all consumer litigation plaintiffs had sued at least once before under consumer litigation statutes.
• About 815 different companies were sued, and 696 different debt collectors were complained about to the CFPB.
• Class actions were mixed, with 18.7% for FDCPA, 8.2% for TCPA and 16.5% for FCRA.
• The Illinois Northern District Court in Chicago once again had the most litigation filed in it, with 70 consumers represented in litigation there. California had the most CFPB complaints against debt collectors, with 336.
• Attorney Craig Sanders represented the most consumers for the month (by far) with 45, and the most year to date, with 297.

Complaint Statistics:

2399 consumers filed CFPB complaints against debt collectors and about 1075 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Nov 01, 2015 to Nov 30, 2015. Here is an approximate breakdown:

• 2399 CFPB Complaints
• 807 FDCPA, 151 Class Action (18.7%)
• 182 TCPA, 15 Class Action (8.2%)
• 352 FCRA, 58 Class Action (16.5%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 1075 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 390, or (36%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 1646 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 154 different US District Court branches.
• About 815 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 70 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 61 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 49 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Los Angeles
• 42 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 36 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court – San Diego
• 32 Lawsuits: Nevada District Court – Las Vegas
• 30 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 30 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 29 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Central Islip
• 25 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Orlando

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 45 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
• Representing 27 Consumers: DAVID H KRIEGER
• Representing 26 Consumers: JAMES A FRANCIS
• Representing 23 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 22 Consumers: PAUL JONATHAN SIEG
• Representing 20 Consumers: ADAM JON FISHBEIN
• Representing 20 Consumers: MOHAMMED OMAR BADWAN
• Representing 19 Consumers: AHMAD TAYSEER SULAIMAN
• Representing 15 Consumers: MARK D MAILMAN
• Representing 14 Consumers: SCOTT MATTHEW JOHNSON

Statistics Year to Date:
13320 total lawsuits for 2015, including:

• 10468 FDCPA
• 3178 FCRA
• 2590 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2015: 12427 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 297 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
• Representing 212 Consumers: SERGEI LEMBERG
• Representing 192 Consumers: DAVID H KRIEGER
• Representing 184 Consumers: MOHAMMED OMAR BADWAN
• Representing 179 Consumers: CRAIG THOR KIMMEL
• Representing 172 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 170 Consumers: DANIEL A EDELMAN
• Representing 170 Consumers: AMY LYNN BENNECOFF GINSBURG
• Representing 168 Consumers: ADAM JON FISHBEIN
• Representing 168 Consumers: AHMAD TAYSEER SULAIMAN

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CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 2399 complaints filed against debt collectors from Nov 01, 2015 to Nov 30, 2015.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 696

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 719 Other (phone, health club, etc.) (30%)
• 507 Credit card (21%)
• 484 Unknown (20%)
• 358 Medical (15%)
• 132 Payday loan (6%)
• 67 Mortgage (3%)
• 56 Auto (2%)
• 42 Non-federal student loan (2%)
• 34 Federal student loan (1%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 1014 Cont’d attempts collect debt not owed (42%)
• 441 Disclosure verification of debt (18%)
• 402 Communication tactics (17%)
• 226 False statements or representation (9%)
• 160 Improper contact or sharing of info (7%)
• 156 Taking/threatening an illegal action (7%)

The top five subissues were:

• 604 Debt is not mine (25%)
• 298 Not given enough info to verify debt (12%)
• 275 Debt was paid (11%)
• 246 Frequent or repeated calls (10%)
• 182 Attempted to collect wrong amount (8%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 336 Complaints: CA
• 286 Complaints: TX
• 221 Complaints: FL
• 132 Complaints: NY
• 110 Complaints: GA
• 94 Complaints: IL
• 79 Complaints: PA
• 79 Complaints: MD
• 77 Complaints: VA
• 74 Complaints: OH

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

• 2399 (100%)

This includes 2188 (91%) timely responses to complaints, and 211 (9%) untimely responses.

Of the company responses, consumers accepted 0 (%) of them, disputed 233 (10%) of them, and 2166 (90%) were N\A.

The top five days for complaints were:

• 161 Complaints: Thu, 11/05/2015
• 149 Complaints: Mon, 11/09/2015
• 134 Complaints: Thu, 11/12/2015
• 122 Complaints: Thu, 11/19/2015
• 116 Complaints: Wed, 11/04/2015