Blog/ Litigation Stats

Quick analysis: 2015 has started with a whimper, with CFPB complaints just edging up from December 2014, but FDCPA/FCRA/TCPA litigation all decisively lower than they were in December (9%, 14.1% and 17.9%, respectively).

The lift in CFPB complaints is 7.1%, though history shows that will tighten up in the weeks ahead as more cases from January are made public.

Class actions are still all over the board, continuing a new trend from last month, with 15.7% of FDCPA, 4.2% of TCPA and 7.9% of FCRA lawsuits being filed that way.

Repeat filers represented about 36% of all January litigation.

Complaint Statistics:

3204 consumers filed CFPB complaints against debt collectors and about 929 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes in Jan 2015. Here is an approximate breakdown:

• 3204 CFPB Complaints
• 765 FDCPA, 120 Class Action (15.7%)
• 142 TCPA, 6 Class Action (4.2%)
• 177 FCRA, 14 Class Action (7.9%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 929 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 335, or (36%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 1270 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 146 different US District Court branches.
• About 706 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 75 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 51 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 41 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 31 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 30 Lawsuits: Minnesota District Court – Dmn
• 23 Lawsuits: Indiana Southern District Court – Indianapolis
• 23 Lawsuits: New York Western District Court – Buffalo
• 22 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Los Angeles
• 21 Lawsuits: New Jersey District Court – Newark
• 19 Lawsuits: Michigan Eastern District Court – Detroit

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 28 Consumers: SERGEI LEMBERG
• Representing 25 Consumers: DANIEL A EDELMAN
• Representing 23 Consumers: ADAM JON FISHBEIN
• Representing 22 Consumers: CATHLEEN M COMBS
• Representing 21 Consumers: JAMES O LATTURNER
• Representing 20 Consumers: VICKI PIONTEK
• Representing 19 Consumers: SETH ANDREWS
• Representing 19 Consumers: SHPETIM ADEMI
• Representing 19 Consumers: MARK A ELDRIDGE
• Representing 19 Consumers: JOHN D BLYTHIN

Statistics Year to Date:

918 total lawsuits for 2015, including:

• 765 FDCPA
• 177 FCRA
• 142 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2015: 929 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 28 Consumers: SERGEI LEMBERG
• Representing 25 Consumers: DANIEL A EDELMAN
• Representing 23 Consumers: ADAM JON FISHBEIN
• Representing 22 Consumers: CATHLEEN M COMBS
• Representing 21 Consumers: JAMES O LATTURNER
• Representing 20 Consumers: VICKI PIONTEK
• Representing 19 Consumers: SETH ANDREWS
• Representing 19 Consumers: SHPETIM ADEMI
• Representing 19 Consumers: MARK A ELDRIDGE
• Representing 19 Consumers: JOHN D BLYTHIN

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CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 3204 complaints filed against debt collectors in Jan 2015.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 806

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 935 Other (phone, health club, etc.) (29%)
• 707 Unknown (22%)
• 643 Credit card (20%)
• 507 Medical (16%)
• 174 Payday loan (5%)
• 71 Mortgage (2%)
• 66 Auto (2%)
• 59 Non-federal student loan (2%)
• 42 Federal student loan (1%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 1397 Cont’d attempts collect debt not owed (44%)
• 566 Communication tactics (18%)
• 552 Disclosure verification of debt (17%)
• 259 False statements or representation (8%)
• 252 Improper contact or sharing of info (8%)
• 178 Taking/threatening an illegal action (6%)

The top five subissues were:

• 845 Debt is not mine (26%)
• 386 Debt was paid (12%)
• 359 Frequent or repeated calls (11%)
• 337 Not given enough info to verify debt (11%)
• 202 Attempted to collect wrong amount (6%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 399 Complaints: CA
• 317 Complaints: TX
• 275 Complaints: FL
• 183 Complaints: NY
• 156 Complaints: GA
• 141 Complaints: IL
• 128 Complaints: PA
• 107 Complaints: OH
• 98 Complaints: VA
• 85 Complaints: NJ

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

• 2139 Closed with explanation (67%)
• 523 Closed with non-monetary relief (16%)
• 230 In progress (7%)
• 146 Closed (5%)
• 133 Untimely response (4%)
• 33 Closed with monetary relief (1%)

This includes 2972 (93%) timely responses to complaints, and 232 (7%) untimely responses.

Of the company responses, consumers accepted 0 (%) of them, disputed 339 (11%) of them, and 2865 (89%) were N\A.

The top five days for complaints were:

• 186 Complaints: Wed, 01/28/2015
• 171 Complaints: Tue, 01/27/2015
• 163 Complaints: Wed, 01/21/2015
• 152 Complaints: Thu, 01/22/2015
• 152 Complaints: Fri, 01/23/2015

Quick analysis: Consumer litigation, particularly TCPA, has come roaring back after an anemic December 2014.

CFPB complaints look flat from November to December, but the December numbers are still likely to increase by a couple hundred complaints as they continue to trickle in.

In December, there were 172 TCPA lawsuits (after an inexplicable November dip to 94), down from a 2014 monthly average of 203. FDCPA rebounded to 836 from a 2014 monthly average of 807, and FCRA hit 203, up from it’s 2014 monthly average of 193.

Class actions are all over the place this month, with FDCPA normal at 9.2%, FCRA low at 4.9% and TCPA high at 12.8% of all litigation representing a class.

Repeat filers represented about 31% of all December litigation.

Year in Review 

Overall, lawsuits are down, thanks to FDCPA dropping 590 lawsuits from 2013’s total. This marks the 4th year in a row that FDCPA has declined, and it is the first year since 2009 that it is below 10,000. Both FCRA and TCPA are up, making up for most of the shortfall.

As predicted earlier in the year, TCPA surpassed FCRA in the number of 2014 filings. But due to the November plummet, it was a squeaker.

Overall, the 14,383 lawsuits in 2014 came in just below the 2013 total of 14,470. It is likely that this small gap will tighten as more litigation is made public in the weeks ahead, but probably not enough to overtake the lead.

For the full year 2014, here is how things have settled for litigation:

For CFPB complaints, it is impossible to draw any relevant comparison as 2013 was the first year debt collection complaints were collected, and it was a partial year. For the record, there were 11,080 complaints against debt collectors in 2013 and 39,185 in 2014 (likely to go up by a couple of hundred as CFPB complaints are still being released to the public).

Complaint Statistics:

2843 consumers filed CFPB complaints against debt collectors and about 1094 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes in Dec 2014. Here is an approximate breakdown:

• 2843 CFPB Complaints
• 836 FDCPA, 77 Class Action (9.2%)
• 172 TCPA, 22 Class Action (12.8%)
• 203 FCRA, 10 Class Action (4.9%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 1094 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 339, or (31%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 1267 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 148 different US District Court branches.
• About 829 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 91 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 62 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 52 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 45 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Los Angeles
• 30 Lawsuits: New Jersey District Court – Newark
• 30 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 28 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 26 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court – San Diego
• 22 Lawsuits: New Jersey District Court – Trenton
• 21 Lawsuits: Colorado District Court – Denver

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 40 Consumers: SERGEI LEMBERG
• Representing 24 Consumers: ADAM JON FISHBEIN
• Representing 22 Consumers: MOHAMMED OMAR BADWAN
• Representing 22 Consumers: AHMAD TAYSEER SULAIMAN
• Representing 21 Consumers: JAMES O LATTURNER
• Representing 21 Consumers: DANIEL A EDELMAN
• Representing 19 Consumers: CATHLEEN M COMBS
• Representing 17 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 17 Consumers: ARI HILLEL MARCUS
• Representing 16 Consumers: MARK D MAILMAN

Statistics Year to Date:

12521 total lawsuits for 2014, including:

• 9720 FDCPA
• 2327 FCRA
• 2336 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2014: 12125 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 508 Consumers: SERGEI LEMBERG
• Representing 213 Consumers: DAVID MICHAEL LARSON
• Representing 186 Consumers: AHMAD TAYSEER SULAIMAN
• Representing 183 Consumers: JOHN THOMAS STEINKAMP
• Representing 177 Consumers: ADAM JON FISHBEIN
• Representing 171 Consumers: MICHAEL ANTHONY EADES
• Representing 167 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 166 Consumers: MOHAMMED OMAR BADWAN
• Representing 162 Consumers: CRAIG THOR KIMMEL
• Representing 157 Consumers: DANIEL A EDELMAN

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CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 2843 complaints filed against debt collectors in Dec 2014.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 723

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 761 Other (phone, health club, etc.) (27%)
• 759 Unknown (27%)
• 521 Credit card (18%)
• 394 Medical (14%)
• 159 Payday loan (6%)
• 102 Mortgage (4%)
• 62 Auto (2%)
• 49 Non-federal student loan (2%)
• 36 Federal student loan (1%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 1215 Cont’d attempts collect debt not owed (43%)
• 545 Communication tactics (19%)
• 496 Disclosure verification of debt (17%)
• 220 False statements or representation (8%)
• 200 Improper contact or sharing of info (7%)
• 167 Taking/threatening an illegal action (6%)

The top five subissues were:

• 814 Debt is not mine (29%)
• 348 Frequent or repeated calls (12%)
• 331 Not given enough info to verify debt (12%)
• 282 Debt was paid (10%)
• 174 Attempted to collect wrong amount (6%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 359 Complaints: CA
• 331 Complaints: TX
• 264 Complaints: FL
• 154 Complaints: NY
• 120 Complaints: GA
• 117 Complaints: IL
• 94 Complaints: OH
• 87 Complaints: MI
• 85 Complaints: NJ
• 79 Complaints: PA

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

• 1900 Closed with explanation (67%)
• 420 Closed with non-monetary relief (15%)
• 231 In progress (8%)
• 136 Untimely response (5%)
• 117 Closed (4%)
• 39 Closed with monetary relief (1%)

This includes 2624 (92%) timely responses to complaints, and 219 (8%) untimely responses.

Of the company responses, consumers accepted 0 (0%) of them, disputed 245 (9%) of them, and 2598 (91%) were N\A.

The top five days for complaints were:

• 167 Complaints: Mon, 12/22/2014
• 148 Complaints: Tue, 12/16/2014
• 146 Complaints: Thu, 12/04/2014
• 139 Complaints: Thu, 12/18/2014
• 136 Complaints: Tue, 12/23/2014

Quick analysis: Happy holidays from WebRecon!

After a rally in October, everything is back to normal except TCPA litigation.

FDCPA, which spiked in October to a rare 900+ lawsuits, is back down to a more normal 713 in November. FCRA which was over 225 is down to 173, and CFPB complaints which had rocketed to well over 3000 are back down to a more moderate 2707 (likely to settle at around 2900).

The only statute that is still out of sync is TCPA, which had a rare plummet in October to 159 (from a recent average closer to 200), and it has plummeted again in November to an almost inconceivable 95 lawsuits.

Class actions are in a normal range – if a bit at the low end this month, with FDCPA at 9.3%, FCRA at 9.5% and TCPA at 8.1% of all litigation representing a class.

Repeat filers represented about 34% of all November litigation.

Complaint Statistics:

2707 consumers filed CFPB complaints against debt collectors and about 969 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes in Nov 2014. Here is an approximate breakdown:

• 2707 CFPB Complaints
• 713 FDCPA, 66 Class Action (9.3%)
• 95 TCPA, 9 Class Action (9.5%)
• 173 FCRA, 14 Class Action (8.1%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 969 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 333, or (34%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 1146 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 149 different US District Court branches.
• About 729 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 74 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 72 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 46 Lawsuits: Texas Northern District Court – Dallas
• 41 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 27 Lawsuits: New Jersey District Court – Trenton
• 25 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Los Angeles
• 25 Lawsuits: New Jersey District Court – Newark
• 24 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 22 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 22 Lawsuits: Indiana Southern District Court – Indianapolis

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 35 Consumers: WILLIAM ROSS TETER
• Representing 27 Consumers: ADAM JON FISHBEIN
• Representing 26 Consumers: EDWARD B GELLER
• Representing 26 Consumers: SERGEI LEMBERG
• Representing 24 Consumers: ROBERT H DEWBERRY
• Representing 20 Consumers: MOHAMMED OMAR BADWAN
• Representing 19 Consumers: ANDREW JOSEPH GUZZO
• Representing 19 Consumers: LEONARD ANTHONY BENNETT
• Representing 19 Consumers: KRISTI CAHOON KELLY
• Representing 19 Consumers: SUSAN MARY ROTKIS

Statistics Year to Date:

11479 total lawsuits for 2014, including:

• 8859 FDCPA
• 2115 FCRA
• 2164 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2014: 11172 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 469 Consumers: SERGEI LEMBERG
• Representing 209 Consumers: DAVID MICHAEL LARSON
• Representing 175 Consumers: JOHN THOMAS STEINKAMP
• Representing 164 Consumers: MICHAEL ANTHONY EADES
• Representing 164 Consumers: AHMAD TAYSEER SULAIMAN
• Representing 153 Consumers: ADAM JON FISHBEIN
• Representing 150 Consumers: DAVID J PHILIPPS
• Representing 150 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 148 Consumers: CRAIG THOR KIMMEL
• Representing 147 Consumers: ANGIE K ROBERTSON

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CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 2707 complaints filed against debt collectors in Nov 2014.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 725

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 777 Other (phone, health club, etc.) (29%)
• 614 Unknown (23%)
• 567 Credit card (21%)
• 374 Medical (14%)
• 157 Payday loan (6%)
• 72 Mortgage (3%)
• 57 Auto (2%)
• 51 Non-federal student loan (2%)
• 38 Federal student loan (1%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 1152 Cont’d attempts collect debt not owed (43%)
• 507 Communication tactics (19%)
• 451 Disclosure verification of debt (17%)
• 216 False statements or representation (8%)
• 214 Improper contact or sharing of info (8%)
• 167 Taking/threatening an illegal action (6%)

The top five subissues were:

• 720 Debt is not mine (27%)
• 319 Frequent or repeated calls (12%)
• 287 Not given enough info to verify debt (11%)
• 283 Debt was paid (10%)
• 159 Attempted to collect wrong amount (6%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 346 Complaints: CA
• 265 Complaints: TX
• 258 Complaints: FL
• 134 Complaints: NY
• 98 Complaints: GA
• 96 Complaints: IL
• 88 Complaints: OH
• 87 Complaints: SC
• 84 Complaints: NJ
• 71 Complaints: WA

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

• 1862 Closed with explanation (69%)
• 409 Closed with non-monetary relief (15%)
• 212 In progress (8%)
• 113 Closed (4%)
• 84 Untimely response (3%)
• 27 Closed with monetary relief (1%)

This includes 2535 (94%) timely responses to complaints, and 172 (6%) untimely responses.

Of the company responses, consumers accepted 0 (0%) of them, disputed 270 (10%) of them, and 2437 (90%) were N\A.

The top five days for complaints were:

• 178 Complaints: Wed, 11/19/2014
• 172 Complaints: Tue, 11/18/2014
• 156 Complaints: Fri, 11/14/2014
• 150 Complaints: Wed, 11/05/2014
• 134 Complaints: Fri, 11/21/2014

Quick analysis: CFPB, FDCPA & FCRA complaints rally, TCPA tumbles.

In October we saw a strong showing for CFPB, FDCPA and FCRA complaints. CFPB complaints against debt collectors are up 4% over September, but in reality that will go up a few points as complaints from the month continue to come in over the next few weeks.

FDCPA rallied hard, in stark contrast to most months during the last few years. It is up 13.4% over September, singlehandedly pushing the YTD decline over 2013 from 12% in September to 8.7% now.

FCRA is up 22.4% and TCPA is uncharacteristically down 22.6% over September numbers, providing an interesting juxtaposition for the month even as it does little to change the overall trends.

Class actions were all up a bit this month, with increases in FDCPA (13.5%, up from 9.3% in Sept), FCRA (14%, up from 13.6%) and TCPA (7.5%, up from 6.2%).

Repeat filers accounted for 30% of all new litigation in September.

Complaint Statistics:

3033 consumers filed CFPB complaints against debt collectors and about 1255 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes in Oct 2014. Here is an approximate breakdown:

• 3033 CFPB Complaints
• 911 FDCPA, 123 Class Action (13.5%)
• 159 TCPA, 12 Class Action (7.5%)
• 228 FCRA, 32 Class Action (14.0%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 1255 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 376, or (30%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 1332 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 155 different US District Court branches.
• About 870 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 133 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 51 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 43 Lawsuits: New Jersey District Court – Trenton
• 40 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court – San Diego
• 35 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Los Angeles
• 34 Lawsuits: Indiana Southern District Court – Indianapolis
• 30 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 28 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 22 Lawsuits: New Jersey District Court – Newark
• 22 Lawsuits: Wisconsin Eastern District Court – Milwaukee

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 68 Consumers: EDWARD T KANG
• Representing 49 Consumers: MOHAMMED OMAR BADWAN
• Representing 47 Consumers: AHMAD TAYSEER SULAIMAN
• Representing 33 Consumers: DANIEL JOHN MCGARRY
• Representing 28 Consumers: SERGEI LEMBERG
• Representing 26 Consumers: MATTHEW H HECTOR
• Representing 21 Consumers: JOHN THOMAS STEINKAMP
• Representing 21 Consumers: MICHAEL ANTHONY EADES
• Representing 20 Consumers: ARI HILLEL MARCUS
• Representing 19 Consumers: DANIEL A EDELMAN

Statistics Year to Date:

10552 total lawsuits for 2014, including:

• 8146 FDCPA
• 1942 FCRA
• 2069 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2014: 10321 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 443 Consumers: SERGEI LEMBERG
• Representing 207 Consumers: DAVID MICHAEL LARSON
• Representing 162 Consumers: JOHN THOMAS STEINKAMP
• Representing 153 Consumers: MICHAEL ANTHONY EADES
• Representing 146 Consumers: AHMAD TAYSEER SULAIMAN
• Representing 139 Consumers: DAVID J PHILIPPS
• Representing 138 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 136 Consumers: ANGIE K ROBERTSON
• Representing 135 Consumers: CRAIG THOR KIMMEL
• Representing 126 Consumers: ADAM JON FISHBEIN

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CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 3033 complaints filed against debt collectors in Oct 2014.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 743

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 928 Other (phone, health club, etc.) (31%)
• 666 Unknown (22%)
• 593 Credit card (20%)
• 398 Medical (13%)
• 181 Payday loan (6%)
• 88 Mortgage (3%)
• 69 Auto (2%)
• 56 Federal student loan (2%)
• 54 Non-federal student loan (2%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 1316 Cont’d attempts collect debt not owed (43%)
• 538 Communication tactics (18%)
• 479 Disclosure verification of debt (16%)
• 273 False statements or representation (9%)
• 232 Improper contact or sharing of info (8%)
• 195 Taking/threatening an illegal action (6%)

The top five subissues were:

• 812 Debt is not mine (27%)
• 375 Debt was paid (12%)
• 337 Frequent or repeated calls (11%)
• 307 Not given enough info to verify debt (10%)
• 192 Attempted to collect wrong amount (6%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 414 Complaints: CA
• 326 Complaints: TX
• 297 Complaints: FL
• 137 Complaints: NY
• 113 Complaints: NJ
• 110 Complaints: GA
• 107 Complaints: PA
• 103 Complaints: IL
• 99 Complaints: OH
• 78 Complaints: MD

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

• 2047 Closed with explanation (67%)
• 473 Closed with non-monetary relief (16%)
• 236 In progress (8%)
• 138 Closed (5%)
• 109 Untimely response (4%)
• 30 Closed with monetary relief (1%)

This includes 2829 (93%) timely responses to complaints, and 204 (7%) untimely responses.

Of the company responses, consumers accepted 0 (0%) of them, disputed 290 (10%) of them, and 2743 (90%) were N\A.

The top five days for complaints were:

• 151 Complaints: Wed, 10/15/2014
• 145 Complaints: Tue, 10/07/2014
• 139 Complaints: Thu, 10/02/2014
• 136 Complaints: Thu, 10/23/2014
• 135 Complaints: Mon, 10/20/2014

Quick analysis: After a slow, slow August, things seem to be snapping back into place with consumer litigation up across the board in September, though CFPB complaints do seem to be on a bit of a decline.

• CFPB complaints are down 22.4% from 3232 in August to 2640 in September (but this number is likely to go up by 200’ish over the next few weeks).
• FDCPA lawsuits are up 5.5% from 740 in August to 783 in September.
• FCRA lawsuits are up 11.9% from 156 in August to 177 in September.
• TCPA lawsuits are up 2.1% from 189 in August to 193 in September.

Year to date, everything except FDCPA is still up, with FDCPA litigation lagging 12% from this time last year.

Class Actions: Of the 783 FDCPA cases filed, 73 (9.3%) of them are class actions. Of the 177 FCRA lawsuits filed, 12 (6.2%) are class actions. And of the 193 TCPA lawsuits filed, 24 (13.6%) are class actions. The TCPA percentage is particularly high this month.

Repeat Filers: Finally, 31% of the consumers who filed litigation in August are considered repeat filers, having filed similar litigation in the past.

Complaint Statistics:

2640 consumers filed CFPB complaints against debt collectors and about 1072 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes in Sep 2014. Here is an approximate breakdown:

• 2640 CFPB Complaints
• 783 FDCPA, 73 Class Action (9.3%)
• 193 TCPA, 12 Class Action (6.2%)
• 177 FCRA, 24 Class Action (13.6%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 1072 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 336, or (31%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 1238 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 151 different US District Court branches.
• About 824 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 79 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 50 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 45 Lawsuits: Colorado District Court – Denver
• 39 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 36 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court – San Diego
• 36 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 29 Lawsuits: Indiana Southern District Court – Indianapolis
• 28 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Los Angeles
• 28 Lawsuits: Wisconsin Eastern District Court – Milwaukee
• 26 Lawsuits: Arizona District Court – Phoenix

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 39 Consumers: SERGEI LEMBERG
• Representing 21 Consumers: MOHAMMED OMAR BADWAN
• Representing 21 Consumers: AHMAD TAYSEER SULAIMAN
• Representing 20 Consumers: DANIEL JOHN MCGARRY
• Representing 19 Consumers: SHIREEN HORMOZDI
• Representing 18 Consumers: TRINETTE GRAGIRENA KENT
• Representing 17 Consumers: MICHAEL ANTHONY EADES
• Representing 17 Consumers: DAVID MICHAEL LARSON
• Representing 17 Consumers: JOHN D BLYTHIN
• Representing 17 Consumers: JOSHUA B SWIGART

Statistics Year to Date:

9394 total lawsuits for 2014, including:

• 7229 FDCPA
• 1714 FCRA
• 1908 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2014: 9211 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 415 Consumers: SERGEI LEMBERG
• Representing 204 Consumers: DAVID MICHAEL LARSON
• Representing 141 Consumers: JOHN THOMAS STEINKAMP
• Representing 132 Consumers: MICHAEL ANTHONY EADES
• Representing 130 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 125 Consumers: DAVID J PHILIPPS
• Representing 122 Consumers: ANGIE K ROBERTSON
• Representing 122 Consumers: ADAM JON FISHBEIN
• Representing 117 Consumers: CRAIG THOR KIMMEL
• Representing 106 Consumers: DANIEL A EDELMAN

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CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 2640 complaints filed against debt collectors in Sep 2014.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 670

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 782 Other (phone, health club, etc.) (30%)
• 577 Credit card (22%)
• 547 Unknown (21%)
• 345 Medical (13%)
• 150 Payday loan (6%)
• 91 Mortgage (3%)
• 65 Auto (2%)
• 44 Non-federal student loan (2%)
• 39 Federal student loan (1%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 1135 Cont’d attempts collect debt not owed (43%)
• 486 Communication tactics (18%)
• 414 Disclosure verification of debt (16%)
• 250 False statements or representation (9%)
• 179 Improper contact or sharing of info (7%)
• 176 Taking/threatening an illegal action (7%)

The top five subissues were:

• 695 Debt is not mine (26%)
• 304 Debt was paid (12%)
• 283 Frequent or repeated calls (11%)
• 261 Not given enough info to verify debt (10%)
• 195 Attempted to collect wrong amount (7%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 323 Complaints: CA
• 253 Complaints: TX
• 217 Complaints: FL
• 165 Complaints: NY
• 113 Complaints: GA
• 102 Complaints: NJ
• 101 Complaints: IL
• 97 Complaints: PA
• 82 Complaints: OH
• 75 Complaints: WA

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

• 1846 Closed with explanation (70%)
• 367 Closed with non-monetary relief (14%)
• 193 In progress (7%)
• 112 Closed (4%)
• 81 Untimely response (3%)
• 41 Closed with monetary relief (2%)

This includes 2495 (95%) timely responses to complaints, and 145 (5%) untimely responses.

Of the company responses, consumers accepted 0 (0%) of them, disputed 241 (9%) of them, and 2399 (91%) were N\A.

The top five days for complaints were:

• 140 Complaints: Thu, 09/04/2014
• 140 Complaints: Thu, 09/25/2014
• 133 Complaints: Tue, 09/02/2014
• 131 Complaints: Mon, 09/22/2014
• 125 Complaints: Thu, 09/18/2014

Quick analysis: For the first time in memory (and possibly ever), everything is down in August, including TCPA. And TCPA almost never goes down. Looks like everything took an August siesta this year.

• CFPB complaints are down 16.4% from 3472 in July to 2984 in August.
• FDCPA lawsuits are down 14.3% from 833 in July to 729 in August.
• FCRA lawsuits are down 34.4% from 207 in July to 154 in August.
• TCPA lawsuits are down 4.8% from 197 in July to 188 in August.

Year to date, however, everything except FDCPA is still up. FDCPA is still lagging 13.1% from this time last year.

Class Actions: Of the 729 FDCPA cases filed, 76 (10.4%) of them are class actions. Of the 154 FCRA lawsuits filed, 10 (6.5%) are class actions. And of the 188 TCPA lawsuits filed, 11 (5.9%) are class actions.

Repeat Filers: Finally, 29% of the consumers who filed litigation in August are considered repeat filers, having filed similar litigation in the past.

Complaint Statistics:

2984 consumers filed CFPB complaints against debt collectors and about 1001 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes in Aug 2014. Here is an approximate breakdown:

• 2984 CFPB Complaints
• 729 FDCPA, 76 Class Action (10.4%)
• 188 TCPA, 11 Class Action (5.9%)
• 154 FCRA, 10 Class Action (6.5%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 1001 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 295, or (29%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 1176 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 148 different US District Court branches.
• About 741 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 75 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 45 Lawsuits: Colorado District Court – Denver
• 38 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 36 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 28 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Los Angeles
• 26 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court – San Diego
• 25 Lawsuits: Minnesota District Court – Dmn
• 24 Lawsuits: Nevada District Court – Las Vegas
• 24 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 20 Lawsuits: Michigan Eastern District Court – Detroit

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 53 Consumers: SERGEI LEMBERG
• Representing 30 Consumers: MEREDITH B STEWART
• Representing 24 Consumers: DAVID MICHAEL LARSON
• Representing 18 Consumers: CRAIG THOR KIMMEL
• Representing 17 Consumers: DANIEL JOHN MCGARRY
• Representing 17 Consumers: MOHAMMED OMAR BADWAN
• Representing 17 Consumers: AHMAD TAYSEER SULAIMAN
• Representing 16 Consumers: DANIEL A EDELMAN
• Representing 14 Consumers: ANGIE K ROBERTSON
• Representing 14 Consumers: DAVID J PHILIPPS

Statistics Year to Date:

8318 total lawsuits for 2014, including:

• 6435 FDCPA
• 1535 FCRA
• 1714 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2014: 8230 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 376 Consumers: SERGEI LEMBERG
• Representing 186 Consumers: DAVID MICHAEL LARSON
• Representing 124 Consumers: JOHN THOMAS STEINKAMP
• Representing 124 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 117 Consumers: DAVID J PHILIPPS
• Representing 115 Consumers: MICHAEL ANTHONY EADES
• Representing 114 Consumers: ANGIE K ROBERTSON
• Representing 109 Consumers: ADAM JON FISHBEIN
• Representing 103 Consumers: CRAIG THOR KIMMEL
• Representing 92 Consumers: MARY ELIZABETH PHILIPPS

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CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 2984 complaints filed against debt collectors in Aug 2014.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 686

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 859 Other (phone, health club, etc.) (29%)
• 638 Unknown (21%)
• 634 Credit card (21%)
• 424 Medical (14%)
• 174 Payday loan (6%)
• 95 Mortgage (3%)
• 58 Non-federal student loan (2%)
• 52 Federal student loan (2%)
• 50 Auto (2%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 1289 Cont’d attempts collect debt not owed (43%)
• 525 Communication tactics (18%)
• 512 Disclosure verification of debt (17%)
• 245 False statements or representation (8%)
• 218 Improper contact or sharing of info (7%)
• 195 Taking/threatening an illegal action (7%)

The top five subissues were:

• 829 Debt is not mine (28%)
• 351 Debt was paid (12%)
• 341 Not given enough info to verify debt (11%)
• 325 Frequent or repeated calls (11%)
• 188 Attempted to collect wrong amount (6%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 441 Complaints: CA
• 283 Complaints: FL
• 265 Complaints: TX
• 149 Complaints: GA
• 140 Complaints: NY
• 108 Complaints: IL
• 103 Complaints: NJ
• 102 Complaints: OH
• 95 Complaints: VA
• 88 Complaints: PA

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

• 1991 Closed with explanation (67%)
• 504 Closed with non-monetary relief (17%)
• 231 In progress (8%)
• 125 Closed (4%)
• 101 Untimely response (3%)
• 32 Closed with monetary relief (1%)

This includes 2822 (95%) timely responses to complaints, and 162 (5%) untimely responses.

Of the company responses, consumers accepted 0 (0%) of them, disputed 241 (8%) of them, and 2743 (92%) were N\A.

The top five days for complaints were:

• 169 Complaints: Wed, 08/06/2014
• 155 Complaints: Wed, 08/20/2014
• 152 Complaints: Wed, 08/13/2014
• 147 Complaints: Tue, 08/12/2014
• 143 Complaints: Tue, 08/05/2014

Quick analysis: July is a milestone month for CFPB complaints against debt collectors, if only because we have reached the one-year mark for complaint reporting and can begin benchmarking year-over-year comparisons.

Having said that, month #1 for CFPB complaints against debt collectors (July 2013) was pretty tame with only 901 complaints filed – a number that we all know dramatically rises in the months to follow it.

July 2014 saw a strong 3269 complaints filed, though that was down a bit from the previous month with 3390 complaints filed in June (up from the reported 3336 a month ago)

On to the statutory horse race, We saw a second straight month of FDCPA gains, but the overall rate is still down double-digits YTD, at 12.4% below 2013.

FCRA and TCPA both showed a bit of volatility last month, with FCRA up over 15% and TCPA down almost 8% from July. Both are still significantly up YTD though, FCRA at 11.6% and TCPA up 33.6% over 2013.

Of the 828 FDCPA cases filed, 82 (9.9%) of them are class actions. Of the 202 FCRA lawsuits filed, 21 (10.4%) are class actions. And of the 196 TCPA lawsuits filed, 19 (9.7%) are class actions.

Finally, 32% of the consumers who filed litigation in July are considered repeat filers, having filed similar litigation in the past.

Complaint Statistics:

3269 consumers filed CFPB complaints against debt collectors and about 1146 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes in Jul 2014. Here is an approximate breakdown:

• 3269 CFPB Complaints
• 828 FDCPA
• 196 TCPA
• 202 FCRA

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 1146 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 365, or (32%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 1564 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 160 different US District Court branches.
• About 855 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 74 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 56 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 46 Lawsuits: Colorado District Court – Denver
• 44 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Los Angeles
• 33 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court – San Diego
• 33 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 31 Lawsuits: Michigan Eastern District Court – Detroit
• 26 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 25 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 22 Lawsuits: Florida Southern District Court – Fort Lauderdale

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 30 Consumers: SERGEI LEMBERG
• Representing 25 Consumers: DAVID MICHAEL LARSON
• Representing 23 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 20 Consumers: KRISTINA N KASTL
• Representing 20 Consumers: VICKI PIONTEK
• Representing 20 Consumers: MICHAEL P DOYLE
• Representing 20 Consumers: PATRICK M DENNIS
• Representing 19 Consumers: CRAIG THOR KIMMEL
• Representing 17 Consumers: ANGIE K ROBERTSON
• Representing 17 Consumers: DAVID J PHILIPPS

Statistics Year to Date:

7401 total lawsuits for 2014, including:

• 5701 FDCPA
• 1376 FCRA
• 1525 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2014: 7335 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 323 Consumers: SERGEI LEMBERG
• Representing 162 Consumers: DAVID MICHAEL LARSON
• Representing 116 Consumers: JOHN THOMAS STEINKAMP
• Representing 112 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 107 Consumers: MICHAEL ANTHONY EADES
• Representing 104 Consumers: ADAM JON FISHBEIN
• Representing 103 Consumers: DAVID J PHILIPPS
• Representing 100 Consumers: ANGIE K ROBERTSON
• Representing 85 Consumers: CRAIG THOR KIMMEL
• Representing 80 Consumers: MARY ELIZABETH PHILIPPS

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CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 3269 complaints filed against debt collectors in Jul 2014.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 717

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 886 Other (phone, health club, etc.) (27%)
• 712 Unknown (22%)
• 679 Credit card (21%)
• 407 Medical (12%)
• 263 Payday loan (8%)
• 105 Mortgage (3%)
• 87 Auto (3%)
• 74 Non-federal student loan (2%)
• 56 Federal student loan (2%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 1347 Cont’d attempts collect debt not owed (41%)
• 653 Communication tactics (20%)
• 563 Disclosure verification of debt (17%)
• 268 False statements or representation (8%)
• 239 Taking/threatening an illegal action (7%)
• 199 Improper contact or sharing of info (6%)

The top five subissues were:

• 829 Debt is not mine (25%)
• 405 Debt was paid (12%)
• 396 Not given enough info to verify debt (12%)
• 385 Frequent or repeated calls (12%)
• 209 Attempted to collect wrong amount (6%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 441 Complaints: CA
• 288 Complaints: TX
• 254 Complaints: FL
• 173 Complaints: NY
• 164 Complaints: GA
• 138 Complaints: OH
• 116 Complaints: NJ
• 115 Complaints: IL
• 113 Complaints: PA
• 106 Complaints: VA

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

• 2225 Closed with explanation (68%)
• 573 Closed with non-monetary relief (18%)
• 241 In progress (7%)
• 114 Closed (3%)
• 75 Untimely response (2%)
• 41 Closed with monetary relief (1%)

This includes 3132 (96%) timely responses to complaints, and 137 (4%) untimely responses.

Of the company responses, consumers accepted 0 (0%) of them, disputed 414 (13%) of them, and 2855 (87%) were N\A.

The top five days for complaints were:

• 174 Complaints: Mon, 07/07/2014
• 158 Complaints: Thu, 07/10/2014
• 157 Complaints: Thu, 07/24/2014
• 156 Complaints: Mon, 07/14/2014
• 155 Complaints: Wed, 07/09/2014

Quick analysis: In an interesting (yet relatively meaningless) twist, June 2014 FDCPA litigation is up but TCPA and FCRA litigation are down over May 2014.

FDCPA litigation had a relatively strong month with 806 suits filed, up 4% over 774 suits filed in May. TCPA and FCRA were both down a bit (particularly FCRA), with 4.3% and 21.9% drops, respectively. In YTD comparisons, FDCPA is closing the gap at 13.5% down against 2013 (down from 19.3% last month), TCPA is up 34.4% over 2013 and FCRA is up 11.2% over 2013.

Meanwhile, at the CFPB complaint database, complaints against debt collectors had a stronger month with, at reporting time, 3336 complaints filed. That number will rise over the coming weeks, making it a strong increase over May’s 3213 complaints, but still lower than April’s 3693 complaints and March’s 3598 complaints. Rounding out the year were February’s 3364 complaints and January’s 3271 complaints. To summarize, we have now had six months of complaint activity in the lower-mid 3000’s, and that trend appears to be sticking.

Litigation Statistics:

3336 consumers filed CFPB complaints against debt collectors and about 1081 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes in Jun 2014. Here is an approximate breakdown:

• 3336 CFPB Complaints
• 806 FDCPA
• 207 TCPA
• 169 FCRA

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 1081 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 364, or (34%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 1420 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 152 different US District Court branches.
• About 875 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 83 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 59 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 55 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 41 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court – San Diego
• 36 Lawsuits: Colorado District Court – Denver
• 35 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Los Angeles
• 31 Lawsuits: Minnesota District Court – Dmn
• 26 Lawsuits: Michigan Eastern District Court – Detroit
• 25 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 23 Lawsuits: Wisconsin Eastern District Court – Milwaukee

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 22 Consumers: CRAIG THOR KIMMEL
• Representing 20 Consumers: DAVID J PHILIPPS
• Representing 20 Consumers: ANGIE K ROBERTSON
• Representing 19 Consumers: DAVID MICHAEL LARSON
• Representing 19 Consumers: ADAM JON FISHBEIN
• Representing 17 Consumers: MARIO KRIS KASALO
• Representing 17 Consumers: JOHN D BLYTHIN
• Representing 16 Consumers: SHPETIM ADEMI
• Representing 15 Consumers: ARTURO ESTEBAN MATTHEWS
• Representing 15 Consumers: MARY ELIZABETH PHILIPPS

Statistics Year to Date:

6309 total lawsuits for 2014, including:

• 4864 FDCPA
• 1172 FCRA
• 1325 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2014: 6320 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 293 Consumers: SERGEI LEMBERG
• Representing 137 Consumers: DAVID MICHAEL LARSON
• Representing 107 Consumers: JOHN THOMAS STEINKAMP
• Representing 100 Consumers: ADAM JON FISHBEIN
• Representing 99 Consumers: MICHAEL ANTHONY EADES
• Representing 89 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 86 Consumers: DAVID J PHILIPPS
• Representing 83 Consumers: ANGIE K ROBERTSON
• Representing 71 Consumers: JOSHUA B SWIGART
• Representing 66 Consumers: CRAIG THOR KIMMEL

——————————————————————————————————-

CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 3336 complaints filed against debt collectors in Jun 2014.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 759

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 904 Other (phone, health club, etc.) (27%)
• 717 (21%)
• 702 Credit card (21%)
• 374 Medical (11%)
• 265 Payday loan (8%)
• 112 Mortgage (3%)
• 91 Non-federal student loan (3%)
• 86 Auto (3%)
• 85 Federal student loan (3%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 1334 Cont’d attempts collect debt not owed (40%)
• 668 Communication tactics (20%)
• 552 Disclosure verification of debt (17%)
• 292 False statements or representation (9%)
• 273 Improper contact or sharing of info (8%)
• 217 Taking/threatening an illegal action (7%)

The top five subissues were:

• 847 Debt is not mine (25%)
• 430 Not given enough info to verify debt (13%)
• 409 Frequent or repeated calls (12%)
• 364 Debt was paid (11%)
• 215 Attempted to collect wrong amount (6%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 428 Complaints: CA
• 368 Complaints: TX
• 296 Complaints: FL
• 177 Complaints: NY
• 128 Complaints: VA
• 124 Complaints: NJ
• 122 Complaints: GA
• 115 Complaints: PA
• 110 Complaints: IL
• 97 Complaints: NC

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

• 2264 Closed with explanation (68%)
• 629 Closed with non-monetary relief (19%)
• 199 In progress (6%)
• 122 Closed (4%)
• 61 Untimely response (2%)
• 61 Closed with monetary relief (2%)

This includes 3164 (95%) timely responses to complaints, and 172 (5%) untimely responses

Of the company responses, consumers accepted 2819 (85%) of them, and disputed 517 (15%) of them

The top five days for complaints were:

• 259 Complaints: Thu, 06/12/2014
• 158 Complaints: Thu, 06/19/2014
• 157 Complaints: Tue, 06/03/2014
• 152 Complaints: Thu, 06/05/2014
• 151 Complaints: Wed, 06/18/2014

Quick analysis: May was a light month all around for consumer complaints, with the notable exception of FCRA complaints which had a slight increase of 3.4%.

CFPB complaints (down 15.8%), FDCPA (down 15.4%) and surprisingly TCPA (down 8.3%) all showed declines compared to the prior month, though FCRA and TCPA litigation are both still up very significantly over this time last year (up 11% and 32.1%, respectively).

FDCPA litigation continues its gradual slide, down 19.3% over this time last year.

Litigation Statistics:

3188 consumers filed CFPB complaints against debt collectors and about 1122 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes in May 2014. Here is an approximate breakdown:

• 3188 CFPB Complaints
• 774 FDCPA
• 216 TCPA
• 206 FCRA

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 1122 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 386, or (34%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 2022 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 156 different US District Court branches.
• About 1060 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 59 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 54 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 46 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 46 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Los Angeles
• 40 Lawsuits: Colorado District Court – Denver
• 30 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 29 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court – San Diego
• 28 Lawsuits: Virginia Eastern District Court – Alexandria
• 27 Lawsuits: Indiana Southern District Court – Indianapolis
• 22 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 30 Consumers: SERGEI LEMBERG
• Representing 29 Consumers: ADAM JON FISHBEIN
• Representing 24 Consumers: THOMAS RAY BREEDEN
• Representing 17 Consumers: JOHN THOMAS STEINKAMP
• Representing 17 Consumers: DAVID MICHAEL LARSON
• Representing 15 Consumers: SHIREEN HORMOZDI
• Representing 15 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 15 Consumers: JOSHUA B SWIGART
• Representing 15 Consumers: MICHAEL ANTHONY EADES
• Representing 14 Consumers: STUART A EISENBERG

Statistics Year to Date:
5293 total lawsuits for 2014, including:

• 4058 FDCPA
• 1003 FCRA
• 1118 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2014: 5360 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 281 Consumers: SERGEI LEMBERG
• Representing 118 Consumers: DAVID MICHAEL LARSON
• Representing 92 Consumers: JOHN THOMAS STEINKAMP
• Representing 89 Consumers: MICHAEL ANTHONY EADES
• Representing 81 Consumers: ADAM JON FISHBEIN
• Representing 80 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 66 Consumers: DAVID J PHILIPPS
• Representing 63 Consumers: ANGIE K ROBERTSON
• Representing 61 Consumers: JOSHUA B SWIGART
• Representing 60 Consumers: ERIKSON M DAVIS

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

There were 3188 complaints filed against debt collectors in May 2014.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 701

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 834 Other (phone, health club, etc.) (26%)
• 704 (22%)
• 648 Credit card (20%)
• 321 Medical (10%)
• 282 Payday loan (9%)
• 149 Mortgage (5%)
• 104 Auto (3%)
• 76 Federal student loan (2%)
• 70 Non-federal student loan (2%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 1234 Cont’d attempts collect debt not owed (39%)
• 632 Communication tactics (20%)
• 571 Disclosure verification of debt (18%)
• 285 Improper contact or sharing of info (9%)
• 234 False statements or representation (7%)
• 232 Taking/threatening an illegal action (7%)

The top five subissues were:

• 771 Debt is not mine (24%)
• 409 Not given enough info to verify debt (13%)
• 407 Frequent or repeated calls (13%)
• 334 Debt was paid (10%)
• 176 Attempted to collect wrong amount (6%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 454 Complaints: CA
• 320 Complaints: TX
• 282 Complaints: FL
• 176 Complaints: NY
• 131 Complaints: GA
• 120 Complaints: PA
• 114 Complaints: IL
• 105 Complaints: OH
• 98 Complaints: NJ
• 93 Complaints: VA

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

• 2211 Closed with explanation (69%)
• 546 Closed with non-monetary relief (17%)
• 187 In progress (6%)
• 130 Closed (4%)
• 60 Untimely response (2%)
• 54 Closed with monetary relief (2%)

This includes 3032 (95%) timely responses to complaints, and 156 (5%) untimely responses

Of the company responses, consumers accepted 2659 (83%) of them, and disputed 529 (17%) of them

The top five days for complaints were:

• 179 Complaints: Wed, 05/07/2014
• 169 Complaints: Mon, 05/19/2014
• 168 Complaints: Wed, 05/14/2014
• 165 Complaints: Tue, 05/13/2014
• 158 Complaints: Tue, 05/06/2014

Quick analysis: Overall, it was a fairly strong month for consumer complaints. FDCPA litigation had a rare rally, with an 8% increase at 947 lawsuits (over 875 the previous month, which itself was a strong number). It was not enough to decrease the YTD decline over 2013, but that is primarily because April 2013 was also a very strong month with 1140 lawsuits filed. FCRA was a bit down, but TCPA dominated the month by officially overtaking FCRA as the #2 category in raw numbers, after FDCPA.

CFPB complaints were also strong, tracking just a bit lower (1%) than the previous month. However, if the pattern holds with CFPB complaint, that number will continue to rise over the coming weeks and will probably turn into an increase by this time next month.

Litigation Statistics:

3582 consumers filed CFPB complaints against debt collectors and about 1257 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes in April 2014. Here is an approximate breakdown:

• 3582 CFPB Complaints
• 947 FDCPA
• 235 TCPA
• 213 FCRA

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 1257 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 2289 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 167 different US District Court branches.
• About 906 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 75 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 54 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 49 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 41 Lawsuits: Colorado District Court – Denver
• 39 Lawsuits: Indiana Southern District Court – Indianapolis
• 37 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Los Angeles
• 37 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court – San Diego
• 32 Lawsuits: Minnesota District Court – Dmn
• 25 Lawsuits: Florida Southern District Court – Miami
• 23 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 73 Consumers: Sergei Lemberg
• Representing 28 Consumers: John Thomas Steinkamp
• Representing 27 Consumers: David Michael Larson
• Representing 27 Consumers: Michael Anthony Eades
• Representing 23 Consumers: Robert Knox Tinkham
• Representing 19 Consumers: Mark D Mailman
• Representing 18 Consumers: David J Philipps
• Representing 18 Consumers: Angie K Robertson
• Representing 17 Consumers: Todd M Friedman
• Representing 16 Consumers: Mario Kris Kasalo

Statistics Year to Date:
4111 total lawsuits for 2014, including:

• 3294 FDCPA
• 908 FCRA
• 802 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs: 4339 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 254 Consumers: Sergei Lemberg
• Representing 101 Consumers: David Michael Larson
• Representing 75 Consumers: John Thomas Steinkamp
• Representing 74 Consumers: Michael Anthony Eades
• Representing 65 Consumers: Todd M Friedman
• Representing 60 Consumers: Erikson M Davis
• Representing 56 Consumers: David J Philipps
• Representing 53 Consumers: Angie K Robertson
• Representing 52 Consumers: Adam Jon Fishbein
• Representing 46 Consumers: Joshua B Swigart

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

There were 3582 complaints filed against debt collectors in April 2014.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 741

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 994 Other (phone, health club, etc.) (27.7%)
• 748 Credit card (20.9%)
• 743 Unknown (20.7%)
• 347 Medical (9.7%)
• 304 Payday loan (8.5%)
• 172 Mortgage (4.8%)
• 104 Auto (2.9%)
• 91 Non-federal student loan (2.5%)
• 79 Federal student loan (2.2%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 1321 Cont’d attempts collect debt not owed (36.9%)
• 714 Communication tactics (19.9%)
• 637 Disclosure verification of debt (17.8%)
• 332 False statements or representation (9.3%)
• 300 Improper contact or sharing of info (8.4%)
• 278 Taking/threatening an illegal action (7.8%)

The top five subissues were:

• 802 Debt is not mine (22.4%)
• 458 Not given enough info to verify debt (12.8%)
• 440 Frequent or repeated calls (12.3%)
• 392 Debt was paid (10.9%)
• 256 Attempted to collect wrong amount (7.1%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 454 Complaints: CA
• 359 Complaints: FL
• 338 Complaints: TX
• 241 Complaints: NY
• 145 Complaints: OH
• 134 Complaints: IL
• 134 Complaints: NJ
• 127 Complaints: PA
• 122 Complaints: GA
• 99 Complaints: VA

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

• 2396 Closed with explanation (66.9%)
• 582 Closed with non-monetary relief (16.2%)
• 305 In progress (8.5%)
• 130 Untimely response (3.6%)
• 112 Closed (3.1%)
• 57 Closed with monetary relief (1.6%)

This includes 3300 (92.1%) timely responses to complaints, and 282 (7.9%) untimely responses

Of the company responses, consumers accepted 3043 (85%) of them, and disputed 539 (15%) of them

The top five days for complaints were:

• 184 Complaints: Wed, 04/23/2014
• 176 Complaints: Tue, 04/29/2014
• 166 Complaints: Thu, 04/10/2014
• 164 Complaints: Thu, 04/17/2014
• 164 Complaints: Mon, 04/07/2014