Blog/ Litigation Stats

Quick analysis: Quick analysis: Mixed Results

Well, it was bound to happen. Statistically speaking, anyway. For the first time I can remember in nearly 15 years of tracking these numbers, we had a 0.0% month-over-month change in one of the statutes (TCPA). Relevant? No. Meaningful? Also no. But interesting to me nonetheless, and since I write these things, it gets top billing. 🙂

After an all- down month in June, July’s numbers were decidedly more mixed. FDCPA (+2.8%) and FCRA (+2.4%) were up slightly while TCPA (0.0%) had no change whatsover. Year-to-date, the script was flipped with FDCPA (-24.1%) and FCRA (-6.4%) both down while TCPA (+16.8) is up.

CFPB complaints against collectors and creditors were down again both for the month (-8.4%) and for the year (-8.2%).

In other news, putative class actions represented 7.3% of FDCPA, 66.2% of TCPA (!) and 2.2% of FCRA lawsuits filed last month. About 41% of all plaintiffs who filed suit last month had filed at least once before. And finally, Tampa-area attorney Octavio Gomez represented the most consumers in July (23) while Atlanta attorney Matthew Thomas Berry has represented the most consumers YTD (112) so far in 2023.

Complaint Statistics:

5174 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 791 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Jul 01, 2023 to Jul 31, 2023.

• 5174 CFPB Complaints
• 327 FDCPA, 24 Class Action (7.3%)
• 148 TCPA, 98 Class Action (66.2%)
• 462 FCRA, 10 Class Action (2.2%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 791 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 322, or (41%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 2907 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 146 different US District Court branches.
• About 621 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 55 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 41 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 28 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 26 Lawsuits: Texas Northern District Court – Dallas
• 21 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 19 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
• 19 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Orlando
• 19 Lawsuits: Texas Southern District Court – Houston
• 19 Lawsuits: Iowa Southern District Court – Central
• 18 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court – San Diego

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 23 Consumers: OCTAVIO GOMEZ
• Representing 16 Consumers: JOSEPH POWELL MCCLELLAND
• Representing 13 Consumers: JOEL SPENCER HALVORSEN
• Representing 13 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 13 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 9 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 9 Consumers: JOHN THOMAS STEINKAMP
• Representing 9 Consumers: DAVID J PHILIPPS
• Representing 9 Consumers: NKEM AMADI HOUSE
• Representing 9 Consumers: YITZCHAK ZELMAN

Statistics Year to Date:
5688 total lawsuits for 2023, including:

• 2279 FDCPA
• 3152 FCRA
• 1009 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2023: 5132 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 112 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 99 Consumers: OCTAVIO GOMEZ
• Representing 84 Consumers: JOSEPH POWELL MCCLELLAND
• Representing 76 Consumers: CHRISTOPHER NEIL ARMOR
• Representing 72 Consumers: DAVID J PHILIPPS
• Representing 67 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 65 Consumers: JOEL SPENCER HALVORSEN
• Representing 64 Consumers: ALLEN EDGAR ROBERTSON
• Representing 59 Consumers: AHREN A TILLER
• Representing 59 Consumers: KYLE W SCHUMACHER

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CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 5174 complaints filed against debt collectors from Jul 01, 2023 to Jul 31, 2023.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 750

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 1495 Other debt (29%)
• 1408 I do not know (27%)
• 1297 Credit card debt (25%)
• 501 Medical debt (10%)
• 247 Auto debt (5%)
• 95 Payday loan debt (2%)
• 60 Mortgage debt (1%)
• 46 Private student loan debt (1%)
• 25 Federal student loan debt (0%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 2904 Attempts to collect debt not owed (56%)
• 804 Written notification about debt (16%)
• 522 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (10%)
• 441 False statements or representation (9%)
• 395 Communication tactics (8%)
• 108 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (2%)

The top five subissues were:

• 1440 Debt is not yours (28%)
• 986 Debt was result of identity theft (19%)
• 511 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (10%)
• 384 Debt was paid (7%)
• 328 Attempted to collect wrong amount (6%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 655 Complaints: TX
• 619 Complaints: FL
• 474 Complaints: CA
• 399 Complaints: GA
• 289 Complaints: NY
• 219 Complaints: IL
• 203 Complaints: NC
• 194 Complaints: PA
• 149 Complaints: OH
• 141 Complaints: MI

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

• 3818 Closed with explanation (74%)
• 805 In progress (16%)
• 486 Closed with non-monetary relief (9%)
• 42 Untimely response (1%)
• 23 Closed with monetary relief (0%)

This includes 5087 (98%) timely responses to complaints, and 87 (2%) untimely responses.

Quick analysis: Another “Down” Month

Alright, this is kind of funny. The numbers have been swinging pretty wildly this year so far, because I just looked over the headlines of each month’s blog post and this is what they say:

• Jan: WebRecon Stats: 2023 Starts With Some Bite (Lawsuits Up)
• Feb: Feb 2023 WebRecon Stats: The Red Sea (Everything is down)
• Mar: WebRecon March 2023 Stats: Increased Complaints Across the Board
• Apr: WebRecon April 2023 Stats: Everything Down Again
• May: WebRecon May 2023 Stats: Everything Up Again
• And for June: WebRecon June 2023 Stats: Another “Down” Month

Seeing the pattern here? After everything was up in May, June’s numbers all dropped again. FDCPA (-3.6%), FCRA (-10.5%) and TCPA (-33.9%) were all down for the month, and FDCPA (-27%) and FCRA (-7.8%) are both down YTD as well – a surprising twist for FCRA year-over-year trending. Only TCPA (+17.1%) was up YTD, primarily due to a big plaintiff-boost last month in a few suits.

CFPB complaints against collectors and creditors were down both for the month (-12.5%) and for the year (-12.2%).

In other news, putative class actions represented 8.2% of FDCPA, 58.1% of TCPA (!) and 1.4% of FCRA lawsuits filed last month. About 37% of all plaintiffs who filed suit last month had filed at least once before. And finally, Chicago-area attorney James Parr represented the most consumers in June (28) while Atlanta attorney Matthew Thomas Berry has represented the most consumers YTD (99) so far in 2023.

Complaint Statistics:

5190 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 784 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Jun 01, 2023 to Jun 30, 2023.

• 5190 CFPB Complaints
• 318 FDCPA, 26 Class Action (8.2%)
• 148 TCPA, 86 Class Action (58.1%)
• 451 FCRA, 10 Class Action (2.2%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 784 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 288, or (37%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 2706 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 139 different US District Court branches.
• About 541 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 66 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 37 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 37 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 28 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 26 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
• 22 Lawsuits: Texas Northern District Court – Dallas
• 21 Lawsuits: Texas Southern District Court – Houston
• 19 Lawsuits: Indiana Southern District Court – Indianapolis
• 19 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Orlando
• 19 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Southern Division – Santa Ana

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 28 Consumers: JAMES J PARR
• Representing 27 Consumers: OCTAVIO GOMEZ
• Representing 15 Consumers: JOSEPH POWELL MCCLELLAND
• Representing 12 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 11 Consumers: ALLEN EDGAR ROBERTSON
• Representing 11 Consumers: SHAWN SHAWN JAFFER
• Representing 11 Consumers: M STAN HERRING
• Representing 11 Consumers: JOHN G WATTS
• Representing 11 Consumers: FRANK H KERNEY
• Representing 10 Consumers: GREGORY MICHAEL KLOTE

Statistics Year to Date:
4858 total lawsuits for 2023, including:

• 1951 FDCPA
• 2690 FCRA
• 861 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2023: 4436 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 99 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 76 Consumers: OCTAVIO GOMEZ
• Representing 69 Consumers: CHRISTOPHER NEIL ARMOR
• Representing 68 Consumers: JOSEPH POWELL MCCLELLAND
• Representing 63 Consumers: ALLEN EDGAR ROBERTSON
• Representing 63 Consumers: DAVID J PHILIPPS
• Representing 56 Consumers: SHAWN SHAWN JAFFER
• Representing 55 Consumers: AHREN A TILLER
• Representing 54 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 52 Consumers: JOEL SPENCER HALVORSEN

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CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 5190 complaints filed against debt collectors from Jun 01, 2023 to Jun 30, 2023.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 751

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 1589 Other debt (31%)
• 1416 I do not know (27%)
• 1165 Credit card debt (22%)
• 527 Medical debt (10%)
• 277 Auto debt (5%)
• 105 Payday loan debt (2%)
• 52 Mortgage debt (1%)
• 33 Private student loan debt (1%)
• 26 Federal student loan debt (1%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 2772 Attempts to collect debt not owed (53%)
• 890 Written notification about debt (17%)
• 542 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (10%)
• 470 False statements or representation (9%)
• 435 Communication tactics (8%)
• 81 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (2%)

The top five subissues were:

• 1459 Debt is not yours (28%)
• 863 Debt was result of identity theft (17%)
• 584 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (11%)
• 362 Attempted to collect wrong amount (7%)
• 361 Debt was paid (7%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 633 Complaints: TX
• 620 Complaints: FL
• 415 Complaints: CA
• 391 Complaints: GA
• 238 Complaints: NY
• 234 Complaints: PA
• 220 Complaints: IL
• 180 Complaints: NC
• 171 Complaints: NJ
• 156 Complaints: TN

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

• 3853 Closed with explanation (74%)
• 796 In progress (15%)
• 481 Closed with non-monetary relief (9%)
• 42 Untimely response (1%)
• 18 Closed with monetary relief (0%)

This includes 5089 (98%) timely responses to complaints, and 101 (2%) untimely responses.

Quick analysis: After a slowdown in April, everything jumped up in May. How high? FDCPA was up +14.1%, FCRA was up +20% and TCPA was up a whopping 98.2%. YTD cases are still down in two out of three of those, with FDCPA down -28.5% and FCRA down -8.5% over 2022, while TCPA’s big month propelled it to a YTD gain of +17.6%.

Meanwhile, CFPB ticked down -.7% over the previous month and are down -15.4% for the year so far.

In other news, putative class actions represented 7.3% of FDCPA, 29.5% of TCPA and 1.4% of FCRA lawsuits filed last month. About 38% of all plaintiffs who filed suit last month had filed at least once before. And finally, Idaho attorneys Marta May Horton & Rafael Antonio Icaza and Utah attorney Rebecca Evans share credit for the most consumers represented in May (51) thanks to one big suit they represented together while Atlanta attorney Matthew Thomas Berry has represented the most consumers YTD (87) so far in 2023.

Complaint Statistics:

5521 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 939 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from May 01, 2023 to May 31, 2023.

• 5521 CFPB Complaints
• 331 FDCPA, 24 Class Action (7.3%)
• 224 TCPA, 66 Class Action (29.5%)
• 504 FCRA, 7 Class Action (1.4%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 939 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 360, or (38%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 3017 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 156 different US District Court branches.
• About 669 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 60 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 44 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 40 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
• 33 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 25 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court – San Diego
• 21 Lawsuits: Florida Southern District Court – Fort Lauderdale
• 21 Lawsuits: Texas Northern District Court – Dallas
• 20 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Southern Division – Santa Ana
• 19 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 18 Lawsuits: Texas Western District Court – El Paso

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 51 Consumers: MARTA MAY HORTON
• Representing 51 Consumers: REBECCA EVANS
• Representing 51 Consumers: RAFAEL ANTONIO ICAZA
• Representing 49 Consumers: BENNETT HARTZ
• Representing 49 Consumers: ERIN BRIDGET LEAHY
• Representing 49 Consumers: GREGORY A MYSZKOWSKI
• Representing 49 Consumers: LINDSAY S DAWSON
• Representing 49 Consumers: CHRISTOPHER JJ LEONG
• Representing 49 Consumers: MICHAELA J HOHWIELER
• Representing 49 Consumers: KRISTIN SIMONS

Statistics Year to Date:
4022 total lawsuits for 2023, including:

• 1621 FDCPA
• 2229 FCRA
• 708 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2023: 3695 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 87 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 59 Consumers: CHRISTOPHER NEIL ARMOR
• Representing 54 Consumers: DAVID J PHILIPPS
• Representing 54 Consumers: JOSEPH POWELL MCCLELLAND
• Representing 52 Consumers: ALLEN EDGAR ROBERTSON
• Representing 51 Consumers: REBECCA EVANS
• Representing 51 Consumers: RAFAEL ANTONIO ICAZA
• Representing 51 Consumers: MARTA MAY HORTON
• Representing 49 Consumers: ELIN ALM
• Representing 49 Consumers: MINA SHAHIN

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CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 5521 complaints filed against debt collectors from May 01, 2023 to May 31, 2023.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 774

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 1725 Other debt (31%)
• 1469 I do not know (27%)
• 1243 Credit card debt (23%)
• 571 Medical debt (10%)
• 258 Auto debt (5%)
• 115 Payday loan debt (2%)
• 89 Mortgage debt (2%)
• 29 Private student loan debt (1%)
• 22 Federal student loan debt (0%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 2972 Attempts to collect debt not owed (54%)
• 963 Written notification about debt (17%)
• 577 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (10%)
• 574 False statements or representation (10%)
• 327 Communication tactics (6%)
• 108 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (2%)

The top five subissues were:

• 1493 Debt is not yours (27%)
• 982 Debt was result of identity theft (18%)
• 637 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (12%)
• 410 Debt was paid (7%)
• 379 Attempted to collect wrong amount (7%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 660 Complaints: TX
• 630 Complaints: FL
• 534 Complaints: CA
• 381 Complaints: GA
• 290 Complaints: NY
• 227 Complaints: IL
• 217 Complaints: PA
• 184 Complaints: NC
• 176 Complaints: NJ
• 170 Complaints: OH

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

• 4081 Closed with explanation (74%)
• 915 In progress (17%)
• 467 Closed with non-monetary relief (8%)
• 45 Untimely response (1%)
• 13 Closed with monetary relief (0%)

This includes 5418 (98%) timely responses to complaints, and 103 (2%) untimely responses.

Quick analysis: In April, everything was down again (mostly by double digits) after a short March rebound. How far down? FDCPA was down -16.2% for the month and -18.3% YTD. FCRA was down -10.1% for the month and -30.2% YTD. And TCPA was down -16.9% for the month, but was the only one still up a bit YTD – +2.5% over April 2022. CFPB complaints were also down, -16.2% for the month and -18.3% YTD.

In other news, putative class actions represented 6.6% of FDCPA, 46.9% of TCPA and 1.6% of FCRA lawsuits filed last month. About 43% of all plaintiffs who filed suit last month had filed at least once before. And finally, Atlanta attorney Matthew Thomas Berry represented the most consumers in March (25) as well as the most consumers YTD (71) so far in 2023.

Complaint Statistics:

5325 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 714 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Apr 01, 2023 to Apr 30, 2023.

• 5325 CFPB Complaints
• 290 FDCPA, 19 Class Action (6.6%)
• 113 TCPA, 53 Class Action (46.9%)
• 426 FCRA, 7 Class Action (1.6%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 714 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 310, or (43%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 3444 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 138 different US District Court branches.
• About 516 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 59 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 39 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 38 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
• 27 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 23 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Southern Division – Santa Ana
• 20 Lawsuits: Minnesota District Court – Dmn
• 19 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 19 Lawsuits: Texas Northern District Court – Dallas
• 16 Lawsuits: Texas Western District Court – Austin
• 16 Lawsuits: Florida Southern District Court – Miami

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 25 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 20 Consumers: CHRISTOPHER NEIL ARMOR
• Representing 18 Consumers: JOEL SPENCER HALVORSEN
• Representing 14 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 14 Consumers: OCTAVIO GOMEZ
• Representing 13 Consumers: ALLEN EDGAR ROBERTSON
• Representing 10 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 10 Consumers: SHAWN SHAWN JAFFER
• Representing 10 Consumers: GARRETT FORRESTER CHARITY
• Representing 9 Consumers: ROBERT LEACH

Statistics Year to Date:
3158 total lawsuits for 2023, including:

• 1298 FDCPA
• 1734 FCRA
• 489 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2023: 2858 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 71 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 50 Consumers: DAVID J PHILIPPS
• Representing 47 Consumers: ALLEN EDGAR ROBERTSON
• Representing 47 Consumers: CHRISTOPHER NEIL ARMOR
• Representing 41 Consumers: JOEL SPENCER HALVORSEN
• Representing 40 Consumers: SHAWN SHAWN JAFFER
• Representing 38 Consumers: JOSEPH POWELL MCCLELLAND
• Representing 38 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 37 Consumers: KYLE W SCHUMACHER
• Representing 37 Consumers: AHREN A TILLER

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CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 5325 complaints filed against debt collectors from Apr 01, 2023 to Apr 30, 2023.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 733

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 1612 Other debt (30%)
• 1358 Credit card debt (26%)
• 1280 I do not know (24%)
• 568 Medical debt (11%)
• 258 Auto debt (5%)
• 107 Payday loan debt (2%)
• 77 Mortgage debt (1%)
• 35 Private student loan debt (1%)
• 30 Federal student loan debt (1%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 2804 Attempts to collect debt not owed (53%)
• 933 Written notification about debt (18%)
• 627 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (12%)
• 438 False statements or representation (8%)
• 430 Communication tactics (8%)
• 93 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (2%)

The top five subissues were:

• 1452 Debt is not yours (27%)
• 859 Debt was result of identity theft (16%)
• 608 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (11%)
• 413 Debt was paid (8%)
• 343 Attempted to collect wrong amount (6%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 686 Complaints: TX
• 644 Complaints: FL
• 452 Complaints: CA
• 408 Complaints: GA
• 298 Complaints: NY
• 220 Complaints: IL
• 201 Complaints: NC
• 162 Complaints: PA
• 161 Complaints: NJ
• 150 Complaints: MI

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

• 3975 Closed with explanation (75%)
• 755 In progress (14%)
• 522 Closed with non-monetary relief (10%)
• 40 Closed with monetary relief (1%)
• 33 Untimely response (1%)

This includes 5213 (98%) timely responses to complaints, and 112 (2%) untimely responses.

Quick analysis: Increased Complaints Across the Board

In March, some ground was made up against February’s much lower-than-normal numbers with FDCPA (+9.5%), FCRA (+20.9%) and FCRA (+27.1%) all way up over the previous month, and CFPB complaints even got in on the action with a +15% increase as well.

Year-to-date, FDCPA (-31.8%) and FCRA (-9.4%) are still down from this time last year, while TCPA for a change is up YTD by +4.4%. CFPB complaints are also down YTD by -18.8%.

In other news, putative class actions represented 10.7% of FDCPA, 47.1% of TCPA and 4% of FCRA lawsuits filed last month. About 40% of all plaintiffs who filed suit last month had filed at least once before. And finally, Atlanta attorney Matthew Thomas Berry represented the most consumers in March (25) while Chicago attorney David J. Phillips has represented the most consumers YTD (47) so far in 2023.

Complaint Statistics:

6108 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 837 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Mar 01, 2023 to Mar 31, 2023.

• 6108 CFPB Complaints
• 346 FDCPA, 37 Class Action (10.7%)
• 136 TCPA, 64 Class Action (47.1%)
• 474 FCRA, 19 Class Action (4.0%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 837 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 334, or (40%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 9858 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 148 different US District Court branches.
• About 616 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 59 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 43 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 33 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 32 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court – San Diego
• 27 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 26 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Orlando
• 25 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Southern Division – Santa Ana
• 22 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
• 21 Lawsuits: Texas Southern District Court – Houston
• 20 Lawsuits: Texas Northern District Court – Dallas

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 25 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 19 Consumers: CHRISTOPHER NEIL ARMOR
• Representing 16 Consumers: KYLE W SCHUMACHER
• Representing 16 Consumers: AHREN A TILLER
• Representing 12 Consumers: DAVID J PHILIPPS
• Representing 11 Consumers: SHAWN SHAWN JAFFER
• Representing 11 Consumers: YAAKOV SAKS
• Representing 11 Consumers: PHILLIP WESLEY POOL
• Representing 11 Consumers: ALLEN EDGAR ROBERTSON
• Representing 10 Consumers: YOUSSEF HUSSEIN HAMMOUD

Statistics Year to Date:
2411 total lawsuits for 2023, including:

• 1008 FDCPA
• 1308 FCRA
• 376 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2023: 2216 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 47 Consumers: DAVID J PHILIPPS
• Representing 46 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 34 Consumers: ALLEN EDGAR ROBERTSON
• Representing 33 Consumers: JOSEPH POWELL MCCLELLAND
• Representing 32 Consumers: KYLE W SCHUMACHER
• Representing 31 Consumers: AHREN A TILLER
• Representing 30 Consumers: PHILLIP WESLEY POOL
• Representing 30 Consumers: SHAWN SHAWN JAFFER
• Representing 27 Consumers: CHRISTOPHER NEIL ARMOR
• Representing 26 Consumers: YAAKOV SAKS

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CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 6108 complaints filed against debt collectors from Mar 01, 2023 to Mar 31, 2023.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 830

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 1780 Other debt (29%)
• 1639 I do not know (27%)
• 1246 Credit card debt (20%)
• 873 Medical debt (14%)
• 294 Auto debt (5%)
• 130 Payday loan debt (2%)
• 74 Mortgage debt (1%)
• 44 Private student loan debt (1%)
• 28 Federal student loan debt (0%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 3257 Attempts to collect debt not owed (53%)
• 1149 Written notification about debt (19%)
• 603 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (10%)
• 535 False statements or representation (9%)
• 436 Communication tactics (7%)
• 128 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (2%)

The top five subissues were:

• 1728 Debt is not yours (28%)
• 960 Debt was result of identity theft (16%)
• 788 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (13%)
• 460 Debt was paid (8%)
• 410 Attempted to collect wrong amount (7%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 703 Complaints: TX
• 649 Complaints: FL
• 578 Complaints: CA
• 436 Complaints: GA
• 315 Complaints: IL
• 299 Complaints: NY
• 226 Complaints: PA
• 209 Complaints: NJ
• 202 Complaints: TN
• 201 Complaints: OH

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

• 4585 Closed with explanation (75%)
• 883 In progress (14%)
• 534 Closed with non-monetary relief (9%)
• 81 Untimely response (1%)
• 25 Closed with monetary relief (0%)

This includes 5956 (98%) timely responses to complaints, and 152 (2%) untimely responses.

Quick analysis: The Red Sea

It may have happened once or twice over the years, I’m not even sure (and who has the time to go through all of those blog posts?) but even if so, it’s exceedingly rare. February 2023 saw every category in our famous consumer complaint grid turn red, meaning all TCPA, FDCPA and FCRA lawsuits were down from the previous month, the same month in the previous year, and year-to-date. And CFPB complaints were down in all three categories as well. It’s quite a sight to see.

While it’s still too early to draw meaningful trends out of the data for this year, it is notable that TCPA claims (-.8%) – which have been on a downward trajectory for the last couple of years – are running neck and neck with the first two months of 2022. And FDCPA claims (-23.5%) – which have been on a downward trajectory for several years – continue that pattern with way fewer suits than in the first two months of 2022. Even FCRA (-13.1%) which has been the only statute with a consistently growing number of claims is down by double digits over this time in 2022. And CFPB complaints are down too – a not-insignificant -23.5% YTD.

All in all, with so many things to be concerned about in the regulated industries we track complaints for, this is a moment worth celebrating. Probably a fleeting one though – so enjoy it while it’s here!

In other news, putative class actions represented 11.7% of FDCPA, 50.5% of TCPA and 2.9% of FCRA lawsuits filed last month. About 42% of all plaintiffs who filed suit last month had filed at least once before. And finally, Chicago-area attorney David J. Phillips has represented the most consumers in February (18) and YTD so far (35) in 2023.

Complaint Statistics:

5170 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 680 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Feb 01, 2023 to Feb 28, 2023.

• 5170 CFPB Complaints
• 315 FDCPA, 37 Class Action (11.7%)
• 105 TCPA, 53 Class Action (50.5%)
• 383 FCRA, 11 Class Action (2.9%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 680 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 284, or (42%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 1835 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 141 different US District Court branches.
• About 525 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 36 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 35 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 30 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 26 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 24 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
• 22 Lawsuits: Texas Northern District Court – Dallas
• 19 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 19 Lawsuits: Minnesota District Court – Dmn
• 18 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Orlando
• 18 Lawsuits: Indiana Southern District Court – Indianapolis

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 18 Consumers: DAVID J PHILIPPS
• Representing 13 Consumers: ALLEN EDGAR ROBERTSON
• Representing 11 Consumers: SHAWN SHAWN JAFFER
• Representing 10 Consumers: MARY E PHILIPPS
• Representing 10 Consumers: YOUSSEF HUSSEIN HAMMOUD
• Representing 9 Consumers: PHILLIP WESLEY POOL
• Representing 9 Consumers: JOSEPH BRIAN ANGELO
• Representing 9 Consumers: KYLE W SCHUMACHER
• Representing 8 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 8 Consumers: ROBERT LEACH

Statistics Year to Date:
1524 total lawsuits for 2023, including:

• 658 FDCPA
• 822 FCRA
• 238 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2023: 1425 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 35 Consumers: DAVID J PHILIPPS
• Representing 24 Consumers: JOSEPH POWELL MCCLELLAND
• Representing 23 Consumers: ALLEN EDGAR ROBERTSON
• Representing 21 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 19 Consumers: PHILLIP WESLEY POOL
• Representing 19 Consumers: JOEL SPENCER HALVORSEN
• Representing 19 Consumers: MARY E PHILIPPS
• Representing 19 Consumers: SHAWN SHAWN JAFFER
• Representing 18 Consumers: ANTHONY PARONICH
• Representing 16 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM

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CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 5170 complaints filed against debt collectors from Feb 01, 2023 to Feb 28, 2023.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 787

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 1576 Other debt (30%)
• 1322 I do not know (26%)
• 1084 Credit card debt (21%)
• 703 Medical debt (14%)
• 225 Auto debt (4%)
• 117 Payday loan debt (2%)
• 74 Mortgage debt (1%)
• 36 Private student loan debt (1%)
• 33 Federal student loan debt (1%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 2826 Attempts to collect debt not owed (55%)
• 977 Written notification about debt (19%)
• 479 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (9%)
• 433 False statements or representation (8%)
• 361 Communication tactics (7%)
• 94 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (2%)

The top five subissues were:

• 1495 Debt is not yours (29%)
• 830 Debt was result of identity theft (16%)
• 610 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (12%)
• 402 Debt was paid (8%)
• 344 Attempted to collect wrong amount (7%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 581 Complaints: FL
• 539 Complaints: TX
• 462 Complaints: CA
• 429 Complaints: GA
• 233 Complaints: NY
• 219 Complaints: IL
• 180 Complaints: NC
• 179 Complaints: PA
• 164 Complaints: NJ
• 159 Complaints: OH

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

• 3869 Closed with explanation (75%)
• 765 In progress (15%)
• 450 Closed with non-monetary relief (9%)
• 65 Untimely response (1%)
• 21 Closed with monetary relief (0%)

This includes 5032 (97%) timely responses to complaints, and 138 (3%) untimely responses.

Quick analysis: 2023 Starts With Some Bite

January ’23 continued December ’22s trend of two out of three statutes (plus CFPB complaints) being up for the month. It was just a different two.

In January, CFPB complaints (+20.9%), FDCPA (+15.5%) and TCPA (+41.5%) were all up by significant margins, while FCRA (-2.7%) was down nominally. CFPB complaints (+12.2%) and TCPA lawsuits (+1.5%) are both up over last year January numbers, while FDCPA (-33.8%) and FCRA (-16.2%) are both down YTD.

In other news, putative class actions represented 14.9% of FDCPA, 52.6% of TCPA and 1.5% of FCRA lawsuits filed last month. About 42% of all plaintiffs who filed suit last month had filed at least once before. And finally, St Louis MO attorney Joel Spencer Halvorsen makes his debut at the top of this list along with Chicago-area attorney David J. Phillips for each representing the most consumers in January (17) and YTD so far in 2023.

Complaint Statistics:

5774 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 777 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Jan 01, 2023 to Jan 31, 2023.

• 5774 CFPB Complaints
• 343 FDCPA, 51 Class Action (14.9%)
• 133 TCPA, 70 Class Action (52.6%)
• 439 FCRA, 11 Class Action (2.5%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 777 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 323, or (42%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 2191 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 155 different US District Court branches.
• About 540 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 49 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 39 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 29 Lawsuits: Indiana Southern District Court – Indianapolis
• 22 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 22 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
• 21 Lawsuits: Texas Northern District Court – Dallas
• 19 Lawsuits: Florida Southern District Court – Fort Lauderdale
• 18 Lawsuits: Texas Western District Court – Austin
• 17 Lawsuits: Minnesota District Court – Dmn
• 17 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court – San Diego

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 17 Consumers: JOEL SPENCER HALVORSEN
• Representing 17 Consumers: DAVID J PHILIPPS
• Representing 16 Consumers: JOSEPH POWELL MCCLELLAND
• Representing 14 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 13 Consumers: ANTHONY PARONICH
• Representing 13 Consumers: YAAKOV SAKS
• Representing 11 Consumers: THOMAS MARTIN BONAN
• Representing 10 Consumers: ARIANA KIENER
• Representing 10 Consumers: PHILLIP WESLEY POOL
• Representing 10 Consumers: ALLEN EDGAR ROBERTSON

Statistics Year to Date:
798 total lawsuits for 2023, including:

• 343 FDCPA
• 439 FCRA
• 133 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2023: 777 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 17 Consumers: JOEL SPENCER HALVORSEN
• Representing 17 Consumers: DAVID J PHILIPPS
• Representing 16 Consumers: JOSEPH POWELL MCCLELLAND
• Representing 14 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 13 Consumers: ANTHONY PARONICH
• Representing 13 Consumers: YAAKOV SAKS
• Representing 11 Consumers: THOMAS MARTIN BONAN
• Representing 10 Consumers: ARIANA KIENER
• Representing 10 Consumers: PHILLIP WESLEY POOL
• Representing 10 Consumers: ALLEN EDGAR ROBERTSON

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CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 5774 complaints filed against debt collectors from Jan 01, 2023 to Jan 31, 2023.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 818

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 1642 Other debt (28%)
• 1540 I do not know (27%)
• 1249 Credit card debt (22%)
• 839 Medical debt (15%)
• 262 Auto debt (5%)
• 114 Payday loan debt (2%)
• 63 Mortgage debt (1%)
• 36 Federal student loan debt (1%)
• 29 Private student loan debt (1%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 3243 Attempts to collect debt not owed (56%)
• 977 Written notification about debt (17%)
• 588 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (10%)
• 472 False statements or representation (8%)
• 390 Communication tactics (7%)
• 104 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (2%)

The top five subissues were:

• 1813 Debt is not yours (31%)
• 876 Debt was result of identity theft (15%)
• 624 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (11%)
• 462 Debt was paid (8%)
• 366 Attempted to collect wrong amount (6%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 660 Complaints: FL
• 600 Complaints: TX
• 534 Complaints: CA
• 393 Complaints: GA
• 309 Complaints: NY
• 283 Complaints: IL
• 265 Complaints: PA
• 205 Complaints: NC
• 203 Complaints: OH
• 190 Complaints: MI

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

• 4326 Closed with explanation (75%)
• 873 In progress (15%)
• 476 Closed with non-monetary relief (8%)
• 75 Untimely response (1%)
• 24 Closed with monetary relief (0%)

This includes 5548 (96%) timely responses to complaints, and 226 (4%) untimely responses.

Quick analysis: WebRecon Stats Dec ’22 & Year in Review

Litigation activity picked up a bit for an end-of-year rally as FDCPA complaints (+11.2%) hit double digits over last month and FCRA complaints (+8%) were also up more than usual. TCPA complaints (-32.4%) were still down though, by a lot.

For the full year 2022, FDCPA (-31.3%) and TCPA (-10.8%) were both down significantly over 2021, while FCRA (+3.5%) eked out another year increase – ironically by exactly the same percentage as 2022 over 2021. TCPA’s rate of decrease slowed considerably to about 1/5 of last year’s full year decrease of -48.3% while FDCPA’s rate of decrease significantly accelerated (more than seven-fold) over last year’s full year decrease of -4.4%.

CFPB complaints were up +6.8% for the month but down -16.4% for the year over 2021.

In other news, putative class actions represented 11.8% of FDCPA, 55.3% of TCPA and 4.5% of FCRA lawsuits filed last month. About 39% of all plaintiffs who filed suit last month had filed at least once before. And finally, San Diego attorney Ahren Tiller took the top spot for representing the most consumers in December (12) while Florida attorney Jibrael Jarallah Said Hindi was the most active consumer attorney of the year with 237 consumers represented in all of 2022.

Complaint Statistics:

4695 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 736 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Dec 01, 2022 to Dec 31, 2022.

• 4695 CFPB Complaints
• 297 FDCPA, 35 Class Action (11.8%)
• 94 TCPA, 52 Class Action (55.3%)
• 447 FCRA, 20 Class Action (4.5%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 736 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 290, or (39%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 1532 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 133 different US District Court branches.
• About 487 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 41 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 39 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 35 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 31 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 24 Lawsuits: Minnesota District Court – Dmn
• 24 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
• 23 Lawsuits: Nevada District Court – Las Vegas
• 20 Lawsuits: Arizona District Court – Phoenix
• 19 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court – San Diego
• 17 Lawsuits: Texas Northern District Court – Dallas

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 12 Consumers: AHREN A TILLER
• Representing 11 Consumers: CATRINA EOM SMITH
• Representing 11 Consumers: GEORGE HAINES
• Representing 10 Consumers: GERARDO AVALOS
• Representing 9 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 9 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 9 Consumers: BRIDGET LYNN SCARANGELLA
• Representing 9 Consumers: JOEL SPENCER HALVORSEN
• Representing 8 Consumers: CHRISTOPHER NEIL ARMOR
• Representing 8 Consumers: YAAKOV SAKS

Statistics Year to Date:
10743 total lawsuits for 2022, including:

• 4525 FDCPA
• 5597 FCRA
• 1531 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2022: 9385 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 237 Consumers: JIBRAEL JARALLAH SAID HINDI
• Representing 225 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 206 Consumers: THOMAS JOHN PATTI
• Representing 143 Consumers: CRAIG CARLEY MARCHIANDO
• Representing 140 Consumers: CATRINA EOM SMITH
• Representing 136 Consumers: CHRISTOPHER NEIL ARMOR
• Representing 133 Consumers: LEONARD ANTHONY BENNETT
• Representing 132 Consumers: SYED HASEEB HUSSAIN
• Representing 131 Consumers: MICHAEL FREDERICK CARDOZA
• Representing 124 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM

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CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 4695 complaints filed against debt collectors from Dec 01, 2022 to Dec 31, 2022.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 751

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 1414 Other debt (30%)
• 1254 I do not know (27%)
• 977 Credit card debt (21%)
• 662 Medical debt (14%)
• 209 Auto debt (4%)
• 69 Payday loan debt (1%)
• 52 Mortgage debt (1%)
• 31 Private student loan debt (1%)
• 27 Federal student loan debt (1%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 2566 Attempts to collect debt not owed (55%)
• 813 Written notification about debt (17%)
• 443 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (9%)
• 408 False statements or representation (9%)
• 377 Communication tactics (8%)
• 88 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (2%)

The top five subissues were:

• 1404 Debt is not yours (30%)
• 759 Debt was result of identity theft (16%)
• 525 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (11%)
• 332 Debt was paid (7%)
• 306 Attempted to collect wrong amount (7%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 535 Complaints: FL
• 483 Complaints: TX
• 472 Complaints: GA
• 401 Complaints: CA
• 224 Complaints: NY
• 199 Complaints: PA
• 183 Complaints: IL
• 180 Complaints: OH
• 177 Complaints: MI
• 164 Complaints: NC

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

• 3634 Closed with explanation (77%)
• 593 In progress (13%)
• 391 Closed with non-monetary relief (8%)
• 56 Untimely response (1%)
• 21 Closed with monetary relief (0%)

This includes 4541 (97%) timely responses to complaints, and 154 (3%) untimely responses.

Quick analysis: Two Turtle Doves and a Lump of Coal

Happy holidays to you and yours!

November 2022 was a mixed bag for litigation. FDCPA (-10.4%) and FCRA (-2.4%) lawsuits were both down for the month, but TCPA (+4.5%) lawsuits had a mini (and relatively uncharacteristic) surge. Year-to-date, FDCPA (-31%!) and TCPA (-11.2%) continued year-over-year declines, while FCRA (+4.1%) is still trending up. CFPB complaints were down both for the month (-10.4%) and for the year (-17.4%).

In other news, putative class actions represented 13.9% of FDCPA, 43.2% of TCPA and 1.7% of FCRA lawsuits filed last month. About 44% of all plaintiffs who filed suit last month had filed at least once before. And finally, Minnesota attorney Catrina Eom Smith continued her dominant debut for a third consecutive month on this list for representing the most consumers in November (25) while Florida attorney Jibrael S Hindi has still represented the most consumers for the year so far (235).

Complaint Statistics:

4285 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 723 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Nov 01, 2022 to Nov 30, 2022.

• 4285 CFPB Complaints
• 267 FDCPA, 37 Class Action (13.9%)
• 139 TCPA, 60 Class Action (43.2%)
• 413 FCRA, 7 Class Action (1.7%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 723 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 319, or (44%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 2455 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 142 different US District Court branches.
• About 503 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 45 Lawsuits: Minnesota District Court – Dmn
• 43 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 41 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 34 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 33 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 27 Lawsuits: Texas Northern District Court – Dallas
• 25 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
• 21 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court – San Diego
• 19 Lawsuits: Florida Southern District Court – Miami
• 16 Lawsuits: Texas Southern District Court – Houston

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 25 Consumers: CATRINA EOM SMITH
• Representing 19 Consumers: YAAKOV SAKS
• Representing 14 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 12 Consumers: AHREN A TILLER
• Representing 11 Consumers: TIMOTHY S ANDERSON
• Representing 10 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 9 Consumers: ALLEN EDGAR ROBERTSON
• Representing 9 Consumers: DAVID J PHILIPPS
• Representing 8 Consumers: GLORIA CHI-KI LAM
• Representing 8 Consumers: GERARDO AVALOS

Statistics Year to Date:
9987 total lawsuits for 2022, including:

• 4228 FDCPA
• 5149 FCRA
• 1437 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2022: 8735 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 235 Consumers: JIBRAEL JARALLAH SAID HINDI
• Representing 216 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 205 Consumers: THOMAS JOHN PATTI
• Representing 143 Consumers: CRAIG CARLEY MARCHIANDO
• Representing 133 Consumers: LEONARD ANTHONY BENNETT
• Representing 129 Consumers: MICHAEL FREDERICK CARDOZA
• Representing 129 Consumers: CATRINA EOM SMITH
• Representing 128 Consumers: CHRISTOPHER NEIL ARMOR
• Representing 125 Consumers: SYED HASEEB HUSSAIN
• Representing 119 Consumers: DREW DAVID SARRETT

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

There were 4285 complaints filed against debt collectors from Nov 01, 2022 to Nov 30, 2022.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 748

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 1247 Other debt (29%)
• 1025 I do not know (24%)
• 957 Credit card debt (22%)
• 651 Medical debt (15%)
• 210 Auto debt (5%)
• 73 Mortgage debt (2%)
• 68 Payday loan debt (2%)
• 30 Private student loan debt (1%)
• 24 Federal student loan debt (1%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 2295 Attempts to collect debt not owed (54%)
• 694 Written notification about debt (16%)
• 505 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (12%)
• 388 False statements or representation (9%)
• 323 Communication tactics (8%)
• 80 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (2%)

The top five subissues were:

• 1188 Debt is not yours (28%)
• 692 Debt was result of identity theft (16%)
• 441 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (10%)
• 356 Debt was paid (8%)
• 286 Attempted to collect wrong amount (7%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 489 Complaints: TX
• 470 Complaints: FL
• 386 Complaints: CA
• 337 Complaints: GA
• 236 Complaints: IL
• 215 Complaints: NY
• 201 Complaints: NC
• 138 Complaints: MI
• 130 Complaints: PA
• 125 Complaints: OH

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

• 3285 Closed with explanation (77%)
• 647 In progress (15%)
• 293 Closed with non-monetary relief (7%)
• 49 Untimely response (1%)
• 11 Closed with monetary relief (0%)

This includes 4160 (97%) timely responses to complaints, and 125 (3%) untimely responses.

Quick analysis: Halloween Treat: Lawsuits Continue Slide

For the second month is a row, TCPA, FDCPA and FCRA lawsuits were all down from the previous month. While the September drop was steeper, October’s continued slide was nothing to boo at with TCPA down -2.2%, FDCPA down -7.2% and even FCRA down by -9.2%. Unlike September, October’s CFPB complaints rose a bit, +2.8% over the previous month.

YTD looked pretty similar, with FCRA (+4.3%) being the only statute still up over 2021. TCPA (-14.2%) and FDCPA (-30%) are both down quite a bit, and CFPB complaints are also down by -16.7% from 2021.

In other news, putative class actions represented 11.7% of FDCPA, 47% of TCPA and 1.7% of FCRA lawsuits filed last month. About 45% of all plaintiffs who filed suit last month had filed at least once before. And finally, Minnesota attorney Catrina Eom Smith continued her dominance of this list for representing the most consumers in October (30) while Florida attorney Jibrael S Hindi has still represented the most consumers for the year so far (232).

Complaint Statistics:

4705 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 724 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Oct 01, 2022 to Oct 31, 2022.

• 4705 CFPB Complaints
• 283 FDCPA, 33 Class Action (11.7%)
• 132 TCPA, 62 Class Action (47.0%)
• 422 FCRA, 7 Class Action (1.7%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 724 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 324, or (45%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 2655 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 140 different US District Court branches.
• About 546 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 65 Lawsuits: Minnesota District Court – Dmn
• 38 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 30 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 29 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 26 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
• 24 Lawsuits: Nevada District Court – Las Vegas
• 24 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 22 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Orlando
• 17 Lawsuits: Florida Southern District Court – Fort Lauderdale
• 17 Lawsuits: Texas Northern District Court – Dallas

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 30 Consumers: CATRINA EOM SMITH
• Representing 15 Consumers: TIMOTHY S ANDERSON
• Representing 12 Consumers: GEORGE HAINES
• Representing 12 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 12 Consumers: GERARDO AVALOS
• Representing 11 Consumers: THOMAS J LYONS
• Representing 9 Consumers: JEFFREY SAND
• Representing 8 Consumers: SIOBHAN MCGREAL
• Representing 8 Consumers: DAVID H KRIEGER
• Representing 8 Consumers: JOHN THOMAS STEINKAMP

Statistics Year to Date:
9189 total lawsuits for 2022, including:

• 3960 FDCPA
• 4735 FCRA
• 1297 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2022: 8109 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 232 Consumers: JIBRAEL JARALLAH SAID HINDI
• Representing 202 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 201 Consumers: THOMAS JOHN PATTI
• Representing 140 Consumers: CRAIG CARLEY MARCHIANDO
• Representing 131 Consumers: LEONARD ANTHONY BENNETT
• Representing 126 Consumers: MICHAEL FREDERICK CARDOZA
• Representing 122 Consumers: CHRISTOPHER NEIL ARMOR
• Representing 119 Consumers: SYED HASEEB HUSSAIN
• Representing 118 Consumers: DREW DAVID SARRETT
• Representing 105 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM

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

There were 4705 complaints filed against debt collectors from Oct 01, 2022 to Oct 31, 2022.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 775

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 1426 Other debt (30%)
• 1141 Credit card debt (24%)
• 972 I do not know (21%)
• 678 Medical debt (14%)
• 240 Auto debt (5%)
• 100 Payday loan debt (2%)
• 90 Mortgage debt (2%)
• 35 Private student loan debt (1%)
• 23 Federal student loan debt (0%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 2468 Attempts to collect debt not owed (52%)
• 847 Written notification about debt (18%)
• 499 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (11%)
• 430 False statements or representation (9%)
• 373 Communication tactics (8%)
• 88 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (2%)

The top five subissues were:

• 1249 Debt is not yours (27%)
• 763 Debt was result of identity theft (16%)
• 533 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (11%)
• 382 Debt was paid (8%)
• 323 Attempted to collect wrong amount (7%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 621 Complaints: FL
• 523 Complaints: TX
• 420 Complaints: CA
• 370 Complaints: GA
• 196 Complaints: NC
• 187 Complaints: NY
• 168 Complaints: MI
• 167 Complaints: PA
• 159 Complaints: IL
• 154 Complaints: NJ

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

• 3539 Closed with explanation (75%)
• 699 In progress (15%)
• 398 Closed with non-monetary relief (8%)
• 50 Untimely response (1%)
• 19 Closed with monetary relief (0%)

This includes 4574 (97%) timely responses to complaints, and 131 (3%) untimely responses.