Blog/ Litigation Stats

Quick analysis: Summer Vacations? July Lawsuits Down

It looks like lots of consumers went to the beach instead of the courthouse last month. All three of the main statutes were down: FDCPA (-10.3%), TCPA (-27.8%) and FCRA (-13.3%), though FCRA maintains its status as the only major consumer statute growing year-over-year with a +6.5 growth rate YTD over 2020.

CFPB complaints against debt collectors did grow in July over June… but only by +3.5%, contributing to an alarming +38.2% growth rate over 2020 YTD.

In other news, putative class actions represented 20.2% of FDCPA, 56.2% of TCPA and 4.6% of FCRA lawsuits filed last month. About 45% of all plaintiffs who filed suit last month had filed at least once before (that is the highest percentage we ever recall seeing, btw). And finally, Florida attorney Thomas John Patti from the Law Office of Jibrael S. Hindi took the top spot for representing the most consumers in June (56) while Georgia attorney Matthew Thomas Berry kept the title of the most active consumer attorney of the year with 165 consumers represented so far in 2021.

Complaint Statistics:

6845 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 962 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Jul 01, 2021 to Jul 31, 2021.

• 6845 CFPB Complaints
• 559 FDCPA, 113 Class Action (20.2%)
• 130 TCPA, 73 Class Action (56.2%)
• 436 FCRA, 20 Class Action (4.6%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 962 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 432, or (45%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 2737 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 147 different US District Court branches.
• About 636 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 64 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 58 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 57 Lawsuits: Florida Southern District Court – Fort Lauderdale
• 52 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 47 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
• 46 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 43 Lawsuits: Texas Northern District Court – Dallas
• 31 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 28 Lawsuits: Florida Southern District Court – Miami
• 23 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Central Islip

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 56 Consumers: THOMAS JOHN PATTI
• Representing 50 Consumers: JIBRAEL JARALLAH SAID HINDI
• Representing 34 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 27 Consumers: JONATHAN ALEXANDER HEEPS
• Representing 27 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
• Representing 27 Consumers: ALEJANDRO EMMANUEL FIGUEROA
• Representing 25 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 19 Consumers: DAVID J PHILIPPS
• Representing 17 Consumers: MATTHEW P FORSBERG
• Representing 15 Consumers: MARY ELIZABETH PHILIPPS

Statistics Year to Date:
7441 total lawsuits for 2021, including:

• 3906 FDCPA
• 3201 FCRA
• 1157 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2021: 6955 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 165 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 146 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 127 Consumers: DAVID M BARSHAY
• Representing 119 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
• Representing 117 Consumers: ALEJANDRO EMMANUEL FIGUEROA
• Representing 102 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 102 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
• Representing 98 Consumers: YOSEF STEINMETZ
• Representing 93 Consumers: DAVID J PHILIPPS
• Representing 93 Consumers: THOMAS JOHN PATTI

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CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 6845 complaints filed against debt collectors from Jul 01, 2021 to Jul 31, 2021.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 881

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 2098 Credit card debt (31%)
• 1640 I do not know (24%)
• 1561 Other debt (23%)
• 916 Medical debt (13%)
• 278 Auto debt (4%)
• 166 Payday loan debt (2%)
• 76 Mortgage debt (1%)
• 63 Federal student loan debt (1%)
• 47 Private student loan debt (1%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 3947 Attempts to collect debt not owed (58%)
• 1618 Written notification about debt (24%)
• 455 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (7%)
• 405 False statements or representation (6%)
• 334 Communication tactics (5%)
• 86 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (1%)

The top five subissues were:

• 1747 Debt is not yours (26%)
• 1609 Debt was result of identity theft (24%)
• 1177 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (17%)
• 473 Debt was paid (7%)
• 405 Didnt receive notice of right to dispute (6%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 812 Complaints: CA
• 808 Complaints: TX
• 688 Complaints: GA
• 676 Complaints: FL
• 372 Complaints: NY
• 287 Complaints: SC
• 263 Complaints: OH
• 243 Complaints: PA
• 232 Complaints: NC
• 185 Complaints: MD

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

• 5401 Closed with explanation (79%)
• 759 In progress (11%)
• 546 Closed with non-monetary relief (8%)
• 122 Untimely response (2%)
• 17 Closed with monetary relief (0%)

This includes 6657 (97%) timely responses to complaints, and 188 (3%) untimely responses.

Quick analysis: Everything was up in June.

CFPB complaints (+16.3%), FDCPA (+2%), FCRA (+18.9%), TCPA (+62.2%!). Of those complaint categories, CFPB complaints and FCRA litigation are also up significantly over June of 2020 (+41.9% and +35.6%, respectively) as well as YTD (+36.3% and +7.4%, respectively).

FDCPA and TCPA, on the other hand, are both slightly down over June 2020 (-1.1% and 2.2%, respectively) as well as YTD (-8.5% and -51.4%, respectively). The YTD TCPA number is colored by some unusual filings early in 2020 and is not necessarily that useful for prognosticating.

In other news, putative class actions represented 24.4% of FDCPA, 52.2% of TCPA and 2.4% of FCRA lawsuits filed last month.

About 38% of all plaintiffs who filed suit last month had filed at least once before.

And finally, Georgia attorney Matthew Thomas Berry took the top spot for representing the most consumers in June (38) and kept the title of the most active consumer attorney of the year with 140 consumers represented so far in 2021

Complaint Statistics:

6293 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 1129 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Jun 01, 2021 to Jun 30, 2021.

• 6293 CFPB Complaints
• 623 FDCPA, 152 Class Action (24.4%)
• 180 TCPA, 94 Class Action (52.2%)
• 503 FCRA, 12 Class Action (2.4%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 1129 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 426, or (38%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 2934 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 154 different US District Court branches.
• About 691 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 89 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 63 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 60 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 57 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
• 36 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Central Islip
• 33 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 31 Lawsuits: Nevada District Court – Las Vegas
• 28 Lawsuits: New York Southern District Court – Foley Square
• 26 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 26 Lawsuits: Florida Southern District Court – Fort Lauderdale

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 38 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 29 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 28 Consumers: ALEJANDRO EMMANUEL FIGUEROA
• Representing 24 Consumers: THOMAS EDWARD WHEELER
• Representing 23 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
• Representing 23 Consumers: DAVID M BARSHAY
• Representing 21 Consumers: JOSEPH SCOTT DAVIDSON
• Representing 17 Consumers: EDWARD Y KROUB
• Representing 17 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 15 Consumers: GEORGE HAINES

Statistics Year to Date:
6426 total lawsuits for 2021, including:

• 3344 FDCPA
• 2760 FCRA
• 1027 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2021: 6115 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 140 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 116 Consumers: DAVID M BARSHAY
• Representing 112 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 94 Consumers: YOSEF STEINMETZ
• Representing 92 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
• Representing 92 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
• Representing 90 Consumers: ALEJANDRO EMMANUEL FIGUEROA
• Representing 88 Consumers: AMY LYNN BENNECOFF GINSBURG
• Representing 87 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 74 Consumers: DAVID W HEMMINGER

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CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 6293 complaints filed against debt collectors from Jun 01, 2021 to Jun 30, 2021.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 820

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 1919 Credit card debt (30%)
• 1464 Other debt (23%)
• 1344 I do not know (21%)
• 898 Medical debt (14%)
• 330 Auto debt (5%)
• 172 Payday loan debt (3%)
• 83 Mortgage debt (1%)
• 49 Private student loan debt (1%)
• 34 Federal student loan debt (1%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 3646 Attempts to collect debt not owed (58%)
• 1424 Written notification about debt (23%)
• 415 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (7%)
• 365 False statements or representation (6%)
• 358 Communication tactics (6%)
• 85 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (1%)

The top five subissues were:

• 1790 Debt is not yours (28%)
• 1289 Debt was result of identity theft (20%)
• 1025 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (16%)
• 449 Debt was paid (7%)
• 353 Didnt receive notice of right to dispute (6%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 799 Complaints: CA
• 683 Complaints: FL
• 680 Complaints: TX
• 642 Complaints: GA
• 361 Complaints: NY
• 223 Complaints: PA
• 199 Complaints: NC
• 195 Complaints: OH
• 180 Complaints: VA
• 179 Complaints: IL

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

• 4997 Closed with explanation (79%)
• 662 In progress (11%)
• 520 Closed with non-monetary relief (8%)
• 87 Untimely response (1%)
• 27 Closed with monetary relief (0%)

This includes 6131 (97%) timely responses to complaints, and 162 (3%) untimely responses.

Quick analysis: FDCPA cases (+4.1%) are the only consumer complaint category up in May. Take a wild guess as to why that might be. Spoiler alert… it starts with “Hun” and ends with “Stein”. As of today, there are at least 225 filings since late April that could be considered copycat Hunstein cases.

TCPA cases (-19.6%) and FCRA cases (-5.2%) are both down in May, along with CFPB complaints about debt collectors (-7.4%), though those are still way up for the year (+34.1%).

YTD TCPA is down (-56%) but that number is complicated by an anomalous early 2020 surge in plaintiffs, making 2021 numbers seem lower in contrast than they should be. YTD FCRA is up a bit (+2.7%), keeping FCRA as the only consistently growing statute year over year.

In other news, putative class actions represented 30.5% of FDCPA, 55% of TCPA and 4.7% of FCRA lawsuits filed last month.

About 35% of all plaintiffs who filed suit last month had filed at least once before.

And finally, St. Louis, Missouri attorney Michael T. George took the top spot for representing the most consumers – 37 – for the month of May. Georgia attorney Matthew Thomas Berry kept the title of the most active consumer attorney of the year with 102 consumers represented so far in 2021

Complaint Statistics:

5263 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 1041 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from May 01, 2021 to May 31, 2021.

• 5263 CFPB Complaints
• 609 FDCPA, 186 Class Action (30.5%)
• 111 TCPA, 61 Class Action (55.0%)
• 423 FCRA, 20 Class Action (4.7%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 1041 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 360, or (35%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 1991 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 150 different US District Court branches.
• About 636 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 64 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 59 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 50 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 44 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
• 43 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 34 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Central Islip
• 29 Lawsuits: Florida Southern District Court – Fort Lauderdale
• 28 Lawsuits: Nevada District Court – Las Vegas
• 26 Lawsuits: New Jersey District Court – Newark
• 25 Lawsuits: New Jersey District Court – Trenton

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 37 Consumers: MICHAEL T GEORGE
• Representing 26 Consumers: YOSEF STEINMETZ
• Representing 25 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 25 Consumers: DAVID M BARSHAY
• Representing 21 Consumers: TAMIR SALAND
• Representing 17 Consumers: YITZCHAK ZELMAN
• Representing 17 Consumers: EDWARD Y KROUB
• Representing 16 Consumers: ALEJANDRO EMMANUEL FIGUEROA
• Representing 14 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 14 Consumers: CRAIG CARLEY MARCHIANDO

Statistics Year to Date:
5265 total lawsuits for 2021, including:

• 2718 FDCPA
• 2257 FCRA
• 847 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2021: 5092 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 102 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 93 Consumers: DAVID M BARSHAY
• Representing 83 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 79 Consumers: YOSEF STEINMETZ
• Representing 79 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
• Representing 77 Consumers: AMY LYNN BENNECOFF GINSBURG
• Representing 70 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 69 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
• Representing 65 Consumers: DAVID W HEMMINGER
• Representing 62 Consumers: ALEJANDRO EMMANUEL FIGUEROA

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CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 5263 complaints filed against debt collectors from May 01, 2021 to May 31, 2021.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 801

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 1491 Credit card debt (28%)
• 1213 Other debt (23%)
• 1206 I do not know (23%)
• 902 Medical debt (17%)
• 217 Auto debt (4%)
• 116 Payday loan debt (2%)
• 49 Mortgage debt (1%)
• 35 Private student loan debt (1%)
• 34 Federal student loan debt (1%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 2601 Attempts to collect debt not owed (49%)
• 1520 Written notification about debt (29%)
• 379 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (7%)
• 379 False statements or representation (7%)
• 319 Communication tactics (6%)
• 65 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (1%)

The top five subissues were:

• 1425 Debt is not yours (27%)
• 1145 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (22%)
• 687 Debt was result of identity theft (13%)
• 421 Debt was paid (8%)
• 323 Didnt receive notice of right to dispute (6%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 660 Complaints: TX
• 583 Complaints: CA
• 576 Complaints: FL
• 420 Complaints: GA
• 272 Complaints: NY
• 193 Complaints: NC
• 191 Complaints: IL
• 176 Complaints: PA
• 174 Complaints: MA
• 154 Complaints: VA

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

• 4132 Closed with explanation (79%)
• 584 In progress (11%)
• 435 Closed with non-monetary relief (8%)
• 84 Untimely response (2%)
• 28 Closed with monetary relief (1%)

This includes 5103 (97%) timely responses to complaints, and 160 (3%) untimely responses.

Quick analysis: FDCPA Up, TCPA/FCRA Down, CFPB Way Up YTD

In an unusual reversal of fortunes, FDCPA (+4.7%) numbers are up in April 2021 while TCPA (-30.7%) and FCRA (-13.4%) numbers are down. YTD is a bit of a different story with FDCPA (-15.7%) and TCPA (-57.2%) down, and FCRA (+3.4%) up.

Note: That YTD TCPA number is complicated by an anomalous early 2020 surge in plaintiffs, making 2021 numbers seem lower in contrast than they should be.

In CFPB complaint news, April complaints slid (-15.7%) but YTD the numbers are soaring at 37.9% above where they were in 2020.

In other news, putative class actions represented 25% of FDCPA, 50.7% of TCPA and 5.8% of FCRA lawsuits filed last month.

About 36% of all plaintiffs who filed suit last month had filed at least once before.

And finally, Georgia attorney Matthew Thomas Berry took back the top attorney spot by representing 32 consumers last month, and he also took the title of the most active consumer attorney of the year with 77 consumers represented so far in 2021.

Complaint Statistics:

5678 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 1058 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Apr 01, 2021 to Apr 30, 2021.

• 5678 CFPB Complaints
• 585 FDCPA, 146 Class Action (25.0%)
• 138 TCPA, 70 Class Action (50.7%)
• 446 FCRA, 26 Class Action (5.8%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 1058 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 377, or (36%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 3126 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 149 different US District Court branches.
• About 704 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 72 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 62 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 56 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 48 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 42 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
• 39 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Central Islip
• 36 Lawsuits: Indiana Southern District Court – Indianapolis
• 25 Lawsuits: New Jersey District Court – Newark
• 25 Lawsuits: Texas Northern District Court – Dallas
• 25 Lawsuits: Minnesota District Court – Dmn

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 32 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 28 Consumers: DAVID M BARSHAY
• Representing 18 Consumers: TAMIR SALAND
• Representing 16 Consumers: JOHN THOMAS STEINKAMP
• Representing 14 Consumers: DAVID W HEMMINGER
• Representing 13 Consumers: THOMAS WIDMAN
• Representing 13 Consumers: DAVID H KRIEGER
• Representing 13 Consumers: DAVID M MARCO
• Representing 13 Consumers: DAVID J PHILIPPS
• Representing 12 Consumers: ALEJANDRO EMMANUEL FIGUEROA

Statistics Year to Date:
4246 total lawsuits for 2021, including:

• 2107 FDCPA
• 1834 FCRA
• 736 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2021: 4125 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 77 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 75 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 74 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
• Representing 68 Consumers: DAVID M BARSHAY
• Representing 67 Consumers: AMY LYNN BENNECOFF GINSBURG
• Representing 63 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
• Representing 57 Consumers: DAVID W HEMMINGER
• Representing 56 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 53 Consumers: YOSEF STEINMETZ
• Representing 51 Consumers: DAVID J PHILIPPS

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CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 5678 complaints filed against debt collectors from Apr 01, 2021 to Apr 30, 2021.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 845

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 1515 Credit card debt (27%)
• 1465 Other debt (26%)
• 1260 I do not know (22%)
• 869 Medical debt (15%)
• 256 Auto debt (5%)
• 152 Payday loan debt (3%)
• 81 Mortgage debt (1%)
• 52 Private student loan debt (1%)
• 28 Federal student loan debt (0%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 2935 Attempts to collect debt not owed (52%)
• 1441 Written notification about debt (25%)
• 448 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (8%)
• 438 False statements or representation (8%)
• 335 Communication tactics (6%)
• 81 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (1%)

The top five subissues were:

• 1574 Debt is not yours (28%)
• 1057 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (19%)
• 807 Debt was result of identity theft (14%)
• 479 Debt was paid (8%)
• 359 Attempted to collect wrong amount (6%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 729 Complaints: TX
• 667 Complaints: FL
• 614 Complaints: CA
• 474 Complaints: GA
• 326 Complaints: NY
• 190 Complaints: PA
• 188 Complaints: MA
• 177 Complaints: VA
• 159 Complaints: IL
• 147 Complaints: NC

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

• 4544 Closed with explanation (80%)
• 580 In progress (10%)
• 430 Closed with non-monetary relief (8%)
• 108 Untimely response (2%)
• 16 Closed with monetary relief (0%)

This includes 5496 (97%) timely responses to complaints, and 182 (3%) untimely responses.

Quick analysis: Here’s a novel twist on recent history… FDCPA (+18.7%), TCPA (+24.4%) and FCRA(+25%) numbers, as well as CFPB complaints (+28.5%) against debt collectors, were all up – by double digit percentages – in March.

Even so, FDCPA (-19.7%) and TCPA (-43.8%) were both down year-to-date from 2020. FCRA (+5.7%) and CFPB complaints (+42.9%) are both up YTD. That CFPB complaint growth is remarkable, and worth watching as the year rolls on.

In other news, putative class actions represented 14.7% of FDCPA, 31.7% of TCPA and 4.3% of FCRA lawsuits filed last month.

About 30% of all plaintiffs who filed suit last month had filed at least once before.

And finally, a longtime familiar name in consumer litigation has worked its way to the top of the list for most active consumer attorney of the month, I believe for the first time: Amy Lynn Benecoff Ginsburg from the PA firm Kimmel & Silverman represented 34 consumers last month. Los Angeles attorney Todd M. Friedman still holds the title of the most active consumer attorney of the year so far with 66 consumers represented, but Ginsburg is hot on his trail with 65 cases YTD.

Complaint Statistics:

6783 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 1189 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Mar 01, 2021 to Mar 31, 2021.

• 6783 CFPB Complaints
• 559 FDCPA, 82 Class Action (14.7%)
• 199 TCPA, 63 Class Action (31.7%)
• 515 FCRA, 22 Class Action (4.3%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 1189 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 358, or (30%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 2668 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 159 different US District Court branches.
• About 761 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 65 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 64 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
• 57 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 54 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 48 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 37 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court – San Diego
• 34 Lawsuits: Florida Southern District Court – Fort Lauderdale
• 32 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 25 Lawsuits: New Jersey District Court – Newark
• 23 Lawsuits: Indiana Southern District Court – Indianapolis

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 34 Consumers: AMY LYNN BENNECOFF GINSBURG
• Representing 20 Consumers: KYLE W SCHUMACHER
• Representing 19 Consumers: WILLIAM THOMAS HOOVER
• Representing 18 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 17 Consumers: YOSEF STEINMETZ
• Representing 16 Consumers: DAVID M BARSHAY
• Representing 16 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 16 Consumers: DAVID J PHILIPPS
• Representing 15 Consumers: DAVID W HEMMINGER
• Representing 14 Consumers: SUBHAN TARIQ

Statistics Year to Date:
3166 total lawsuits for 2021, including:

• 1522 FDCPA
• 1388 FCRA
• 598 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2021: 3129 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 66 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 65 Consumers: AMY LYNN BENNECOFF GINSBURG
• Representing 62 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
• Representing 56 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
• Representing 45 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 45 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 43 Consumers: DAVID W HEMMINGER
• Representing 42 Consumers: YOSEF STEINMETZ
• Representing 41 Consumers: KYLE W SCHUMACHER
• Representing 40 Consumers: DAVID M BARSHAY

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CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 6783 complaints filed against debt collectors from Mar 01, 2021 to Mar 31, 2021.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 900

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 2000 Credit card debt (29%)
• 1589 Other debt (23%)
• 1381 I do not know (20%)
• 1140 Medical debt (17%)
• 290 Auto debt (4%)
• 182 Payday loan debt (3%)
• 91 Mortgage debt (1%)
• 68 Private student loan debt (1%)
• 42 Federal student loan debt (1%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 3626 Attempts to collect debt not owed (53%)
• 1664 Written notification about debt (25%)
• 515 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (8%)
• 495 False statements or representation (7%)
• 378 Communication tactics (6%)
• 105 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (2%)

The top five subissues were:

• 1872 Debt is not yours (28%)
• 1197 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (18%)
• 1111 Debt was result of identity theft (16%)
• 535 Debt was paid (8%)
• 431 Didnt receive notice of right to dispute (6%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 806 Complaints: FL
• 802 Complaints: TX
• 658 Complaints: CA
• 515 Complaints: GA
• 386 Complaints: NY
• 305 Complaints: MA
• 254 Complaints: VA
• 207 Complaints: IL
• 180 Complaints: PA

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

• 5502 Closed with explanation (81%)
• 564 In progress (8%)
• 558 Closed with non-monetary relief (8%)
• 135 Untimely response (2%)
• 24 Closed with monetary relief (0%)

This includes 6553 (97%) timely responses to complaints, and 230 (3%) untimely responses.

Quick analysis: Everything is down.

FDCPA down. TCPA down. FCRA down. It’s all down month over month. It’s all down YTD. It’s all down year over year. It’s all down.

Except for CFPB complaints. Those are up +4.4% for the month and a whopping +35.5% YTD.

In other news, putative class actions represented 15.1% of FDCPA, 41.9% of TCPA and 5.1% of FCRA lawsuits filed last month.

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

And finally, a familiar name has worked its way back to the top of the list for most active consumer attorney of the month: New York attorney Craig B. Sanders represented 25 consumers last month. Los Angeles attorney Todd M. Friedman still holds the title of the most active consumer attorney of the year, with 56 consumers represented.

Complaint Statistics:

5235 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 950 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Feb 01, 2021 to Feb 28, 2021.

• 5235 CFPB Complaints
• 471 FDCPA, 71 Class Action (15.1%)
• 160 TCPA, 67 Class Action (41.9%)
• 412 FCRA, 21 Class Action (5.1%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 950 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 306, or (32%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 3483 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 148 different US District Court branches.
• About 654 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 59 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 48 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 48 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 40 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 33 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 32 Lawsuits: New York Southern District Court – Foley Square
• 30 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Central Islip
• 28 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
• 24 Lawsuits: Florida Southern District Court – Fort Lauderdale
• 21 Lawsuits: Nevada District Court – Las Vegas

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 25 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
• Representing 22 Consumers: DAVID M BARSHAY
• Representing 16 Consumers: YOSEF STEINMETZ
• Representing 14 Consumers: AMY LYNN BENNECOFF GINSBURG
• Representing 14 Consumers: DAVID W HEMMINGER
• Representing 14 Consumers: JONATHAN MARK CADER
• Representing 13 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 13 Consumers: SERGEI LEMBERG
• Representing 12 Consumers: JOSHUA P WARD
• Representing 11 Consumers: KENNY G OH

Statistics Year to Date:
2026 total lawsuits for 2021, including:

• 963 FDCPA
• 873 FCRA
• 399 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2021: 2002 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 56 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 53 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
• Representing 47 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
• Representing 32 Consumers: JONATHAN MARK CADER
• Representing 32 Consumers: MATTHEW B WEISBERG
• Representing 32 Consumers: GARY SCHAFKOPF
• Representing 31 Consumers: AMY LYNN BENNECOFF GINSBURG
• Representing 29 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 28 Consumers: DAVID W HEMMINGER
• Representing 27 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY

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CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 5235 complaints filed against debt collectors from Feb 01, 2021 to Feb 28, 2021.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 813

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 1483 Credit card debt (28%)
• 1333 Other debt (25%)
• 1090 I do not know (21%)
• 799 Medical debt (15%)
• 231 Auto debt (4%)
• 129 Payday loan debt (2%)
• 82 Mortgage debt (2%)
• 46 Private student loan debt (1%)
• 42 Federal student loan debt (1%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 2816 Attempts to collect debt not owed (54%)
• 1148 Written notification about debt (22%)
• 418 False statements or representation (8%)
• 384 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (7%)
• 369 Communication tactics (7%)
• 100 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (2%)

The top five subissues were:

• 1465 Debt is not yours (28%)
• 863 Debt was result of identity theft (16%)
• 760 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (15%)
• 417 Debt was paid (8%)
• 345 Didnt receive notice of right to dispute (7%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 641 Complaints: TX
• 594 Complaints: FL
• 532 Complaints: CA
• 442 Complaints: GA
• 296 Complaints: NY
• 222 Complaints: MA
• 184 Complaints: IL
• 164 Complaints: PA
• 155 Complaints: VA
• 152 Complaints: NC

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

• 4272 Closed with explanation (82%)
• 459 Closed with non-monetary relief (9%)
• 401 In progress (8%)
• 85 Untimely response (2%)
• 18 Closed with monetary relief (0%)

This includes 5110 (98%) timely responses to complaints, and 125 (2%) untimely responses.

Quick analysis: 2021 Starts Down Compared To 2020

It’s something, right? All three of the major statutes are down in January from where they were a year ago at this time: FDCPA (-24.3%), FCRA (-4.4%) and TCPA (-55.6%). Of course, FCRA and TCPA are both up over December 2020 (+3.1% and +23.2% respectively) and FDCPA is only down by .2%, so it is not terribly newsworthy.

Of course, this can be viewed as standard fluctuation and doesn’t really offer much in the way of predictive value for next month or the rest of 2021 for that matter, but it is still a nice headline and we’re sticking with it.

Of the three, TCPA had by far the most interesting January. Down -55.6% from a year ago but up +23.2% from the previous month, TCPA wins the award for creating the most drama in an otherwise blah kind of month.

On the CFPB complaint front, complaints rose +3% from the previous month and are up a not insignificant +27.3% from last January. A sign of the 2021 to come? We’ll have to wait and see.

In other news, putative class actions represented 17.5% of FDCPA, 54% of TCPA and 4.6% of FCRA lawsuits filed last month.

About 35% of all plaintiffs who filed suit last month had filed at least once before.

And finally, for the second January in a row, Los Angeles attorney Todd M. Friedman represented more consumers than anyone else in January (52) which also makes him the most active consumer attorney of the year (so far…).

Complaint Statistics:

4796 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 1080 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Jan 01, 2021 to Jan 31, 2021.

• 4796 CFPB Complaints
• 492 FDCPA, 86 Class Action (17.5%)
• 239 TCPA, 129 Class Action (54.0%)
• 461 FCRA, 21 Class Action (4.6%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 1080 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 378, or (35%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 3827 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 162 different US District Court branches.
• About 735 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 73 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
• 68 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 47 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 43 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 43 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 28 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 27 Lawsuits: Minnesota District Court – Dmn
• 26 Lawsuits: New York Southern District Court – Foley Square
• 23 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court – San Diego
• 22 Lawsuits: Indiana Southern District Court – Indianapolis

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 52 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 44 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
• Representing 28 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
• Representing 22 Consumers: MATTHEW B WEISBERG
• Representing 22 Consumers: GARY SCHAFKOPF
• Representing 22 Consumers: ELLIOT ALBERT ROSENBERGER
• Representing 22 Consumers: BLAKE MAKOA KAWABATA
• Representing 19 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 18 Consumers: ALEJANDRO EMMANUEL FIGUEROA
• Representing 18 Consumers: JONATHAN MARK CADER

Statistics Year to Date:
1068 total lawsuits for 2021, including:

• 492 FDCPA
• 461 FCRA
• 239 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2021: 1080 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 52 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 44 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
• Representing 28 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
• Representing 22 Consumers: MATTHEW B WEISBERG
• Representing 22 Consumers: GARY SCHAFKOPF
• Representing 22 Consumers: ELLIOT ALBERT ROSENBERGER
• Representing 22 Consumers: BLAKE MAKOA KAWABATA
• Representing 19 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 18 Consumers: ALEJANDRO EMMANUEL FIGUEROA
• Representing 18 Consumers: JONATHAN MARK CADER

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CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 4796 complaints filed against debt collectors from Jan 01, 2021 to Jan 31, 2021.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 783

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 1338 Credit card debt (28%)
• 1283 Other debt (27%)
• 937 I do not know (20%)
• 767 Medical debt (16%)
• 221 Auto debt (5%)
• 100 Payday loan debt (2%)
• 77 Mortgage debt (2%)
• 43 Private student loan debt (1%)
• 30 Federal student loan debt (1%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 2766 Attempts to collect debt not owed (58%)
• 979 Written notification about debt (20%)
• 347 False statements or representation (7%)
• 335 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (7%)
• 296 Communication tactics (6%)
• 73 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (2%)

The top five subissues were:

• 1438 Debt is not yours (30%)
• 839 Debt was result of identity theft (17%)
• 715 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (15%)
• 429 Debt was paid (9%)
• 282 Attempted to collect wrong amount (6%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 703 Complaints: TX
• 531 Complaints: FL
• 441 Complaints: CA
• 418 Complaints: GA
• 306 Complaints: NY
• 220 Complaints: MA
• 163 Complaints: IL
• 163 Complaints: PA
• 122 Complaints: NJ
• 118 Complaints: NC

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

• 3840 Closed with explanation (80%)
• 439 In progress (9%)
• 405 Closed with non-monetary relief (8%)
• 89 Untimely response (2%)
• 23 Closed with monetary relief (0%)

This includes 4658 (97%) timely responses to complaints, and 138 (3%) untimely responses.

Quick analysis: Well, 2020 ended pretty much as it ran throughout the year. FDCPA suits were down fairly dramatically from 2019 at -17.6%, TCPA was down more nominally at -3.3%, but it was actually more dramatic than that due to some early-year suits that distorted the numbers, and FCRA ended up +5.3% – the only consumer statute that is still consistently showing year-over-year growth.

Here are some year-over-year trends for FDCPA, TCPA and FCRA suits, as well as CFPB and BBB complaints.

*A note on BBB complaints – they are not all in for 2020 yet, so consider that number incomplete. BBB numbers keep trickling in for up to six months so it will be a while before we can be confident about where it settles, but expect that number to rise by as many as 20k.

In spite of those full-year numbers, all three of the consumer statutes (FDCPA, TCPA and FCRA) were up fairly significantly over the previous month, ranging from +16.7% for FCRA to +11.3 for FDCPA and +3.7% for TCPA.

CFPB complaints against debt collectors fell slightly in December from November (-2.6%), yet finished the year up a healthy 16.2% over 2019.

In other news, putative class actions represented 19.3% of FDCPA, 47.4% of TCPA and 2.5% of FCRA lawsuits filed last month.

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

And finally, California attorney Todd M. Friedman stays at the top of the list representing more consumers than anyone else in the month with 51 and Mr. Friedman also edges out New York’s Craig B. Sanders to take the title for having filed the most of the year with 320. That YTD stat excludes attorneys Nicole Rochelle Lewis and Rebecca Evans who crammed hundreds of plaintiffs into a few TCPA lawsuits early in 2021.

Complaint Statistics:

4589 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 1057 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Dec 01, 2020 to Dec 31, 2020.

• 4589 CFPB Complaints
• 493 FDCPA, 95 Class Action (19.3%)
• 194 TCPA, 92 Class Action (47.4%)
• 447 FCRA, 11 Class Action (2.5%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 1057 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 334, or (32%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 4649 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 152 different US District Court branches.
• About 702 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 67 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 61 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
• 43 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 42 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 31 Lawsuits: New Jersey District Court – Newark
• 27 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 27 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 26 Lawsuits: New York Southern District Court – Foley Square
• 25 Lawsuits: New Jersey District Court – Trenton
• 23 Lawsuits: Nevada District Court – Las Vegas

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 51 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 43 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
• Representing 31 Consumers: EDWARD Y KROUB
• Representing 22 Consumers: MOSHE O BOROOSAN
• Representing 21 Consumers: YOSEF STEINMETZ
• Representing 20 Consumers: JOSHUA P WARD
• Representing 19 Consumers: KENNY G OH
• Representing 17 Consumers: MISTY OAKS PAXTON
• Representing 17 Consumers: KYLE W SCHUMACHER
• Representing 14 Consumers: ALEJANDRO EMMANUEL FIGUEROA

Statistics Year to Date:
12963 total lawsuits for 2020, including:

• 6876 FDCPA
• 5223 FCRA
• 3302 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2020: 12582 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 361 Consumers: REBECCA EVANS
• Representing 320 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 294 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
• Representing 254 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
• Representing 238 Consumers: NICOLE ROCHELLE LEWIS
• Representing 231 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 225 Consumers: EDWARD Y KROUB
• Representing 208 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 167 Consumers: DAVID J PHILIPPS
• Representing 166 Consumers: ALEJANDRO EMMANUEL FIGUEROA

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CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 4589 complaints filed against debt collectors from Dec 01, 2020 to Dec 31, 2020.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 744

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 1203 I do not know (26%)
• 1159 Other debt (25%)
• 1147 Credit card debt (25%)
• 671 Medical debt (15%)
• 175 Auto debt (4%)
• 107 Payday loan debt (2%)
• 67 Mortgage debt (1%)
• 34 Federal student loan debt (1%)
• 26 Private student loan debt (1%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 2397 Attempts to collect debt not owed (52%)
• 1195 Written notification about debt (26%)
• 333 False statements or representation (7%)
• 316 Communication tactics (7%)
• 299 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (7%)
• 49 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (1%)

The top five subissues were:

• 1320 Debt is not yours (29%)
• 882 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (19%)
• 642 Debt was result of identity theft (14%)
• 373 Debt was paid (8%)
• 289 Didnt receive notice of right to dispute (6%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 624 Complaints: TX
• 436 Complaints: FL
• 428 Complaints: CA
• 349 Complaints: GA
• 342 Complaints: NY
• 221 Complaints: MA
• 186 Complaints: NJ
• 180 Complaints: PA
• 130 Complaints: IL
• 121 Complaints: NC

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

• 3747 Closed with explanation (82%)
• 378 Closed with non-monetary relief (8%)
• 376 In progress (8%)
• 65 Untimely response (1%)
• 23 Closed with monetary relief (1%)

This includes 4438 (97%) timely responses to complaints, and 151 (3%) untimely responses.

Quick analysis: Lots of good news for debt collectors in November’s litigation numbers…

FDCPA and FCRA are way down for the month of November (-19%, -24.9% respectively), while TCPA is up 5.6% over last month. Year to date, it is FDCPA and TCPA that are down (-17.1%, -1.7% respectively) while FCRA is the only one that is up, by 4.2%

CFPB complaints are also down quite a bit, -7.9% for the month, but still up a whopping 14.2% for the year.

In other news, putative class actions represented 16.3% of FDCPA, 51.9% of TCPA and 5.2% of FCRA lawsuits filed last month.

About 37% of all plaintiffs who filed suit last month had filed at least once before.

And finally, Pennsylvania attorney Joshua P. Ward represented 18 consumers in November, more than any other consumer attorney. New York’s Craig B. Sanders still has filed the most for the year with 291 consumers represented. That YTD stat excludes attorney Rebecca Evans who crammed hundreds of plaintiffs into a few TCPA lawsuits earlier this year.

Complaint Statistics:

4570 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 925 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Nov 01, 2020 to Nov 30, 2020.

• 4570 CFPB Complaints
• 443 FDCPA, 72 Class Action (16.3%)
• 187 TCPA, 97 Class Action (51.9%)
• 383 FCRA, 20 Class Action (5.2%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 925 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 346, or (37%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 2142 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 149 different US District Court branches.
• About 595 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 52 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 52 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 30 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
• 27 Lawsuits: Nevada District Court – Las Vegas
• 26 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court – San Diego
• 26 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 26 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 26 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 25 Lawsuits: Florida Southern District Court – Fort Lauderdale
• 22 Lawsuits: New Jersey District Court – Newark

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 18 Consumers: JOSHUA P WARD
• Representing 16 Consumers: MOHAMMED OMAR BADWAN
• Representing 16 Consumers: YOSEF STEINMETZ
• Representing 15 Consumers: DAVID J PHILIPPS
• Representing 15 Consumers: ALEJANDRO EMMANUEL FIGUEROA
• Representing 14 Consumers: DAVID W HEMMINGER
• Representing 13 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 12 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 12 Consumers: VICTOR THOMAS METROFF
• Representing 12 Consumers: ALEXANDER J TAYLOR

Statistics Year to Date:
11920 total lawsuits for 2020, including:

• 6383 FDCPA
• 4776 FCRA
• 3108 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2020: 11677 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 361 Consumers: REBECCA EVANS
• Representing 291 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
• Representing 269 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 238 Consumers: NICOLE ROCHELLE LEWIS
• Representing 221 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 211 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
• Representing 200 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 194 Consumers: EDWARD Y KROUB
• Representing 159 Consumers: DAVID W HEMMINGER
• Representing 156 Consumers: DAVID J PHILIPPS

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CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 4570 complaints filed against debt collectors from Nov 01, 2020 to Nov 30, 2020.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 742

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 1176 Other debt (26%)
• 1153 I do not know (25%)
• 1132 Credit card debt (25%)
• 659 Medical debt (14%)
• 187 Auto debt (4%)
• 88 Payday loan debt (2%)
• 84 Mortgage debt (2%)
• 55 Private student loan debt (1%)
• 36 Federal student loan debt (1%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 2159 Attempts to collect debt not owed (47%)
• 1482 Written notification about debt (32%)
• 313 False statements or representation (7%)
• 313 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (7%)
• 241 Communication tactics (5%)
• 62 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (1%)

The top five subissues were:

• 1208 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (26%)
• 1133 Debt is not yours (25%)
• 652 Debt was result of identity theft (14%)
• 329 Debt was paid (7%)
• 273 Attempted to collect wrong amount (6%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 557 Complaints: TX
• 472 Complaints: FL
• 410 Complaints: CA
• 408 Complaints: NY
• 340 Complaints: GA
• 308 Complaints: NJ
• 155 Complaints: PA
• 154 Complaints: MA
• 123 Complaints: IL
• 109 Complaints: NC

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

• 3691 Closed with explanation (81%)
• 423 In progress (9%)
• 370 Closed with non-monetary relief (8%)
• 75 Untimely response (2%)
• 11 Closed with monetary relief (0%)

This includes 4450 (97%) timely responses to complaints, and 120 (3%) untimely responses.

Quick analysis: Happy Thanksgiving! Amid an unremarkable month, we are prepared to make some official predictions about the final numbers for the year. But first, the month.

CFPB complaints (+4.8%), FCRA suits (+11.4%) and TCPA suits (+2.9%) were all up this month, while FDCPA suits (-5.2%) were down. Similar trending is in place for all of those categories YTD.

In other news, putative class actions represented 16.8% of FDCPA, 45.8% of TCPA and 3.7% of FCRA lawsuits filed last month.

About 35% of all plaintiffs who filed suit last month had filed at least once before.

And finally, California attorney Todd M. Friedman stays at the top of the list representing more consumers than anyone else in the month with 35 and New York’s Craig B. Sanders stays at the top of the list for having filed the most of the year with 279. That YTD stat excludes attorneys Nicole Rochelle Lewis and Rebecca Evans who crammed hundreds of plaintiffs into a few TCPA lawsuits earlier this year.

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Now, on the the 2020 projections…

Based on the first ten months of the year, plus projected Nov/Dec numbers based on patterns from Nov/Dec of the last three years (on average about a 15% drop over the rest of the year’s average numbers in those last two months), we are coming up with a slight increase in FCRA, a fairly significant drop in FDCPA, and TCPA holding steady with a statistical tie from 2019.

FCRA is the only statute to have grown in the number of filings every year in recent history, and will be ending 2020 at a projected 5190 suits, up from 4959 in 2019.

FDCPA continues its steady decline and will be ending 2020 at a projected 6980, down a whopping 1361 filings from 2019’s total of 8341.

TCPA had a dramatic rise in the teen years but spent the last couple of years on a downward trend. 2020 looks like it will end in an essential tie with 2019’s 3414 filings, landing at a projected 3417. It is relevant to point out here that this number is a bit skewed by some suits early in the year that crammed many plaintiffs into a few filings, as we count these numbers by plaintiffs represented. So the real number is lower, even if it doesn’t quite feel like it.

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Additionally, CFPB complaints seem to have more than recovered from a big drop last year and look to end the year at their highest projected number yet of 52,116 complaints against debt collectors, vs. 2019’s 46,397 complaints and 2018’s 51,175 complaints.

*** Important Note About CFPB Data ***
We had a bug in our algorithm for tracking CFPB complaints that unintentionally inflated the previous year comparison numbers for the last few months (July, Aug and Sept). This had the unfortunate effect of making it look like CFPB complaints were dramatically lower this year in comparison, when in fact they were not. We deeply regret the error and apologize to the CFPB, ACA and other organizations who rely on our data to analyze the market conditions. The problem has been fixed and we are grateful to the CFPB for working with us to identify the issue.

Finally, we are pleased to reintroduce periodic BBB complaint tracking this month. The big challenge with reporting BBB complaints is that they trickle out much more slowly than lawsuits and CFPB complaints, so this will not be a monthly feature. BBB complaints look like they have dropped precipitously over the last couple of years, but that is exaggerated by an outlier year in 2018 with a remarkable 116,404 complaints recorded. We are projecting 2020 to end quite a bit up over 2017’s 79,250 complaints and 2019’s 84,643 complaints, with around 100,000 complaints filed against debt collectors and creditors. That is a significant increase in consumer complaint activity, but still down from 2018’s high mark. That takes into account several thousand complaints we still expect to see for each month going back as far as June, so the graph below is not particularly helpful on this one. We will make it a point to come back mid-2021 with better numbers for the full year and how it compares to prior years.

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Whew. That was a lot. Go eat some turkey!

Complaint Statistics:

4955 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 1125 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Oct 01, 2020 to Oct 31, 2020.

• 4955 CFPB Complaints
• 548 FDCPA, 92 Class Action (16.8%)
• 177 TCPA, 81 Class Action (45.8%)
• 510 FCRA, 19 Class Action (3.7%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 1125 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 393, or (35%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 4286 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 159 different US District Court branches.
• About 744 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 94 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 52 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
• 49 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 39 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 35 Lawsuits: Texas Northern District Court – Dallas
• 33 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 27 Lawsuits: New York Southern District Court – Foley Square
• 27 Lawsuits: Indiana Southern District Court – Indianapolis
• 26 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Western District Court – Pittsburgh
• 26 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 35 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 27 Consumers: YOSEF STEINMETZ
• Representing 26 Consumers: JOSHUA P WARD
• Representing 24 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
• Representing 21 Consumers: MATTHEW B WEISBERG
• Representing 21 Consumers: GARY SCHAFKOPF
• Representing 19 Consumers: KENNY G OH
• Representing 18 Consumers: EDWARD Y KROUB
• Representing 17 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 14 Consumers: ALEJANDRO EMMANUEL FIGUEROA

Statistics Year to Date:
11013 total lawsuits for 2020, including:

• 5941 FDCPA
• 4393 FCRA
• 2920 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2020: 10910 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 361 Consumers: REBECCA EVANS
• Representing 279 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
• Representing 256 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 238 Consumers: NICOLE ROCHELLE LEWIS
• Representing 209 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 200 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
• Representing 188 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 185 Consumers: EDWARD Y KROUB
• Representing 155 Consumers: MICHAEL ZHANG
• Representing 147 Consumers: JOSEPH SCOTT DAVIDSON

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CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 4955 complaints filed against debt collectors from Oct 01, 2020 to Oct 31, 2020.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 788

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 1323 Other debt (27%)
• 1294 Credit card debt (26%)
• 1152 I do not know (23%)
• 724 Medical debt (15%)
• 188 Auto debt (4%)
• 112 Payday loan debt (2%)
• 89 Mortgage debt (2%)
• 44 Private student loan debt (1%)
• 29 Federal student loan debt (1%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 2481 Attempts to collect debt not owed (50%)
• 1357 Written notification about debt (27%)
• 386 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (8%)
• 360 False statements or representation (7%)
• 293 Communication tactics (6%)
• 78 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (2%)

The top five subissues were:

• 1169 Debt is not yours (24%)
• 1030 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (21%)
• 779 Debt was result of identity theft (16%)
• 462 Debt was paid (9%)
• 300 Attempted to collect wrong amount (6%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 648 Complaints: TX
• 549 Complaints: FL
• 471 Complaints: CA
• 370 Complaints: NY
• 347 Complaints: GA
• 189 Complaints: PA
• 187 Complaints: NJ
• 157 Complaints: MA
• 139 Complaints: OH
• 132 Complaints: NC

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

• 4075 Closed with explanation (82%)
• 415 Closed with non-monetary relief (8%)
• 344 In progress (7%)
• 95 Untimely response (2%)
• 26 Closed with monetary relief (1%)

This includes 4790 (97%) timely responses to complaints, and 165 (3%) untimely responses.