Blog/ Litigation Stats

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.

Quick analysis: Another mixed bag…

CFPB complaints and TCPA suits are down (-.6% and -23.6% respectively) while FDCPA and FCRA suits are up (+8.5% and +9.3% respectively) for September 2020. Year to date the picture shakes out a little differently, with CFPB complaints and FDCPA suits both down for the year (-3.9% and -15.5% respectively) while FCRA and TCPA suits are both up for the year (+3.8% and -+5.7% respectively).

Soooo…. the muddled messaging from plaintiffs continues. Notable last month… FDCPA had a rare mini-surge of activity, TCPA had an uncommonly large tumble. The clear winner in consumer litigation continues to be the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which has been the most consistently increasingly used consumer statute of the last couple of years.

In other news, putative class actions represented 15.1% of FDCPA, 43% of TCPA and 3.3% of FCRA lawsuits filed last month.

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

And finally, we have a first – a bicoastal dominance for the month with New York attorney Edward Y. Kroub (making his debut at the top of our list), tied with California attorney Todd M. Friedman (who hasn’t topped our list in ages) each representing 34 consumers in September. New York’s Craig B. Sanders still has filed the most for the year with 271 consumers represented. That YTD stat excludes attorneys Nicole Rochelle Lewis and Rebecca Evans who crammed hundreds of plaintiffs into a few TCPA lawsuits earlier this year.

Complaint Statistics:

4770 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 1068 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Sep 01, 2020 to Sep 30, 2020.

• 4770 CFPB Complaints
• 577 FDCPA, 87 Class Action (15.1%)
• 172 TCPA, 74 Class Action (43.0%)
• 458 FCRA, 15 Class Action (3.3%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 1068 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 352, or (33%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 2459 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 160 different US District Court branches.
• About 734 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 65 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 47 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
• 42 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 42 Lawsuits: Indiana Southern District Court – Indianapolis
• 39 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 36 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 31 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 31 Lawsuits: New Jersey District Court – Newark
• 26 Lawsuits: Florida Southern District Court – Fort Lauderdale
• 24 Lawsuits: Nevada District Court – Las Vegas

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 34 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 34 Consumers: EDWARD Y KROUB
• Representing 29 Consumers: JOSHUA P WARD
• Representing 26 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
• Representing 20 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 19 Consumers: JOHN THOMAS STEINKAMP
• Representing 18 Consumers: DAVID J PHILIPPS
• Representing 17 Consumers: YOSEF STEINMETZ
• Representing 17 Consumers: LARRY PAUL SMITH
• Representing 16 Consumers: DAVID M MARCO

Statistics Year to Date:
9893 total lawsuits for 2020, including:

• 5392 FDCPA
• 3883 FCRA
• 2743 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2020: 9917 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 361 Consumers: REBECCA EVANS
• Representing 271 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
• Representing 238 Consumers: NICOLE ROCHELLE LEWIS
• Representing 221 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 192 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 184 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 176 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
• Representing 167 Consumers: EDWARD Y KROUB
• Representing 155 Consumers: MICHAEL ZHANG
• Representing 136 Consumers: JOSEPH SCOTT DAVIDSON

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CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 4770 complaints filed against debt collectors from Sep 01, 2020 to Sep 30, 2020.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 773

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 1304 Credit card debt (27%)
• 1246 Other debt (26%)
• 1062 I do not know (22%)
• 695 Medical debt (15%)
• 205 Auto debt (4%)
• 124 Payday loan debt (3%)
• 68 Mortgage debt (1%)
• 34 Federal student loan debt (1%)
• 32 Private student loan debt (1%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 2562 Attempts to collect debt not owed (54%)
• 1101 Written notification about debt (23%)
• 352 False statements or representation (7%)
• 350 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (7%)
• 324 Communication tactics (7%)
• 81 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (2%)

The top five subissues were:

• 1206 Debt is not yours (25%)
• 851 Debt was result of identity theft (18%)
• 849 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (18%)
• 438 Debt was paid (9%)
• 300 Attempted to collect wrong amount (6%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 649 Complaints: TX
• 475 Complaints:
• 468 Complaints: CA
• 455 Complaints: FL
• 329 Complaints: GA
• 304 Complaints: NY
• 127 Complaints: PA
• 112 Complaints: OH
• 110 Complaints: NC
• 104 Complaints: MA

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

• 3946 Closed with explanation (83%)
• 396 Closed with non-monetary relief (8%)
• 322 In progress (7%)
• 86 Untimely response (2%)
• 20 Closed with monetary relief (0%)

This includes 4605 (97%) timely responses to complaints, and 165 (3%) untimely responses.

Quick analysis: The Red Zone…

There’s a lot of red on August’s consumer complaint grid. CFPB complaints and FDCPA, TCPA and FCRA complaints were all down from July; all but FCRA were all down from August 2019; and CFPB complaints and FCPA complaints are both down YTD. FCRA and TCPA are still up for the year, continuing long term trends.

In other news, putative class actions represented 15.4% of FDCPA, 57.3%(!) of TCPA and 3.8% of FCRA lawsuits filed last month.

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

And finally, Georgia attorney Matthew Thomas Berry takes the top spot for representing 33 consumers throughout the month and New York’s Craig B. Sanders has filed the most for the year with 265. That YTD stat excludes attorneys Nicole Rochelle Lewis and Rebecca Evans who crammed hundreds of plaintiffs into a few TCPA lawsuits earlier this year.

Complaint Statistics:

4743 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 1055 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Aug 01, 2020 to Aug 31, 2020.

• 4743 CFPB Complaints
• 532 FDCPA, 82 Class Action (15.4%)
• 225 TCPA, 129 Class Action (57.3%)
• 418 FCRA, 16 Class Action (3.8%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 1055 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 349, or (33%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 1963 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 155 different US District Court branches.
• About 767 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 63 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 57 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
• 49 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 40 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 39 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 30 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 28 Lawsuits: Nevada District Court – Las Vegas
• 25 Lawsuits: Indiana Southern District Court – Indianapolis
• 22 Lawsuits: Minnesota District Court – Dmn
• 21 Lawsuits: California Northern District Court – San Francisco

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 33 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 27 Consumers: DAVID J PHILIPPS
• Representing 24 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 21 Consumers: EDWARD Y KROUB
• Representing 19 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
• Representing 19 Consumers: CORY STEVEN FEIN
• Representing 19 Consumers: CHRISTOPHER NEIL ARMOR
• Representing 17 Consumers: MARY ELIZABETH PHILIPPS
• Representing 16 Consumers: ALEJANDRO EMMANUEL FIGUEROA
• Representing 15 Consumers: JOHN THOMAS STEINKAMP

Statistics Year to Date:
8835 total lawsuits for 2020, including:

• 4815 FDCPA
• 3423 FCRA
• 2571 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2020: 8976 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 361 Consumers: REBECCA EVANS
• Representing 265 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
• Representing 238 Consumers: NICOLE ROCHELLE LEWIS
• Representing 187 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 179 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 164 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 155 Consumers: MICHAEL ZHANG
• Representing 150 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
• Representing 133 Consumers: EDWARD Y KROUB
• Representing 131 Consumers: JOSEPH LEWIS ERKENBRACK

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CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 4743 complaints filed against debt collectors from Aug 01, 2020 to Aug 31, 2020.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 784

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 1266 Other debt (27%)
• 1172 Credit card debt (25%)
• 1120 I do not know (24%)
• 777 Medical debt (16%)
• 166 Auto debt (3%)
• 108 Payday loan debt (2%)
• 71 Mortgage debt (1%)
• 45 Private student loan debt (1%)
• 18 Federal student loan debt (0%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 2563 Attempts to collect debt not owed (54%)
• 1069 Written notification about debt (23%)
• 382 False statements or representation (8%)
• 348 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (7%)
• 312 Communication tactics (7%)
• 69 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (1%)

The top five subissues were:

• 1228 Debt is not yours (26%)
• 805 Debt was result of identity theft (17%)
• 775 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (16%)
• 441 Debt was paid (9%)
• 327 Attempted to collect wrong amount (7%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 629 Complaints: TX
• 538 Complaints: CA
• 466 Complaints: FL
• 401 Complaints: GA
• 286 Complaints: NY
• 166 Complaints: PA
• 156 Complaints: MA
• 151 Complaints: OH
• 130 Complaints: NJ
• 127 Complaints: IL

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

• 3855 Closed with explanation (81%)
• 381 In progress (8%)
• 380 Closed with non-monetary relief (8%)
• 98 Untimely response (2%)
• 29 Closed with monetary relief (1%)

This includes 4585 (97%) timely responses to complaints, and 158 (3%) untimely responses.

Quick analysis: Everything is up, everything is down, and a split decision.

If we had spent the past 11.5 years analyzing consumer litigation stats by the neatness of the designs they make on our nifty grid, I think we would be ready to shut it down because we have a winner.

In the month of July 2020, everything was up from June 2020. And, everything was down (by double digits, no less!) from last year July. And, in the YTD category we have a split decision, with CFPB complaints and FDCPA down, and FCRA and TCPA up.

In other news, putative class actions represented 22.5% of FDCPA, 54.72%(!) 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, new Georgia attorney Matthew J Landreau takes the top spot for representing 33 consumers throughout the month and New York’s Craig B. Sanders has filed the most for the year with 255. That YTD stat excludes attorneys Nicole Rochelle Lewis and Rebecca Evans who crammed hundreds of plaintiffs into a few TCPA lawsuits earlier this year.

Complaint Statistics:

4855 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 1172 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Jul 01, 2020 to Jul 31, 2020.

• 4855 CFPB Complaints
• 631 FDCPA, 142 Class Action (22.5%)
• 236 TCPA, 129 Class Action (54.7%)
• 436 FCRA, 16 Class Action (3.7%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 1172 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 410, or (35%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 2614 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 166 different US District Court branches.
• About 779 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 79 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 52 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
• 51 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 38 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 36 Lawsuits: Wisconsin Eastern District Court – Milwaukee
• 34 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 33 Lawsuits: Florida Southern District Court – Fort Lauderdale
• 31 Lawsuits: Nevada District Court – Las Vegas
• 30 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court – San Diego
• 29 Lawsuits: Indiana Southern District Court – Indianapolis

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 33 Consumers: MATTHEW J LANDREAU
• Representing 27 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 25 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 25 Consumers: JOHN D BLYTHIN
• Representing 22 Consumers: THOMAS JOHN PATTI
• Representing 22 Consumers: SHAWN JAFFER
• Representing 21 Consumers: EDWARD Y KROUB
• Representing 20 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 20 Consumers: MARK A ELDRIDGE
• Representing 19 Consumers: ALEJANDRO EMMANUEL FIGUEROA

Statistics Year to Date:
7790 total lawsuits for 2020, including:

• 4283 FDCPA
• 3005 FCRA
• 2346 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2020: 8031 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 361 Consumers: REBECCA EVANS
• Representing 255 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
• Representing 238 Consumers: NICOLE ROCHELLE LEWIS
• Representing 165 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 163 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 155 Consumers: MICHAEL ZHANG
• Representing 131 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
• Representing 131 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 128 Consumers: ADAM KLEIN
• Representing 125 Consumers: DAVID M BARSHAY

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CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 4855 complaints filed against debt collectors from Jul 01, 2020 to Jul 31, 2020.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 791

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 1321 Credit card debt (27%)
• 1204 Other debt (25%)
• 1129 I do not know (23%)
• 697 Medical debt (14%)
• 201 Payday loan debt (4%)
• 174 Auto debt (4%)
• 57 Mortgage debt (1%)
• 42 Private student loan debt (1%)
• 30 Federal student loan debt (1%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 2655 Attempts to collect debt not owed (55%)
• 1047 Written notification about debt (22%)
• 489 False statements or representation (10%)
• 312 Communication tactics (6%)
• 288 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (6%)
• 64 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (1%)

The top five subissues were:

• 1249 Debt is not yours (26%)
• 838 Debt was result of identity theft (17%)
• 737 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (15%)
• 481 Debt was paid (10%)
• 405 Attempted to collect wrong amount (8%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 870 Complaints: TX
• 495 Complaints: FL
• 495 Complaints: CA
• 347 Complaints: GA
• 236 Complaints: NY
• 165 Complaints: PA
• 162 Complaints: OH
• 150 Complaints: IL
• 148 Complaints: NC
• 117 Complaints: NJ

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

• 3929 Closed with explanation (81%)
• 432 Closed with non-monetary relief (9%)
• 365 In progress (8%)
• 99 Untimely response (2%)
• 30 Closed with monetary relief (1%)

This includes 4702 (97%) timely responses to complaints, and 153 (3%) untimely responses.

Quick analysis: An Interesting Dichotomy…

For June, 2020 we have a picture I don’t quite remember seeing before. FDCPA is up a strong +20.2% over last month and FCRA/TCPA are both down pretty big as well, -12.9% and -11.1%, respectively. That on its own is fairly unusual.

BUT… when you look at the YTD, we get the mirror image, with FDCPA down -16.9% and FCRA/TCPA both up, +8.2% and +17.7%, respectively.

Significance? Probably little, if any. But it is still an interesting puzzle to solve, why FDCPA is so high up in June but down YTD, and why FCRA/TCPA are so far down in June but up YTD.

CFPB complaints against debt collectors, meanwhile, were fairly steady in June. Down a hair (-1.8% but that will further tighten) and +7.9% up YTD, which has also been pretty steady for the last several months.

In other news, putative class actions represented 19.2% of FDCPA, 40.2% of TCPA and 2.4% of FCRA lawsuits filed last month.

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

And finally, Texas attorney Shawn Jaffer shares the top spot with Georgia attorney Matthew Thomas Berry for representing more consumers than anyone else in the month with 28 each and New York’s Craig B. Sanders has filed the most for the year with 238. That YTD stat excludes attorneys Nicole Rochelle Lewis and Rebecca Evans who crammed hundreds of plaintiffs into a few TCPA lawsuits earlier this year.

Complaint Statistics:

4383 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 1075 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Jun 01, 2020 to Jun 30, 2020.

• 4383 CFPB Complaints
• 630 FDCPA, 121 Class Action (19.2%)
• 184 TCPA, 74 Class Action (40.2%)
• 371 FCRA, 9 Class Action (2.4%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 1075 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 373, or (35%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 1933 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 151 different US District Court branches.
• About 704 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 66 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 56 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 51 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
• 40 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 36 Lawsuits: Wisconsin Eastern District Court – Milwaukee
• 28 Lawsuits: Florida Southern District Court – Fort Lauderdale
• 28 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 27 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 26 Lawsuits: New Jersey District Court – Newark
• 25 Lawsuits: Nevada District Court – Las Vegas

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 28 Consumers: SHAWN JAFFER
• Representing 28 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 23 Consumers: MICHAEL S AGRUSS
• Representing 22 Consumers: EDWARD Y KROUB
• Representing 21 Consumers: ADAM KLEIN
• Representing 20 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
• Representing 19 Consumers: JOSEPH SCOTT DAVIDSON
• Representing 19 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 18 Consumers: TAYLOR LEIGH KOSLA
• Representing 18 Consumers: JAMES JOSHUA PARR

Statistics Year to Date:
6608 total lawsuits for 2020, including:

• 3651 FDCPA
• 2570 FCRA
• 2106 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2020: 6999 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 361 Consumers: REBECCA EVANS
• Representing 238 Consumers: NICOLE ROCHELLE LEWIS
• Representing 238 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
• Representing 155 Consumers: MICHAEL ZHANG
• Representing 142 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 140 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 118 Consumers: DAVID M BARSHAY
• Representing 115 Consumers: ADAM KLEIN
• Representing 114 Consumers: TAXIARCHIS HATZIDIMITRIADIS
• Representing 114 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON

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CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 4383 complaints filed against debt collectors from Jun 01, 2020 to Jun 30, 2020.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 725

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 1150 Credit card debt (26%)
• 1099 I do not know (25%)
• 1094 Other debt (25%)
• 628 Medical debt (14%)
• 135 Auto debt (3%)
• 130 Payday loan debt (3%)
• 81 Mortgage debt (2%)
• 40 Private student loan debt (1%)
• 26 Federal student loan debt (1%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 2417 Attempts to collect debt not owed (55%)
• 854 Written notification about debt (19%)
• 403 False statements or representation (9%)
• 336 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (8%)
• 290 Communication tactics (7%)
• 83 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (2%)

The top five subissues were:

• 1181 Debt is not yours (27%)
• 762 Debt was result of identity theft (17%)
• 620 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (14%)
• 406 Debt was paid (9%)
• 319 Attempted to collect wrong amount (7%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 695 Complaints: TX
• 538 Complaints: FL
• 490 Complaints: CA
• 358 Complaints: GA
• 220 Complaints: NY
• 132 Complaints: OH
• 129 Complaints: IL
• 119 Complaints: LA
• 117 Complaints: NC
• 104 Complaints: VA

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

• 3476 Closed with explanation (79%)
• 419 In progress (10%)
• 371 Closed with non-monetary relief (8%)
• 94 Untimely response (2%)
• 23 Closed with monetary relief (1%)

This includes 4233 (97%) timely responses to complaints, and 150 (3%) untimely responses.

Quick analysis: Back to normal, sort of – everything is down.

We knew TCPA would be way down, because it was artificially inflated last month by some attorneys who crammed hundreds of plaintiffs into a handful of suits. So that is back to normal territory. But even so, May was the lowest month of the year in terms of total litigation and FDCPA and TCPA litigation. FCRA numbers were lower, nominally, only in February and March.

In other news, putative class actions represented 18.4% of FDCPA, 44.7% of TCPA and 4.5% of FCRA lawsuits filed last month.

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

And finally, Georgia attorney Matthew Thomas Berry represented more consumers than anyone else for the month with 24 and New York’s Craig B. Sanders has filed the most for the year with 218. That YTD stat excludes attorneys Nicole Rochelle Lewis and Rebecca Evans who crammed hundreds of plaintiffs into a few TCPA lawsuits earlier this year.

Complaint Statistics:

4455 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 1012 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from May 01, 2020 to May 31, 2020.

• 4455 CFPB Complaints
• 521 FDCPA, 96 Class Action (18.4%)
• 206 TCPA, 92 Class Action (44.7%)
• 425 FCRA, 19 Class Action (4.5%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 1012 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 332, or (33%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 2974 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 144 different US District Court branches.
• About 682 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 84 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 65 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 45 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
• 31 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 27 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 25 Lawsuits: Minnesota District Court – Dmn
• 24 Lawsuits: Nevada District Court – Las Vegas
• 24 Lawsuits: Texas Northern District Court – Dallas
• 23 Lawsuits: Indiana Southern District Court – Indianapolis
• 22 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 24 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 23 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 21 Consumers: TAXIARCHIS HATZIDIMITRIADIS
• Representing 20 Consumers: CHRISTOPHER NEIL ARMOR
• Representing 20 Consumers: JOSEPH SCOTT DAVIDSON
• Representing 19 Consumers: ALEJANDRO EMMANUEL FIGUEROA
• Representing 18 Consumers: MATTHEW J LANDREAU
• Representing 16 Consumers: MOHAMMED OMAR BADWAN
• Representing 16 Consumers: JOSEPH LEWIS ERKENBRACK
• Representing 16 Consumers: ADAM KLEIN

Statistics Year to Date:
5582 total lawsuits for 2020, including:

• 3016 FDCPA
• 2197 FCRA
• 1911 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2020: 6021 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 361 Consumers: REBECCA EVANS
• Representing 238 Consumers: NICOLE ROCHELLE LEWIS
• Representing 218 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
• Representing 155 Consumers: MICHAEL ZHANG
• Representing 128 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 121 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 113 Consumers: TAXIARCHIS HATZIDIMITRIADIS
• Representing 108 Consumers: DAVID M BARSHAY
• Representing 104 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
• Representing 94 Consumers: ADAM KLEIN

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CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 4455 complaints filed against debt collectors from May 01, 2020 to May 31, 2020.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 769

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 1174 Other debt (26%)
• 1124 Credit card debt (25%)
• 1086 I do not know (24%)
• 651 Medical debt (15%)
• 159 Auto debt (4%)
• 127 Payday loan debt (3%)
• 59 Mortgage debt (1%)
• 39 Private student loan debt (1%)
• 36 Federal student loan debt (1%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 2383 Attempts to collect debt not owed (53%)
• 1029 Written notification about debt (23%)
• 395 False statements or representation (9%)
• 331 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (7%)
• 263 Communication tactics (6%)
• 54 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (1%)

The top five subissues were:

• 1084 Debt is not yours (24%)
• 807 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (18%)
• 780 Debt was result of identity theft (18%)
• 448 Debt was paid (10%)
• 327 Attempted to collect wrong amount (7%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 649 Complaints: TX
• 499 Complaints: FL
• 455 Complaints: CA
• 359 Complaints: GA
• 192 Complaints: NY
• 164 Complaints: OH
• 141 Complaints: MA
• 135 Complaints: IL
• 129 Complaints: PA
• 101 Complaints: VA

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

• 3670 Closed with explanation (82%)
• 347 In progress (8%)
• 328 Closed with non-monetary relief (7%)
• 91 Untimely response (2%)
• 19 Closed with monetary relief (0%)

This includes 4310 (97%) timely responses to complaints, and 145 (3%) untimely responses.

Quick analysis: TCPWOW

There seem to be one big lesson so far from the way consumer complaints and litigation are affected by a pandemic.

They aren’t.

Last month’s numbers are almost totally normal and average: CFPB complaints are up a bit, FDCPA complaints are down a hair, FCRA complaints are up a lot and TCPA complaints… well those require a bit of explanation.

TCPA looks like it is up 160% over last month at 650 and that is true… but only in the record number of plaintiffs represented which is the metric we have used forever in these comparison grids. In terms of the number of unique filings, TCPA last month was a totally average 286. So what causes this discrepancy? Porch.com

A whopping 364 of those 650 TCPA consumers were co-plaintiffs distributed among five suits around the country, all against Porch.com and using three different plaintiff attorneys: Michael Zhang from Portland-based Qiu-Qiu Law, Rebecca Evans / Rebecca Anne Evans (one lawyer, two name variations in the filings) from Salt Lake City-based LawHQ and Stephanie Lynn Lucero from Albuquerque-based Lucero Law LLC. Take them out of the picture, and the month is utterly unremarkable.

Except, of course, for the fact that we are having a totally normal month as consumer complaints go in the middle of a worldwide pandemic.

In other news, putative class actions represented 21.2% of FDCPA, 13.4% of TCPA (or, adjusted for this month’s anomaly, 30.4%) and 8.3% of FCRA lawsuits filed last month.

About 29% of all plaintiffs who filed suit last month had filed at least once before.

And finally, if we discount the extreme filings of attorneys Michael Zhang, Rebecca Anne Evans and Stephanie Lynn Lucero, New York attorney Craig B. Sanders represented more consumers than anyone else for the month (42) and of the year with 203. That YTD number also excludes California attorney Nicole Rochelle Lewis, who filed along with Rebecca Evans in another crazy-large Porch.com lawsuit back in January.

Complaint Statistics:

4560 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 1527 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Apr 01, 2020 to Apr 30, 2020.

• 4560 CFPB Complaints
• 603 FDCPA, 128 Class Action (21.2%)
• 650 TCPA, 87 Class Action (13.4%)
• 460 FCRA, 38 Class Action (8.3%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 1527 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 444, or (29%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 2807 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 160 different US District Court branches.
• About 708 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 90 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 56 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 53 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
• 45 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 35 Lawsuits: Indiana Southern District Court – Indianapolis
• 31 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 29 Lawsuits: New Jersey District Court – Newark
• 24 Lawsuits: Florida Southern District Court – Miami
• 23 Lawsuits: Florida Southern District Court – Fort Lauderdale
• 22 Lawsuits: Nevada District Court – Las Vegas

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 155 Consumers: MICHAEL ZHANG
• Representing 123 Consumers: REBECCA EVANS
• Representing 87 Consumers: REBECCA ANNE EVANS
• Representing 85 Consumers: STEPHANIE LYNN LUCERO
• Representing 42 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
• Representing 37 Consumers: KRISTIE LYNN FISCHER
• Representing 34 Consumers: JACQUELINE PORTER
• Representing 32 Consumers: CRYSTAL L COOKE
• Representing 25 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 25 Consumers: BRIANA SMITH

Statistics Year to Date:
4601 total lawsuits for 2020, including:

• 2495 FDCPA
• 1772 FCRA
• 1705 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2020: 5089 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 361 Consumers: REBECCA EVANS
• Representing 238 Consumers: NICOLE ROCHELLE LEWIS
• Representing 203 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
• Representing 155 Consumers: MICHAEL ZHANG
• Representing 114 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 103 Consumers: DAVID M BARSHAY
• Representing 98 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 92 Consumers: TAXIARCHIS HATZIDIMITRIADIS
• Representing 91 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
• Representing 87 Consumers: REBECCA ANNE EVANS

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CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 4560 complaints filed against debt collectors from Apr 01, 2020 to Apr 30, 2020.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 761

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 1211 I do not know (27%)
• 1134 Other debt (25%)
• 1124 Credit card debt (25%)
• 669 Medical debt (15%)
• 138 Auto debt (3%)
• 118 Payday loan debt (3%)
• 84 Mortgage debt (2%)
• 42 Federal student loan debt (1%)
• 40 Private student loan debt (1%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 2494 Attempts to collect debt not owed (55%)
• 993 Written notification about debt (22%)
• 389 False statements or representation (9%)
• 323 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (7%)
• 302 Communication tactics (7%)
• 59 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (1%)

The top five subissues were:

• 1129 Debt is not yours (25%)
• 879 Debt was result of identity theft (19%)
• 712 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (16%)
• 407 Debt was paid (9%)
• 299 Attempted to collect wrong amount (7%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 799 Complaints: TX
• 541 Complaints: CA
• 479 Complaints: FL
• 323 Complaints: GA
• 183 Complaints: NY
• 151 Complaints: IL
• 144 Complaints: NJ
• 124 Complaints: PA
• 115 Complaints: NC
• 114 Complaints: OH

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

• 3697 Closed with explanation (81%)
• 419 In progress (9%)
• 346 Closed with non-monetary relief (8%)
• 79 Untimely response (2%)
• 19 Closed with monetary relief (0%)

This includes 4418 (97%) timely responses to complaints, and 142 (3%) untimely responses.

Quick analysis: You’re not gonna believe this…

Yes, lawsuits were down in March. That is no surprise. Courts closed, people started sheltering in place, commerce plummeted. But the shock is in how much lawsuits were down from the prior month. Or, more accurately speaking, in how *little* they were down.

After a brief slowdown in the first half of the month, FDCPA ended up down only -3.3% from February, FCRA only -3.6% and TCPA -7.7%. That is shocking. Even as most of the country was shutting down, consumer litigation barely missed a beat. FCRA and TCPA are even up +20.3% and +23% respectively YTD. Does this mean suing creditors, debt collectors and marketers is now considered an essential service?

In other news, putative class actions represented 25.5% of FDCPA, 46% of TCPA and 4.4% of FCRA lawsuits filed last month.

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

And finally, New York attorney Craig B. Sanders represented more consumers (by far) than anyone else for the month (75) which also makes him the most active consumer attorney of the year with 161. That doesn’t include the literal leaders of Rebecca Evans and Nicole Rochelle Lewis, who I consider outliers because together they filed a single TCPA lawsuit with 238 plaintiffs in it.

Complaint Statistics:

4224 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 1114 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Mar 01, 2020 to Mar 31, 2020.

• 4224 CFPB Complaints
• 608 FDCPA, 155 Class Action (25.5%)
• 250 TCPA, 115 Class Action (46.0%)
• 405 FCRA, 18 Class Action (4.4%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 1114 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 394, or (35%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 3471 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 144 different US District Court branches.
• About 693 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 70 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 50 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
• 41 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 39 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 32 Lawsuits: New York Southern District Court – Foley Square
• 31 Lawsuits: New Jersey District Court – Newark
• 30 Lawsuits: Florida Southern District Court – Fort Lauderdale
• 29 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 29 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court – San Diego
• 27 Lawsuits: Indiana Southern District Court – Indianapolis

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 70 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
• Representing 46 Consumers: DAVID M BARSHAY
• Representing 24 Consumers: JOSEPH LEWIS ERKENBRACK
• Representing 24 Consumers: ADAM KLEIN
• Representing 20 Consumers: JEFFREY J BURSELL
• Representing 20 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 19 Consumers: JOSEPH SCOTT DAVIDSON
• Representing 17 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 16 Consumers: DAVID M MARCO

Statistics Year to Date:
3494 total lawsuits for 2020, including:

• 1885 FDCPA
• 1307 FCRA
• 1055 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2020: 3638 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 238 Consumers: REBECCA EVANS
• Representing 238 Consumers: NICOLE ROCHELLE LEWIS
• Representing 161 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
• Representing 108 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 85 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
• Representing 83 Consumers: DAVID M BARSHAY
• Representing 73 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 69 Consumers: TAXIARCHIS HATZIDIMITRIADIS
• Representing 63 Consumers: JOSEPH LEWIS ERKENBRACK
• Representing 63 Consumers: ADAM KLEIN

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CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 4224 complaints filed against debt collectors from Mar 01, 2020 to Mar 31, 2020.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 750

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 1261 Other debt (30%)
• 1022 I do not know (24%)
• 938 Credit card debt (22%)
• 545 Medical debt (13%)
• 137 Auto debt (3%)
• 133 Payday loan debt (3%)
• 80 Mortgage debt (2%)
• 58 Federal student loan debt (1%)
• 50 Private student loan debt (1%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 2327 Attempts to collect debt not owed (55%)
• 777 Written notification about debt (18%)
• 370 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (9%)
• 339 False statements or representation (8%)
• 335 Communication tactics (8%)
• 76 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (2%)

The top five subissues were:

• 1153 Debt is not yours (27%)
• 754 Debt was result of identity theft (18%)
• 535 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (13%)
• 351 Debt was paid (8%)
• 279 Attempted to collect wrong amount (7%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 705 Complaints: TX
• 497 Complaints: CA
• 371 Complaints: FL
• 318 Complaints: GA
• 232 Complaints: NY
• 126 Complaints: OH
• 114 Complaints: PA
• 108 Complaints: IL
• 108 Complaints: NC
• 107 Complaints: VA

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

• 3289 Closed with explanation (78%)
• 445 In progress (11%)
• 382 Closed with non-monetary relief (9%)
• 84 Untimely response (2%)
• 24 Closed with monetary relief (1%)

This includes 4091 (97%) timely responses to complaints, and 133 (3%) untimely responses.

Quick analysis: It starts…

After a strong start to the year in litigation totals, consumer litigation took a bit of a tumble in February – at least compared to where it stood in January. FDCPA, FCRA and TCPA were all down for the month (-2.9%, -12.9% and down an incredible -49.3%, respectively). It is worth noting that both FCRA and TCPA were up by significant margins over this time last year however, +19.8% and +38.8%, respectively.

Whether connected to fears of the impending coronavirus spread or something else, the litigation slowdown is certain to continue through the next couple of months as courts close and commerce grinds to a halt.

CFPB complaints (which, incidentally can be filed in the comfort of your living room) rose 5.7% over January.

In other news, putative class actions represented 21.1% of FDCPA, 48.3% of TCPA and 6.9% of FCRA lawsuits filed last month.

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

And finally, for the first time since October 2019, New York attorney Craig B. Sanders represented more consumers than anyone else for the month (66) which also makes him the most active consumer attorney of the year with 91. That doesn’t include the literal leaders of Rebecca Evans and Nicole Rochelle Lewis, who I consider outliers because they filed a single TCPA lawsuit with 238 plaintiffs in it.

———————————————————————————————
We interrupt February Stats for a preview of March Stats!
———————————————————————————————

This is preliminary! But we thought the industry might like to see a sneak preview of how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting consumer litigation since shutdowns began. We took a snapshot of filed litigation for the first 15 days of March, and present it to you below. Be aware, these numbers are not yet 100% confirmed, but they should be pretty close to reality when all is said and done. We will officially update March numbers in mid-April.

———————————————————————————————
Now back to your regularly scheduled February stats!
———————————————————————————————

Complaint Statistics:

4011 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 1159 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Feb 01, 2020 to Feb 29, 2020.

• 4011 CFPB Complaints
• 629 FDCPA, 133 Class Action (21.1%)
• 271 TCPA, 131 Class Action (48.3%)
• 420 FCRA, 29 Class Action (6.9%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 1159 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 398, or (34%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 2850 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 160 different US District Court branches.
• About 793 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 96 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 52 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 46 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
• 40 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 40 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 31 Lawsuits: Nevada District Court – Las Vegas
• 31 Lawsuits: Texas Eastern District Court – Sherman
• 31 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 28 Lawsuits: Indiana Southern District Court – Indianapolis
• 25 Lawsuits: New Jersey District Court – Newark

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 66 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
• Representing 37 Consumers: DAVID M BARSHAY
• Representing 33 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 31 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 30 Consumers: TAXIARCHIS HATZIDIMITRIADIS
• Representing 25 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
• Representing 22 Consumers: DAVID W HEMMINGER
• Representing 22 Consumers: DAVID J PHILIPPS
• Representing 21 Consumers: EDWARD Y KROUB
• Representing 20 Consumers: MARY ELIZABETH PHILIPPS

Statistics Year to Date:
2408 total lawsuits for 2020, including:

• 1277 FDCPA
• 902 FCRA
• 805 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2020: 2598 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 238 Consumers: REBECCA EVANS
• Representing 238 Consumers: NICOLE ROCHELLE LEWIS
• Representing 91 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
• Representing 88 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 74 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
• Representing 58 Consumers: DAVID M BARSHAY
• Representing 56 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 54 Consumers: TAXIARCHIS HATZIDIMITRIADIS
• Representing 49 Consumers: DAVID W HEMMINGER
• Representing 47 Consumers: EDWARD Y KROUB

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CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 4011 complaints filed against debt collectors from Feb 01, 2020 to Feb 29, 2020.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 783

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 1176 Other debt (29%)
• 969 I do not know (24%)
• 815 Credit card debt (20%)
• 593 Medical debt (15%)
• 131 Auto debt (3%)
• 125 Payday loan debt (3%)
• 93 Mortgage debt (2%)
• 61 Federal student loan debt (2%)
• 48 Private student loan debt (1%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 1957 Attempts to collect debt not owed (49%)
• 857 Written notification about debt (21%)
• 381 False statements or representation (9%)
• 367 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (9%)
• 340 Communication tactics (8%)
• 109 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (3%)

The top five subissues were:

• 952 Debt is not yours (24%)
• 615 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (15%)
• 578 Debt was result of identity theft (14%)
• 362 Debt was paid (9%)
• 302 Attempted to collect wrong amount (8%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 584 Complaints: TX
• 465 Complaints: CA
• 379 Complaints: FL
• 243 Complaints: GA
• 189 Complaints: NY
• 129 Complaints: IL
• 118 Complaints: PA
• 117 Complaints: NJ
• 113 Complaints: VA
• 104 Complaints:

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

• 3269 Closed with explanation (82%)
• 343 In progress (9%)
• 307 Closed with non-monetary relief (8%)
• 74 Untimely response (2%)
• 18 Closed with monetary relief (0%)

This includes 3888 (97%) timely responses to complaints, and 123 (3%) untimely responses.

Quick analysis: 2020 Starts with complaints up across the board.

Dec 2019: Everything ended the year down.
Jan 2020: Everything began the year up.

FDCPA, TCPA and FCRA were all up over last month, +1.6%, +11.5% and +28.6% respectively. FCRA was also up over last year January by +37.4%, while FDCPA and TCPA were down so far YTD, by -9.8% and -13.9% respectively. CFPB Complaints were up +13.2% over last month, and 19.1% over last year January.

These are not insignificant numbers. It is fair to say consumer complaint activity came roaring out of the gate in 2020. Even the +1.6% for FDCPA is a bit dramatic, considering that most months in these last few years it has shown a steady (if slow) decline.

In other news, putative class actions represented 23.3% of FDCPA, 45.2% of TCPA and 5.6% of FCRA lawsuits filed last month.

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

And finally, in what is his first time at the top of this list in several years, Los Angeles attorney Todd M. Friedman represented more consumers than anyone else in January (55) which also makes him the most active consumer attorney of the year (so far…).

Complaint Statistics:

3777 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 1209 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Jan 01, 2020 to Jan 31, 2020.

• 3777 CFPB Complaints
• 647 FDCPA, 151 Class Action (23.3%)
• 261 TCPA, 118 Class Action (45.2%)
• 481 FCRA, 27 Class Action (5.6%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 1209 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 398, or (33%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 2613 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 161 different US District Court branches.
• About 810 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 70 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 69 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 62 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
• 53 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 48 Lawsuits: Nevada District Court – Las Vegas
• 40 Lawsuits: Indiana Southern District Court – Indianapolis
• 39 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 33 Lawsuits: Arizona District Court – Phoenix
• 33 Lawsuits: Florida Southern District Court – Fort Lauderdale
• 31 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 55 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 49 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
• Representing 27 Consumers: DAVID W HEMMINGER
• Representing 26 Consumers: EDWARD Y KROUB
• Representing 25 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
• Representing 25 Consumers: DAVID H KRIEGER
• Representing 24 Consumers: JOSEPH LEWIS ERKENBRACK
• Representing 24 Consumers: ADAM KLEIN
• Representing 23 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 22 Consumers: TAXIARCHIS HATZIDIMITRIADIS

Statistics Year to Date:
1212 total lawsuits for 2020, including:

• 647 FDCPA
• 481 FCRA
• 261 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2020: 1209 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 55 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 49 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
• Representing 27 Consumers: DAVID W HEMMINGER
• Representing 26 Consumers: EDWARD Y KROUB
• Representing 25 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
• Representing 25 Consumers: DAVID H KRIEGER
• Representing 24 Consumers: JOSEPH LEWIS ERKENBRACK
• Representing 24 Consumers: ADAM KLEIN
• Representing 23 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 22 Consumers: TAXIARCHIS HATZIDIMITRIADIS

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CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 3777 complaints filed against debt collectors from Jan 01, 2020 to Jan 31, 2020.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 834

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 1019 Other debt (27%)
• 885 I do not know (23%)
• 828 Credit card debt (22%)
• 601 Medical debt (16%)
• 148 Auto debt (4%)
• 123 Payday loan debt (3%)
• 66 Mortgage debt (2%)
• 59 Private student loan debt (2%)
• 48 Federal student loan debt (1%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 1725 Attempts to collect debt not owed (46%)
• 827 Written notification about debt (22%)
• 419 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (11%)
• 372 Communication tactics (10%)
• 352 False statements or representation (9%)
• 82 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (2%)

The top five subissues were:

• 896 Debt is not yours (24%)
• 620 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (16%)
• 428 Debt was result of identity theft (11%)
• 352 Debt was paid (9%)
• 263 Attempted to collect wrong amount (7%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 436 Complaints: CA
• 379 Complaints: TX
• 341 Complaints: FL
• 228 Complaints: NY
• 214 Complaints: GA
• 124 Complaints: NC
• 118 Complaints: OH
• 118 Complaints: PA
• 115 Complaints: VA
• 114 Complaints: MI

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

• 3066 Closed with explanation (81%)
• 313 Closed with non-monetary relief (8%)
• 287 In progress (8%)
• 88 Untimely response (2%)
• 23 Closed with monetary relief (1%)

This includes 3619 (96%) timely responses to complaints, and 158 (4%) untimely responses.