Happy Holidays: FDCPA to crack 10k, TCPA to miss important milestone…

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Quick analysis: Happy Holidays: FDCPA to crack 10k, TCPA to miss important milestone…

Well, with the year almost over, it seems safe to make a couple of predictions about how consumer litigation will shake out for 2016.

First, FDCPA cases will break 10k for the year 2016 in December, but it will fall far short from matching 2015’s final tally of 11,813 cases with a decline of 12.4% so far for 2016. Both years fall short of 2011’s record number of 12,226 suits. We can expect FDCPA filings for 2016 to settle somewhere around 10.5k for the year, up from November’s YTD total of 9617.

Second, TCPA had a shot, briefly, of hitting a record 5k cases for the year – well above 2015’s 3687 cases. But that shot seems remote now thanks to a weaker-than-normal November. The 2016 eleven-month tally sits at 4499. To hit 5k, there would have to be at least 501 cases in December – a number that has never yet quite been reached. The highest we have seen to date is from last march when there were 472 cases filed. Expect TCPA to settle in the high 4k’s, maybe (but not necessarily) breaking 4900, with a growth rate of 32.8% so far for 2016.

Then there is FCRA. This is the year that FCRA gave way to TCPA as the 2nd largest cause of action in consumer filings after FDCPA. Still growing at an aggressive rate of 8.4% over 2015, the third most popular cause of action should settle somewhere just north of 4k suits for the year.

Finally, on the subject of CFPB complaints, there is good reason to believe 2016 complaints will overtake 2015’s numbers after being behind all year long. For most of 2016, CFPB complaints were trailing 6%-10% behind 2015 numbers. However, in just the last three months complaints have quickly closed the gap (Sept 3.9%, Oct 2.2%, Nov 1.1%). If that momentum is simply maintained, the year will have yet another dramatic photo-finish with an unexpected winner.

Read on for the numbers!

Comparisons:	Current Period:	Previous Period:		Previous Year Comp:
	Nov 01, 2016 Nov 30, 2016	Oct 01, 2016 Oct 31, 2016		Nov 01, 2015 Nov 30, 2015

CFPB Complaints	3027	3512	-13.8%	2659	13.8%

FDCPA lawsuits	738	847	-12.9%	881	-16.2%
FCRA lawsuits	389	359	8.4%	387	0.5%
TCPA lawsuits	328	457	-28.2%	272	20.6%

YTD CFPB Complaints	36871			37280	-1.1%
YTD FDCPA lawsuits	9617			10980	-12.4%
YTD FCRA lawsuits	3680			3395	8.4%
YTD TCPA lawsuits	4499			3387	32.8%

Complaint Statistics:

3027 consumers filed CFPB complaints against debt collectors and about 1216 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Nov 01, 2016 to Nov 30, 2016. Here is an approximate breakdown:

3027 CFPB Complaints
738 FDCPA, 144 Class Action (19.5%)
328 TCPA, 66 Class Action (20.1%)
389 FCRA, 31 Class Action (8.0%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

Of those cases, there were about 1216 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
Of those plaintiffs, about 441, or (36%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 3055 lawsuits since 2001
Actions were filed in 152 different US District Court branches.
About 924 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

80 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
71 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
68 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Los Angeles
57 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
55 Lawsuits: California Northern District Court – San Francisco
47 Lawsuits: California Northern District Court – Oakland
37 Lawsuits: Nevada District Court – Las Vegas
36 Lawsuits: Indiana Southern District Court – Indianapolis
35 Lawsuits: New Jersey District Court – Newark
35 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Central Islip

The most active consumer attorneys were:

Representing 90 Consumers: ELLIOT WAYNE GALE
Representing 44 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
Representing 34 Consumers: SCOTT JOSEPH SAGARIA
Representing 34 Consumers: SCOTT MATTHEW JOHNSON
Representing 28 Consumers: PAUL JONATHAN SIEG
Representing 25 Consumers: LOUIS D DAGOSTINO
Representing 25 Consumers: EDMOND E KOESTER
Representing 25 Consumers: CLAY C BROOKER
Representing 25 Consumers: SARA ELIZABETH HANLEY
Representing 22 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS

Statistics Year to Date:
14671 total lawsuits for 2016, including:

9617 FDCPA
3680 FCRA
4499 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2016: 13384 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

Representing 403 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
Representing 370 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
Representing 315 Consumers: ELLIOT WAYNE GALE
Representing 274 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
Representing 271 Consumers: DAVID H KRIEGER
Representing 268 Consumers: PAUL JONATHAN SIEG
Representing 255 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
Representing 240 Consumers: AHMAD TAYSEER SULAIMAN
Representing 238 Consumers: MOHAMMED OMAR BADWAN
Representing 237 Consumers: SERGEI LEMBERG

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CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 3027 complaints filed against debt collectors from Nov 01, 2016 to Nov 30, 2016.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 737

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

1000 Other (i.e. phone, health club, etc.) (33%)
610 I do not know (20%)
522 Credit card (17%)
481 Medical (16%)
160 Payday loan (5%)
102 Mortgage (3%)
89 Auto (3%)
33 Federal student loan (1%)
30 Non-federal student loan (1%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

1307 Contd attempts collect debt not owed (43%)
874 Disclosure verification of debt (29%)
338 Communication tactics (11%)
190 False statements or representation (6%)
158 Improper contact or sharing of info (5%)
155 Taking/threatening an illegal action (5%)
5 Cont’d attempts collect debt not owed (%)

The top five subissues were:

765 Debt is not mine (25%)
662 Not given enough info to verify debt (22%)
347 Debt was paid (11%)
193 Frequent or repeated calls (6%)
161 Debt resulted from identity theft (5%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

414 Complaints: CA
334 Complaints: TX
296 Complaints: FL
199 Complaints: NY
182 Complaints: GA
110 Complaints: IL
107 Complaints: NJ
91 Complaints: NC
90 Complaints: MD
88 Complaints: PA

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

3027 (100%)

This includes 2733 (90%) timely responses to complaints, and 294 (10%) untimely responses.

Of the company responses, consumers accepted 0 (%) of them, disputed 362 (12%) of them, and 2665 (88%) were N\A.

The top five days for complaints were:

163 Complaints: Tue, 11/01/2016
157 Complaints: Thu, 11/03/2016
156 Complaints: Tue, 11/15/2016
145 Complaints: Tue, 11/08/2016
142 Complaints: Mon, 11/07/2016