Quick analysis: Lawsuits & Complaints Mostly Down
In April, CFPB complaints (-2.4%) and consumer lawsuits (TCPA -2.5%, FDCPA -24.2%) were mostly down, with the exception being FCRA litigation (+4.0%) which was up. This closely follows the YTD trend so far, with TCPA (-35.2%) and FDCPA (12.4%) down and FCRA (+6.7%) up, while CFPB complaints (-.7%) are down a sliver.
In other news, putative class actions represented 9.2% of FDCPA, 51.3% of TCPA and 1.7% of FCRA lawsuits filed last month. About 43% of all plaintiffs who filed suit last month had filed at least once before. And finally, Virginia attorneys Leonard Anthony Bennett, Craig Carley Marchiando, Drew David Sarrett shared the top spot for representing the most consumers in April (an explosive 107) while Florida attorney Jibrael S. Hindi has represented the most consumers for the year so far (199).
| Current Month: | Previous Month: | Previous Year: |
Year to Date: | Year to Date Comp: |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 01, 2022 Apr 30, 2022 |
Mar 01, 2022 Mar 31, 2022 |
Apr 01, 2021 Apr 30, 2021 |
Jan 01, 2022 Apr 30, 2022 |
Jan 01, 2021 Apr 30, 2021 |
|||||
| CFPB | 5953 | 6102 | -2.4% | 5738 | 3.7% | 22643 | 22803 | -0.7% | |
| FDCPA | 379 | 500 | -24.2% | 585 | -35.2% | 1849 | 2110 | -12.4% | |
| FCRA | 515 | 495 | 4.0% | 446 | 15.5% | 1956 | 1834 | 6.7% | |
| TCPA | 117 | 120 | -2.5% | 138 | -15.2% | 477 | 736 | -35.2% | |
Complaint Statistics:
5953 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 903 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Apr 01, 2022 to Apr 30, 2022.
- 5953 CFPB Complaints
- 379 FDCPA, 35 Class Action (9.2%)
- 117 TCPA, 60 Class Action (51.3%)
- 515 FCRA, 9 Class Action (1.7%)
Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):
- Of those cases, there were about 903 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
- Of those plaintiffs, about 392, or (43%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
- Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 3172 lawsuits since 2001
- Actions were filed in 138 different US District Court branches.
- About 570 different collection firms and creditors were sued.
The top courts where lawsuits were filed:
- 113 Lawsuits: Virginia Eastern District Court – Richmond
- 51 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
- 44 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
- 41 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
- 35 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
- 32 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
- 27 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
- 24 Lawsuits: Indiana Southern District Court – Indianapolis
- 21 Lawsuits: Florida Southern District Court – Fort Lauderdale
- 20 Lawsuits: Minnesota District Court – Dmn
The most active consumer attorneys were:
- Representing 107 Consumers: LEONARD ANTHONY BENNETT
- Representing 107 Consumers: CRAIG CARLEY MARCHIANDO
- Representing 106 Consumers: DREW DAVID SARRETT
- Representing 19 Consumers: MICHAEL FREDERICK CARDOZA
- Representing 17 Consumers: SYED HASEEB HUSSAIN
- Representing 16 Consumers: JOHN THOMAS STEINKAMP
- Representing 15 Consumers: THOMAS JOHN PATTI
- Representing 14 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
- Representing 13 Consumers: GLORIA CHI-KI LAM
- Representing 13 Consumers: KYLE W SCHUMACHER
Statistics Year to Date:
3965 total lawsuits for 2022, including:
- 1849 FDCPA
- 1956 FCRA
- 477 TCPA
Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2022: 3637 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)
The most active consumer attorneys of the year:
- Representing 199 Consumers: JIBRAEL JARALLAH SAID HINDI
- Representing 180 Consumers: THOMAS JOHN PATTI
- Representing 116 Consumers: CRAIG CARLEY MARCHIANDO
- Representing 113 Consumers: LEONARD ANTHONY BENNETT
- Representing 106 Consumers: DREW DAVID SARRETT
- Representing 101 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
- Representing 61 Consumers: MICHAEL FREDERICK CARDOZA
- Representing 60 Consumers: CHRISTOPHER NEIL ARMOR
- Representing 52 Consumers: SYED HASEEB HUSSAIN
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CFPB Complaint Statistics:
There were 5953 complaints filed against debt collectors from Apr 01, 2022 to Apr 30, 2022.
Total number of debt collectors complained about: 854
The types of debt behind the complaints were:
- 1535 Other debt (26%)
- 1446 I do not know (24%)
- 1438 Credit card debt (24%)
- 958 Medical debt (16%)
- 265 Auto debt (4%)
- 149 Payday loan debt (3%)
- 72 Mortgage debt (1%)
- 45 Private student loan debt (1%)
- 45 Federal student loan debt (1%)
Here is a breakdown of complaints:
- 3077 Attempts to collect debt not owed (52%)
- 1334 Written notification about debt (22%)
- 528 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (9%)
- 491 False statements or representation (8%)
- 433 Communication tactics (7%)
- 90 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (2%)
The top five subissues were:
- 1552 Debt is not yours (26%)
- 913 Debt was result of identity theft (15%)
- 749 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (13%)
- 548 Didnt receive notice of right to dispute (9%)
- 528 Debt was paid (9%)
The top states complaints were filed from are:
- 871 Complaints: FL
- 609 Complaints: TX
- 496 Complaints: CA
- 468 Complaints: GA
- 312 Complaints: PA
- 281 Complaints: NY
- 220 Complaints: IL
- 175 Complaints: NJ
- 173 Complaints: NC
- 173 Complaints: OH
The status of the month’s complaints are as follows:
- 4620 Closed with explanation (78%)
- 637 In progress (11%)
- 602 Closed with non-monetary relief (10%)
- 53 Untimely response (1%)
- 41 Closed with monetary relief (1%)
This includes 5790 (97%) timely responses to complaints, and 163 (3%) untimely responses.