Webrecon Aug 2023 stats

Litigation Analysis

The Roller Coaster Continues

After a down June and a mixed July, lawsuits and complaints were up across the board again in August. FDCPA complaints (+15%) led the pack with FCRA (+6.5%) and TCPA (+5.3%) following. In spite of all the month-over-month increases, only TCPA (+13.2%) remains up YTD, with FDCPA (-21.4%) and FCRA (-5.8%) having some ground to recover if they are going to break even with (or surpass) 2022.

CFPB complaints against creditors and debt collectors were also up for the month (+4.1%) and down for the year (-5.3%).

In other news, putative class actions represented 8.8% of FDCPA, 58.2% of TCPA and 3.5% of FCRA lawsuits filed last month. About 38% of all plaintiffs who filed suit last month had filed at least once before. And finally, Tampa-area attorney Octavio Gomez represented the most consumers in August (23) while Atlanta attorney Matthew Thomas Berry has represented the most consumers YTD (126) so far in 2023.

Complaint Statistics:

5692 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 871 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Aug 01, 2023 to Aug 31, 2023.

• 5692 CFPB Complaints
• 376 FDCPA, 33 Class Action (8.8%)
• 158 TCPA, 92 Class Action (58.2%)
• 492 FCRA, 17 Class Action (3.5%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 871 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 329, or (38%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 9306 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 152 different US District Court branches.
• About 569 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 63 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 44 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 39 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
• 34 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 26 Lawsuits: Texas Northern District Court – Dallas
• 24 Lawsuits: Minnesota District Court – Dmn
• 23 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Southern Division – Santa Ana
• 23 Lawsuits: Indiana Southern District Court – Indianapolis
• 21 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court – San Diego
• 20 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 23 Consumers: OCTAVIO GOMEZ
• Representing 17 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 17 Consumers: JOEL SPENCER HALVORSEN
• Representing 14 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 14 Consumers: DAVID J PHILIPPS
• Representing 13 Consumers: MATTHEW P FORSBERG
• Representing 13 Consumers: JOSEPH POWELL MCCLELLAND
• Representing 13 Consumers: JONATHAN ALEXANDER HEEPS
• Representing 13 Consumers: JOHN THOMAS STEINKAMP
• Representing 11 Consumers: CHRISTOPHER NEIL ARMOR

Statistics Year to Date:
6600 total lawsuits for 2023, including:

• 2655 FDCPA
• 3644 FCRA
• 1169 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2023: 5897 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 126 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 122 Consumers: OCTAVIO GOMEZ
• Representing 97 Consumers: JOSEPH POWELL MCCLELLAND
• Representing 87 Consumers: CHRISTOPHER NEIL ARMOR
• Representing 86 Consumers: DAVID J PHILIPPS
• Representing 82 Consumers: JOEL SPENCER HALVORSEN
• Representing 72 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 72 Consumers: ALLEN EDGAR ROBERTSON
• Representing 69 Consumers: AHREN A TILLER
• Representing 68 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN

CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 5692 complaints filed against debt collectors from Aug 01, 2023 to Aug 31, 2023.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 778

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 1505 Other debt (26%)
• 1434 I do not know (25%)
• 1430 Credit card debt (25%)
• 572 Medical debt (10%)
• 280 Auto debt (5%)
• 126 Payday loan debt (2%)
• 113 Telecommunications debt (2%)
• 90 Rental debt (2%)
• 68 Mortgage debt (1%)
• 46 Federal student loan debt (1%)
• 28 Private student loan debt (0%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 3096 Attempts to collect debt not owed (54%)
• 952 Written notification about debt (17%)
• 537 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (9%)
• 483 False statements or representation (8%)
• 454 Communication tactics (8%)
• 150 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (3%)
• 20 Electronic communications (0%)

The top five subissues were:

• 1490 Debt is not yours (26%)
• 1048 Debt was result of identity theft (18%)
• 644 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (11%)
• 476 Debt was paid (8%)
• 386 Attempted to collect wrong amount (7%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 712 Complaints: TX
• 684 Complaints: FL
• 511 Complaints: CA
• 399 Complaints: GA
• 271 Complaints: NY
• 268 Complaints: IL
• 243 Complaints: PA
• 207 Complaints: NC
• 165 Complaints: OH
• 165 Complaints: MI

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

• 4132 Closed with explanation (73%)
• 855 In progress (15%)
• 621 Closed with non-monetary relief (11%)
• 53 Untimely response (1%)
• 31 Closed with monetary relief (1%)

This includes 5580 (98%) timely responses to complaints, and 112 (2%) untimely responses.