Webrecon Nov 2022 stats

Litigation Analysis

Two Turtle Doves and a Lump of Coal

Happy holidays to you and yours!

November 2022 was a mixed bag for litigation. FDCPA (-10.4%) and FCRA (-2.4%) lawsuits were both down for the month, but TCPA (+4.5%) lawsuits had a mini (and relatively uncharacteristic) surge. Year-to-date, FDCPA (-31%!) and TCPA (-11.2%) continued year-over-year declines, while FCRA (+4.1%) is still trending up. CFPB complaints were down both for the month (-10.4%) and for the year (-17.4%).

In other news, putative class actions represented 13.9% of FDCPA, 43.2% of TCPA and 1.7% of FCRA lawsuits filed last month. About 44% of all plaintiffs who filed suit last month had filed at least once before. And finally, Minnesota attorney Catrina Eom Smith continued her dominant debut for a third consecutive month on this list for representing the most consumers in November (25) while Florida attorney Jibrael S Hindi has still represented the most consumers for the year so far (235).

Complaint Statistics:

4285 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 723 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Nov 01, 2022 to Nov 30, 2022.

• 4285 CFPB Complaints
• 267 FDCPA, 37 Class Action (13.9%)
• 139 TCPA, 60 Class Action (43.2%)
• 413 FCRA, 7 Class Action (1.7%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 723 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 319, or (44%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 2455 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 142 different US District Court branches.
• About 503 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 45 Lawsuits: Minnesota District Court – Dmn
• 43 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 41 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 34 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 33 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 27 Lawsuits: Texas Northern District Court – Dallas
• 25 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
• 21 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court – San Diego
• 19 Lawsuits: Florida Southern District Court – Miami
• 16 Lawsuits: Texas Southern District Court – Houston

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 25 Consumers: CATRINA EOM SMITH
• Representing 19 Consumers: YAAKOV SAKS
• Representing 14 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 12 Consumers: AHREN A TILLER
• Representing 11 Consumers: TIMOTHY S ANDERSON
• Representing 10 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 9 Consumers: ALLEN EDGAR ROBERTSON
• Representing 9 Consumers: DAVID J PHILIPPS
• Representing 8 Consumers: GLORIA CHI-KI LAM
• Representing 8 Consumers: GERARDO AVALOS

Statistics Year to Date:
9987 total lawsuits for 2022, including:

• 4228 FDCPA
• 5149 FCRA
• 1437 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2022: 8735 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 235 Consumers: JIBRAEL JARALLAH SAID HINDI
• Representing 216 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 205 Consumers: THOMAS JOHN PATTI
• Representing 143 Consumers: CRAIG CARLEY MARCHIANDO
• Representing 133 Consumers: LEONARD ANTHONY BENNETT
• Representing 129 Consumers: MICHAEL FREDERICK CARDOZA
• Representing 129 Consumers: CATRINA EOM SMITH
• Representing 128 Consumers: CHRISTOPHER NEIL ARMOR
• Representing 125 Consumers: SYED HASEEB HUSSAIN
• Representing 119 Consumers: DREW DAVID SARRETT

CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 4285 complaints filed against debt collectors from Nov 01, 2022 to Nov 30, 2022.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 748

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 1247 Other debt (29%)
• 1025 I do not know (24%)
• 957 Credit card debt (22%)
• 651 Medical debt (15%)
• 210 Auto debt (5%)
• 73 Mortgage debt (2%)
• 68 Payday loan debt (2%)
• 30 Private student loan debt (1%)
• 24 Federal student loan debt (1%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 2295 Attempts to collect debt not owed (54%)
• 694 Written notification about debt (16%)
• 505 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (12%)
• 388 False statements or representation (9%)
• 323 Communication tactics (8%)
• 80 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (2%)

The top five subissues were:

• 1188 Debt is not yours (28%)
• 692 Debt was result of identity theft (16%)
• 441 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (10%)
• 356 Debt was paid (8%)
• 286 Attempted to collect wrong amount (7%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 489 Complaints: TX
• 470 Complaints: FL
• 386 Complaints: CA
• 337 Complaints: GA
• 236 Complaints: IL
• 215 Complaints: NY
• 201 Complaints: NC
• 138 Complaints: MI
• 130 Complaints: PA
• 125 Complaints: OH

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

• 3285 Closed with explanation (77%)
• 647 In progress (15%)
• 293 Closed with non-monetary relief (7%)
• 49 Untimely response (1%)
• 11 Closed with monetary relief (0%)

This includes 4160 (97%) timely responses to complaints, and 125 (3%) untimely responses.

‍