Quick analysis: October was a mixed bag compared to September: FDPCA was down by 10.3%, FCRA up by a whopping 25.4% and TCPA essentially broke even with 450 cases, up just one from September’s 249.
Even though TCPA was unmoved, it did reach an important milestone with another one very likely imminent. It smashed through the 4000 barrier for the first time ever with 4164 suits filed so far in 2016. That is up 33.7% from 2015’s 3115 filings at this same time.
But, if TCPA filings continue at the same rate they have been going, it is on track to also smash through the 5000 filings barrier by the end of the year.
Think about that for a while…
In other YTD news, FDCPA seems pretty locked in to a 12%ish decline over 2015, effectively unmoved from there since summer with the decline consistently landing in the range of 10.9% to 13.2% each month since June. And FCRA seems to be headed for an increase of 8%-10%, if current trends hold.
There are lots of interesting data points buried in the stats below, for those interested in digging them out. Enjoy!
| Comparisons: | Current Period: | Previous Period: | Previous Year Comp: | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 01, 2016 Oct 31, 2016 |
Sep 01, 2016 Sep 30, 2016 |
Oct 01, 2015 Oct 31, 2015 |
|||
| CFPB Complaints | 3103 | 3498 | -11.3% | 3055 | 1.6% |
| FDCPA lawsuits | 832 | 928 | -10.3% | 1006 | -17.3% |
| FCRA lawsuits | 355 | 283 | 25.4% | 446 | -20.4% |
| TCPA lawsuits | 450 | 449 | 0.2% | 467 | -3.6% |
| YTD CFPB Complaints | 33328 | 34621 | -3.7% | ||
| YTD FDCPA lawsuits | 8861 | 10099 | -12.3% | ||
| YTD FCRA lawsuits | 3285 | 3008 | 9.2% | ||
| YTD TCPA lawsuits | 4164 | 3115 | 33.7% | ||
Complaint Statistics:
3103 consumers filed CFPB complaints against debt collectors and about 1306 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Oct 01, 2016 to Oct 31, 2016. Here is an approximate breakdown:
- 3103 CFPB Complaints
- 832 FDCPA, 139 Class Action (16.7%)
- 450 TCPA, 91 Class Action (20.2%)
- 355 FCRA, 39 Class Action (11.0%)
Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):
- Of those cases, there were about 1306 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
- Of those plaintiffs, about 468, or (36%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
- Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 1858 lawsuits since 2001
- Actions were filed in 159 different US District Court branches.
- About 872 different collection firms and creditors were sued.
The top courts where lawsuits were filed:
- 66 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
- 59 Lawsuits: California Northern District Court – San Francisco
- 48 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Central Islip
- 47 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
- 46 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Los Angeles
- 38 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
- 35 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
- 34 Lawsuits: Nevada District Court – Las Vegas
- 34 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
- 32 Lawsuits: California Northern District Court – Oakland
The most active consumer attorneys were:
- Representing 72 Consumers: ELLIOT WAYNE GALE
- Representing 65 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
- Representing 53 Consumers: SCOTT JOSEPH SAGARIA
- Representing 52 Consumers: CHRIS R MILTENBERGER
- Representing 43 Consumers: SCOTT MATTHEW JOHNSON
- Representing 38 Consumers: JOSEPH BRIAN ANGELO
- Representing 37 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
- Representing 37 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
- Representing 27 Consumers: AMY LYNN BENNECOFF GINSBURG
- Representing 27 Consumers: SERGEI LEMBERG
Statistics Year to Date:
13414 total lawsuits for 2016, including:
- 8861 FDCPA
- 3285 FCRA
- 4164 TCPA
Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2016: 12309 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)
The most active consumer attorneys of the year:
- Representing 388 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
- Representing 326 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
- Representing 252 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
- Representing 251 Consumers: DAVID H KRIEGER
- Representing 245 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
- Representing 240 Consumers: PAUL JONATHAN SIEG
- Representing 225 Consumers: SERGEI LEMBERG
- Representing 223 Consumers: ELLIOT WAYNE GALE
- Representing 220 Consumers: AHMAD TAYSEER SULAIMAN
- Representing 219 Consumers: DAVID SCOTT KLAIN
——————————————————————————————————-
CFPB Complaint Statistics:
There were 3103 complaints filed against debt collectors from Oct 01, 2016 to Oct 31, 2016.
Total number of debt collectors complained about: 728
The types of debt behind the complaints were:
- 1022 Other (i.e. phone, health club, etc.) (33%)
- 607 I do not know (20%)
- 543 Credit card (17%)
- 538 Medical (17%)
- 120 Payday loan (4%)
- 92 Mortgage (3%)
- 88 Auto (3%)
- 48 Non-federal student loan (2%)
- 45 Federal student loan (1%)
Here is a breakdown of complaints:
- 1227 Cont’d attempts collect debt not owed (40%)
- 931 Disclosure verification of debt (30%)
- 351 Communication tactics (11%)
- 222 False statements or representation (7%)
- 219 Improper contact or sharing of info (7%)
- 153 Taking/threatening an illegal action (5%)
The top five subissues were:
- 701 Not given enough info to verify debt (23%)
- 690 Debt is not mine (22%)
- 363 Debt was paid (12%)
- 203 Frequent or repeated calls (7%)
- 187 Right to dispute notice not received (6%)
The top states complaints were filed from are:
- 387 Complaints: CA
- 332 Complaints: TX
- 317 Complaints: FL
- 208 Complaints: GA
- 189 Complaints: NY
- 109 Complaints: NJ
- 107 Complaints: NC
- 98 Complaints: PA
- 90 Complaints: IL
- 88 Complaints: OH
The status of the month’s complaints are as follows:
- 3103 (100%)
This includes 2903 (94%) timely responses to complaints, and 200 (6%) untimely responses.
Of the company responses, consumers accepted 0 (%) of them, disputed 466 (15%) of them, and 2637 (85%) were N\A.
The top five days for complaints were:
- 178 Complaints: Wed, 10/05/2016
- 161 Complaints: Tue, 10/11/2016
- 157 Complaints: Mon, 10/03/2016
- 151 Complaints: Wed, 10/12/2016
- 150 Complaints: Wed, 10/26/2016