Quick analysis: In April, everything was down again (mostly by double digits) after a short March rebound. How far down? FDCPA was down -16.2% for the month and -18.3% YTD. FCRA was down -10.1% for the month and -30.2% YTD. And TCPA was down -16.9% for the month, but was the only one still up a bit YTD – +2.5% over April 2022. CFPB complaints were also down, -16.2% for the month and -18.3% YTD.
In other news, putative class actions represented 6.6% of FDCPA, 46.9% of TCPA and 1.6% of FCRA lawsuits filed last month. About 43% of all plaintiffs who filed suit last month had filed at least once before. And finally, Atlanta attorney Matthew Thomas Berry represented the most consumers in March (25) as well as the most consumers YTD (71) so far in 2023.
| Current Month: | Previous Month: | Previous Year: |
Year to Date: | Year to Date Comp: |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 01, 2023 Apr 30, 2023 |
Mar 01, 2023 Mar 31, 2023 |
Apr 01, 2022 Apr 30, 2022 |
Jan 01, 2023 Apr 30, 2023 |
Jan 01, 2022 Apr 30, 2022 |
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| CFPB | 5325 | 6354 | -16.2% | 6704 | -20.6% | 23076 | 28241 | -18.3% | |
| FDCPA | 290 | 346 | -16.2% | 381 | -23.9% | 1298 | 1859 | -30.2% | |
| FCRA | 426 | 474 | -10.1% | 522 | -18.4% | 1734 | 1966 | -11.8% | |
| TCPA | 113 | 136 | -16.9% | 117 | -3.4% | 489 | 477 | 2.5% | |
Complaint Statistics:
5325 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 714 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Apr 01, 2023 to Apr 30, 2023.
- 5325 CFPB Complaints
- 290 FDCPA, 19 Class Action (6.6%)
- 113 TCPA, 53 Class Action (46.9%)
- 426 FCRA, 7 Class Action (1.6%)
Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):
- Of those cases, there were about 714 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
- Of those plaintiffs, about 310, or (43%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
- Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 3444 lawsuits since 2001
- Actions were filed in 138 different US District Court branches.
- About 516 different collection firms and creditors were sued.
The top courts where lawsuits were filed:
- 59 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
- 39 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
- 38 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
- 27 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
- 23 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Southern Division – Santa Ana
- 20 Lawsuits: Minnesota District Court – Dmn
- 19 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
- 19 Lawsuits: Texas Northern District Court – Dallas
- 16 Lawsuits: Texas Western District Court – Austin
- 16 Lawsuits: Florida Southern District Court – Miami
The most active consumer attorneys were:
- Representing 25 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
- Representing 20 Consumers: CHRISTOPHER NEIL ARMOR
- Representing 18 Consumers: JOEL SPENCER HALVORSEN
- Representing 14 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
- Representing 14 Consumers: OCTAVIO GOMEZ
- Representing 13 Consumers: ALLEN EDGAR ROBERTSON
- Representing 10 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
- Representing 10 Consumers: SHAWN SHAWN JAFFER
- Representing 10 Consumers: GARRETT FORRESTER CHARITY
- Representing 9 Consumers: ROBERT LEACH
Statistics Year to Date:
3158 total lawsuits for 2023, including:
- 1298 FDCPA
- 1734 FCRA
- 489 TCPA
Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2023: 2858 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)
The most active consumer attorneys of the year:
- Representing 71 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
- Representing 50 Consumers: DAVID J PHILIPPS
- Representing 47 Consumers: ALLEN EDGAR ROBERTSON
- Representing 47 Consumers: CHRISTOPHER NEIL ARMOR
- Representing 41 Consumers: JOEL SPENCER HALVORSEN
- Representing 40 Consumers: SHAWN SHAWN JAFFER
- Representing 38 Consumers: JOSEPH POWELL MCCLELLAND
- Representing 38 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
- Representing 37 Consumers: KYLE W SCHUMACHER
- Representing 37 Consumers: AHREN A TILLER
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CFPB Complaint Statistics:
There were 5325 complaints filed against debt collectors from Apr 01, 2023 to Apr 30, 2023.
Total number of debt collectors complained about: 733
The types of debt behind the complaints were:
- 1612 Other debt (30%)
- 1358 Credit card debt (26%)
- 1280 I do not know (24%)
- 568 Medical debt (11%)
- 258 Auto debt (5%)
- 107 Payday loan debt (2%)
- 77 Mortgage debt (1%)
- 35 Private student loan debt (1%)
- 30 Federal student loan debt (1%)
Here is a breakdown of complaints:
- 2804 Attempts to collect debt not owed (53%)
- 933 Written notification about debt (18%)
- 627 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (12%)
- 438 False statements or representation (8%)
- 430 Communication tactics (8%)
- 93 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (2%)
The top five subissues were:
- 1452 Debt is not yours (27%)
- 859 Debt was result of identity theft (16%)
- 608 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (11%)
- 413 Debt was paid (8%)
- 343 Attempted to collect wrong amount (6%)
The top states complaints were filed from are:
- 686 Complaints: TX
- 644 Complaints: FL
- 452 Complaints: CA
- 408 Complaints: GA
- 298 Complaints: NY
- 220 Complaints: IL
- 201 Complaints: NC
- 162 Complaints: PA
- 161 Complaints: NJ
- 150 Complaints: MI
The status of the month’s complaints are as follows:
- 3975 Closed with explanation (75%)
- 755 In progress (14%)
- 522 Closed with non-monetary relief (10%)
- 40 Closed with monetary relief (1%)
- 33 Untimely response (1%)
This includes 5213 (98%) timely responses to complaints, and 112 (2%) untimely responses.