Quick analysis: Everything Up in Aug and YTD
For the first time in several years, it is starting to look like the big three (TCPA, FDCPA and FCRA) may all have a year-over-year increase together. The next month or two will be more telling, but we’ll definitely keep an eye on this trend.
In August, TCPA was up 20.9% over July and 4.4% over this time last year. FDCPA was up 3.5% over July and 13.1% over this time last year. And FCRA was up 4% over July and 14.8% over this time last year.
In other news, putative class actions represented 6.6% of FDCPA, 66%(!) of TCPA and 3.6% of FCRA lawsuits filed last month. TCPA class actions are still extraordinarily high, historically speaking. About 39% of all plaintiffs who filed suit last month had filed at least once before. And finally, Coral Gables, FL attorney Avi Robert Kaufman represented the most consumers in August (20) While Tampa, FL attorney Octavio Gomez kept the top spot for representing the most consumers YTD (195).
| Current Month: | Previous Month: | Previous Year: |
Year to Date: | Year to Date Comp: |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 01, 2024 Aug 31, 2024 |
Jul 01, 2024 Jul 31, 2024 |
Aug 01, 2023 Aug 31, 2023 |
Jan 01, 2024 Aug 31, 2024 |
Jan 01, 2023 Aug 31, 2023 |
|||||
| CFPB | 13351 | 12332 | 8.3% | 5932 | 125.1% | 92115 | 46425 | 98.4% | |
| FDCPA | 381 | 368 | 3.5% | 376 | 1.3% | 2986 | 2641 | 13.1% | |
| FCRA | 472 | 454 | 4.0% | 490 | -3.7% | 4166 | 3629 | 14.8% | |
| TCPA | 156 | 129 | 20.9% | 157 | -0.6% | 1210 | 1159 | 4.4% | |
Complaint Statistics:
13351 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 818 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Aug 01, 2024 to Aug 31, 2024.
- 13351 CFPB Complaints
- 381 FDCPA, 25 Class Action (6.6%)
- 156 TCPA, 103 Class Action (66.0%)
- 472 FCRA, 17 Class Action (3.6%)
Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):
- Of those cases, there were about 818 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
- Of those plaintiffs, about 318, or (39%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
- Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 1817 lawsuits since 2001
- Actions were filed in 139 different US District Court branches.
- About 572 different collection firms and creditors were sued.
The top courts where lawsuits were filed:
- 58 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
- 41 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
- 38 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
- 28 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
- 27 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
- 24 Lawsuits: Texas Northern District Court – Dallas
- 23 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
- 22 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Orlando
- 21 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Southern Division – Santa Ana
- 21 Lawsuits: Indiana Southern District Court – Indianapolis
The most active consumer attorneys were:
- Representing 20 Consumers: AVI ROBERT KAUFMAN
- Representing 19 Consumers: ELLIOT ELO
- Representing 19 Consumers: OCTAVIO GOMEZ
- Representing 17 Consumers: YITZCHAK ZELMAN
- Representing 13 Consumers: ANDREW ROMAN PERRONG
- Representing 13 Consumers: JONATHAN ALEXANDER HEEPS
- Representing 12 Consumers: JOHN THOMAS STEINKAMP
- Representing 11 Consumers: MATTHEW P FORSBERG
- Representing 11 Consumers: DAVID J PHILIPPS
- Representing 11 Consumers: JOEL SPENCER HALVORSEN
Statistics Year to Date:
7020 total lawsuits for 2024, including:
- 2986 FDCPA
- 4166 FCRA
- 1210 TCPA
Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2024: 6618 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)
The most active consumer attorneys of the year:
- Representing 195 Consumers: OCTAVIO GOMEZ
- Representing 127 Consumers: MELKON RAFI MELKONIAN
- Representing 127 Consumers: EILEEN KEUSSEYAN
- Representing 127 Consumers: HAROUT GREG KEOSIAN
- Representing 127 Consumers: ZAREH JACK KOUSIAN
- Representing 112 Consumers: ELLIOT ELO
- Representing 100 Consumers: YITZCHAK ZELMAN
- Representing 100 Consumers: NELLY ISPIRYAN
- Representing 100 Consumers: EUGENE PATTERSON HARRIS
- Representing 100 Consumers: TAMAR G ARMINAK
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CFPB Complaint Statistics:
There were 13351 complaints filed against debt collectors from Aug 01, 2024 to Aug 31, 2024.
Total number of debt collectors complained about: 893
The types of debt behind the complaints were:
- 5532 I do not know (41%)
- 2778 Other debt (21%)
- 2297 Credit card debt (17%)
- 753 Telecommunications debt (6%)
- 704 Rental debt (5%)
- 602 Medical debt (5%)
- 383 Auto debt (3%)
- 142 Payday loan debt (1%)
- 59 Federal student loan debt (0%)
- 53 Private student loan debt (0%)
- 48 Mortgage debt (0%)
Here is a breakdown of complaints:
- 6235 Attempts to collect debt not owed (47%)
- 4544 Written notification about debt (34%)
- 803 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (6%)
- 777 False statements or representation (6%)
- 624 Communication tactics (5%)
- 228 Electronic communications (2%)
- 140 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (1%)
The top five subissues were:
- 3887 Debt is not yours (29%)
- 2751 Notification didnt disclose it was an attempt to collect a debt (21%)
- 1722 Debt was result of identity theft (13%)
- 940 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (7%)
- 853 Didnt receive notice of right to dispute (6%)
The top states complaints were filed from are:
- 2244 Complaints: TX
- 1683 Complaints: FL
- 1132 Complaints: GA
- 1082 Complaints: CA
- 604 Complaints: NY
- 538 Complaints: PA
- 500 Complaints: IL
- 435 Complaints: NC
- 354 Complaints: AL
- 354 Complaints: OH
The status of the month’s complaints are as follows:
- 7415 Closed with explanation (56%)
- 3377 Closed with non-monetary relief (25%)
- 2431 In progress (18%)
- 93 Untimely response (1%)
- 35 Closed with monetary relief (0%)
This includes 13167 (99%) timely responses to complaints, and 184 (1%) untimely responses.