WebRecon July 2023 Stats: Mixed Results

Quick analysis: Quick analysis: Mixed Results

Well, it was bound to happen. Statistically speaking, anyway. For the first time I can remember in nearly 15 years of tracking these numbers, we had a 0.0% month-over-month change in one of the statutes (TCPA). Relevant? No. Meaningful? Also no. But interesting to me nonetheless, and since I write these things, it gets top billing. 🙂

After an all- down month in June, July’s numbers were decidedly more mixed. FDCPA (+2.8%) and FCRA (+2.4%) were up slightly while TCPA (0.0%) had no change whatsover. Year-to-date, the script was flipped with FDCPA (-24.1%) and FCRA (-6.4%) both down while TCPA (+16.8) is up.

CFPB complaints against collectors and creditors were down again both for the month (-8.4%) and for the year (-8.2%).

In other news, putative class actions represented 7.3% of FDCPA, 66.2% of TCPA (!) and 2.2% of FCRA lawsuits filed last month. About 41% 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 July (23) while Atlanta attorney Matthew Thomas Berry has represented the most consumers YTD (112) so far in 2023.

Complaint Statistics:

5174 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 791 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Jul 01, 2023 to Jul 31, 2023.

• 5174 CFPB Complaints
• 327 FDCPA, 24 Class Action (7.3%)
• 148 TCPA, 98 Class Action (66.2%)
• 462 FCRA, 10 Class Action (2.2%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 791 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 322, or (41%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 2907 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 146 different US District Court branches.
• About 621 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 55 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 41 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 28 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 26 Lawsuits: Texas Northern District Court – Dallas
• 21 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 19 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
• 19 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Orlando
• 19 Lawsuits: Texas Southern District Court – Houston
• 19 Lawsuits: Iowa Southern District Court – Central
• 18 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court – San Diego

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 23 Consumers: OCTAVIO GOMEZ
• Representing 16 Consumers: JOSEPH POWELL MCCLELLAND
• Representing 13 Consumers: JOEL SPENCER HALVORSEN
• Representing 13 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 13 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 9 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 9 Consumers: JOHN THOMAS STEINKAMP
• Representing 9 Consumers: DAVID J PHILIPPS
• Representing 9 Consumers: NKEM AMADI HOUSE
• Representing 9 Consumers: YITZCHAK ZELMAN

Statistics Year to Date:
5688 total lawsuits for 2023, including:

• 2279 FDCPA
• 3152 FCRA
• 1009 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2023: 5132 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 112 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 99 Consumers: OCTAVIO GOMEZ
• Representing 84 Consumers: JOSEPH POWELL MCCLELLAND
• Representing 76 Consumers: CHRISTOPHER NEIL ARMOR
• Representing 72 Consumers: DAVID J PHILIPPS
• Representing 67 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 65 Consumers: JOEL SPENCER HALVORSEN
• Representing 64 Consumers: ALLEN EDGAR ROBERTSON
• Representing 59 Consumers: AHREN A TILLER
• Representing 59 Consumers: KYLE W SCHUMACHER

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CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 5174 complaints filed against debt collectors from Jul 01, 2023 to Jul 31, 2023.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 750

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 1495 Other debt (29%)
• 1408 I do not know (27%)
• 1297 Credit card debt (25%)
• 501 Medical debt (10%)
• 247 Auto debt (5%)
• 95 Payday loan debt (2%)
• 60 Mortgage debt (1%)
• 46 Private student loan debt (1%)
• 25 Federal student loan debt (0%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 2904 Attempts to collect debt not owed (56%)
• 804 Written notification about debt (16%)
• 522 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (10%)
• 441 False statements or representation (9%)
• 395 Communication tactics (8%)
• 108 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (2%)

The top five subissues were:

• 1440 Debt is not yours (28%)
• 986 Debt was result of identity theft (19%)
• 511 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (10%)
• 384 Debt was paid (7%)
• 328 Attempted to collect wrong amount (6%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 655 Complaints: TX
• 619 Complaints: FL
• 474 Complaints: CA
• 399 Complaints: GA
• 289 Complaints: NY
• 219 Complaints: IL
• 203 Complaints: NC
• 194 Complaints: PA
• 149 Complaints: OH
• 141 Complaints: MI

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

• 3818 Closed with explanation (74%)
• 805 In progress (16%)
• 486 Closed with non-monetary relief (9%)
• 42 Untimely response (1%)
• 23 Closed with monetary relief (0%)

This includes 5087 (98%) timely responses to complaints, and 87 (2%) untimely responses.