WebRecon Mar 2024 Stats: Mixed March, YTD Complaints Still Historically High

Quick analysis: Mixed March, YTD Numbers Still Riding High

It has been a robust Q1 in the world of consumer complaints. Similar to February, the consumer complaint/litigation numbers are mixed for March (TCPA +1.5%, FDCPA -13.1%, FCRA -30.6%), but the year to date numbers are all still way up in the double digits over the same period last year (TCPA +26.6%, FDCPA +12.9%, FCRA +28.4%). CFPB complaints were up both in March (+36%) and YTD (a dramatic +60.4%).

In other news, putative class actions represented 10% of FDCPA, 60.4%(!) of TCPA and 4.1% of FCRA lawsuits filed last month. TCPA class actions are still extraordinarily high, historically speaking. About 40% of all plaintiffs who filed suit last month had filed at least once before. And finally, Tampa attorney Octavio Gomez took the top spot for representing the most consumers (22) in March and YTD (63). Technically, two other firms have higher plaintiff counts by bundling a whole bunch of plaintiffs into a couple of suits, but we’re not going to count that here.

Complaint Statistics:

12335 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 904 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Mar 01, 2024 to Mar 31, 2024.

• 12335 CFPB Complaints
• 319 FDCPA, 32 Class Action (10.0%)
• 139 TCPA, 84 Class Action (60.4%)
• 469 FCRA, 19 Class Action (4.1%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 904 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 363, or (40%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 2625 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 146 different US District Court branches.
• About 564 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 67 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 39 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 35 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 32 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
• 21 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 20 Lawsuits: Texas Southern District Court – Houston
• 20 Lawsuits: Indiana Southern District Court – Indianapolis
• 19 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Orlando
• 19 Lawsuits: Arizona District Court – Phoenix
• 17 Lawsuits: New Jersey District Court – Newark

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 100 Consumers: ZHENYA A BAGDASARYAN
• Representing 100 Consumers: NELLY ISPIRYAN
• Representing 100 Consumers: EUGENE PATTERSON HARRIS
• Representing 100 Consumers: TAMAR G ARMINAK
• Representing 22 Consumers: OCTAVIO GOMEZ
• Representing 15 Consumers: YITZCHAK ZELMAN
• Representing 15 Consumers: JENNIFER GOMES SIMIL
• Representing 14 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 14 Consumers: FRANK H KERNEY
• Representing 13 Consumers: CHRISTOPHER NEIL ARMOR

Statistics Year to Date:
2673 total lawsuits for 2024, including:

• 1143 FDCPA
• 1681 FCRA
• 476 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2024: 2838 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 127 Consumers: MELKON RAFI MELKONIAN
• Representing 127 Consumers: EILEEN KEUSSEYAN
• Representing 127 Consumers: HAROUT GREG KEOSIAN
• Representing 127 Consumers: ZAREH JACK KOUSIAN
• Representing 100 Consumers: NELLY ISPIRYAN
• Representing 100 Consumers: EUGENE PATTERSON HARRIS
• Representing 100 Consumers: TAMAR G ARMINAK
• Representing 100 Consumers: ZHENYA A BAGDASARYAN
• Representing 63 Consumers: OCTAVIO GOMEZ
• Representing 55 Consumers: CHRIS R MILTENBERGER

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CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 12335 complaints filed against debt collectors from Mar 01, 2024 to Mar 31, 2024.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 900

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 5209 I do not know (42%)
• 2249 Credit card debt (18%)
• 1916 Other debt (16%)
• 903 Telecommunications debt (7%)
• 648 Rental debt (5%)
• 632 Medical debt (5%)
• 419 Auto debt (3%)
• 172 Payday loan debt (1%)
• 95 Mortgage debt (1%)
• 52 Private student loan debt (0%)
• 40 Federal student loan debt (0%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 5962 Attempts to collect debt not owed (48%)
• 4361 Written notification about debt (35%)
• 677 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (5%)
• 549 False statements or representation (4%)
• 486 Communication tactics (4%)
• 174 Electronic communications (1%)
• 126 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (1%)

The top five subissues were:

• 3568 Debt is not yours (29%)
• 1740 Notification didnt disclose it was an attempt to collect a debt (14%)
• 1552 Debt was result of identity theft (13%)
• 1445 Didnt receive notice of right to dispute (12%)
• 1176 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (10%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 1836 Complaints: TX
• 1485 Complaints: FL
• 1298 Complaints: CA
• 900 Complaints: GA
• 711 Complaints: IL
• 688 Complaints: NY
• 602 Complaints: PA
• 378 Complaints: NJ
• 350 Complaints: AZ
• 300 Complaints: NC

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

• 6622 Closed with explanation (54%)
• 3258 In progress (26%)
• 2335 Closed with non-monetary relief (19%)
• 95 Untimely response (1%)
• 25 Closed with monetary relief (0%)

This includes 12128 (98%) timely responses to complaints, and 207 (2%) untimely responses.