Quick analysis: After a slowdown in April, everything jumped up in May. How high? FDCPA was up +14.1%, FCRA was up +20% and TCPA was up a whopping 98.2%. YTD cases are still down in two out of three of those, with FDCPA down -28.5% and FCRA down -8.5% over 2022, while TCPA’s big month propelled it to a YTD gain of +17.6%.
Meanwhile, CFPB ticked down -.7% over the previous month and are down -15.4% for the year so far.
In other news, putative class actions represented 7.3% of FDCPA, 29.5% of TCPA and 1.4% of FCRA lawsuits filed last month. About 38% of all plaintiffs who filed suit last month had filed at least once before. And finally, Idaho attorneys Marta May Horton & Rafael Antonio Icaza and Utah attorney Rebecca Evans share credit for the most consumers represented in May (51) thanks to one big suit they represented together while Atlanta attorney Matthew Thomas Berry has represented the most consumers YTD (87) so far in 2023.
| Current Month: | Previous Month: | Previous Year: |
Year to Date: | Year to Date Comp: |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 01, 2023 May 31, 2023 |
Apr 01, 2023 Apr 30, 2023 |
May 01, 2022 May 31, 2022 |
Jan 01, 2023 May 31, 2023 |
Jan 01, 2022 May 31, 2022 |
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| CFPB | 5521 | 5558 | -0.7% | 5864 | -5.8% | 28864 | 34105 | -15.4% | |
| FDCPA | 331 | 290 | 14.1% | 414 | -20.0% | 1621 | 2267 | -28.5% | |
| FCRA | 504 | 420 | 20.0% | 471 | 7.0% | 2229 | 2436 | -8.5% | |
| TCPA | 224 | 113 | 98.2% | 125 | 79.2% | 708 | 602 | 17.6% | |
Complaint Statistics:
5521 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 939 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from May 01, 2023 to May 31, 2023.
- 5521 CFPB Complaints
- 331 FDCPA, 24 Class Action (7.3%)
- 224 TCPA, 66 Class Action (29.5%)
- 504 FCRA, 7 Class Action (1.4%)
Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):
- Of those cases, there were about 939 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
- Of those plaintiffs, about 360, or (38%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
- Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 3017 lawsuits since 2001
- Actions were filed in 156 different US District Court branches.
- About 669 different collection firms and creditors were sued.
The top courts where lawsuits were filed:
- 60 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
- 44 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
- 40 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
- 33 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
- 25 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court – San Diego
- 21 Lawsuits: Florida Southern District Court – Fort Lauderdale
- 21 Lawsuits: Texas Northern District Court – Dallas
- 20 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Southern Division – Santa Ana
- 19 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
- 18 Lawsuits: Texas Western District Court – El Paso
The most active consumer attorneys were:
- Representing 51 Consumers: MARTA MAY HORTON
- Representing 51 Consumers: REBECCA EVANS
- Representing 51 Consumers: RAFAEL ANTONIO ICAZA
- Representing 49 Consumers: BENNETT HARTZ
- Representing 49 Consumers: ERIN BRIDGET LEAHY
- Representing 49 Consumers: GREGORY A MYSZKOWSKI
- Representing 49 Consumers: LINDSAY S DAWSON
- Representing 49 Consumers: CHRISTOPHER JJ LEONG
- Representing 49 Consumers: MICHAELA J HOHWIELER
- Representing 49 Consumers: KRISTIN SIMONS
Statistics Year to Date:
4022 total lawsuits for 2023, including:
- 1621 FDCPA
- 2229 FCRA
- 708 TCPA
Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2023: 3695 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)
The most active consumer attorneys of the year:
- Representing 87 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
- Representing 59 Consumers: CHRISTOPHER NEIL ARMOR
- Representing 54 Consumers: DAVID J PHILIPPS
- Representing 54 Consumers: JOSEPH POWELL MCCLELLAND
- Representing 52 Consumers: ALLEN EDGAR ROBERTSON
- Representing 51 Consumers: REBECCA EVANS
- Representing 51 Consumers: RAFAEL ANTONIO ICAZA
- Representing 51 Consumers: MARTA MAY HORTON
- Representing 49 Consumers: ELIN ALM
- Representing 49 Consumers: MINA SHAHIN
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CFPB Complaint Statistics:
There were 5521 complaints filed against debt collectors from May 01, 2023 to May 31, 2023.
Total number of debt collectors complained about: 774
The types of debt behind the complaints were:
- 1725 Other debt (31%)
- 1469 I do not know (27%)
- 1243 Credit card debt (23%)
- 571 Medical debt (10%)
- 258 Auto debt (5%)
- 115 Payday loan debt (2%)
- 89 Mortgage debt (2%)
- 29 Private student loan debt (1%)
- 22 Federal student loan debt (0%)
Here is a breakdown of complaints:
- 2972 Attempts to collect debt not owed (54%)
- 963 Written notification about debt (17%)
- 577 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (10%)
- 574 False statements or representation (10%)
- 327 Communication tactics (6%)
- 108 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (2%)
The top five subissues were:
- 1493 Debt is not yours (27%)
- 982 Debt was result of identity theft (18%)
- 637 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (12%)
- 410 Debt was paid (7%)
- 379 Attempted to collect wrong amount (7%)
The top states complaints were filed from are:
- 660 Complaints: TX
- 630 Complaints: FL
- 534 Complaints: CA
- 381 Complaints: GA
- 290 Complaints: NY
- 227 Complaints: IL
- 217 Complaints: PA
- 184 Complaints: NC
- 176 Complaints: NJ
- 170 Complaints: OH
The status of the month’s complaints are as follows:
- 4081 Closed with explanation (74%)
- 915 In progress (17%)
- 467 Closed with non-monetary relief (8%)
- 45 Untimely response (1%)
- 13 Closed with monetary relief (0%)
This includes 5418 (98%) timely responses to complaints, and 103 (2%) untimely responses.