Quick analysis: Another “Up” Month
In May, TCPA (+20.7%), FDCPA (+25.4%) and FCRA (+4.2%) suits were all up over April, and TCPA (+9.3%), FDCPA (+19.2%) and FCRA (+23.3%) suits were all up YTD as well. Meanwhile, CFPB complaints were a bit down for the month (-5.8%) but still way up for the year (85%!).
In other news, putative class actions represented 5.4% of FDCPA, 66.9%(!) of TCPA and 4.6% of FCRA lawsuits filed last month. TCPA class actions are still extraordinarily high, historically speaking. About 42% of all plaintiffs who filed suit last month had filed at least once before. And finally, Minneapolis credit repair attorney represented the most consumers in May (33) while Tampa attorney Octavio Gomez took the top spot again for representing the most consumers YTD (129).
| Current Month: | Previous Month: | Previous Year: |
Year to Date: | Year to Date Comp: |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 01, 2024 May 31, 2024 |
Apr 01, 2024 Apr 30, 2024 |
May 01, 2023 May 31, 2023 |
Jan 01, 2024 May 31, 2024 |
Jan 01, 2023 May 31, 2023 |
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| CFPB | 12297 | 13049 | -5.8% | 5960 | 106.3% | 54267 | 29336 | 85.0% | |
| FDCPA | 445 | 355 | 25.4% | 330 | 34.8% | 1935 | 1623 | 19.2% | |
| FCRA | 546 | 524 | 4.2% | 501 | 9.0% | 2744 | 2226 | 23.3% | |
| TCPA | 163 | 135 | 20.7% | 224 | -27.2% | 774 | 708 | 9.3% | |
Complaint Statistics:
12297 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 993 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from May 01, 2024 to May 31, 2024.
- 12297 CFPB Complaints
- 445 FDCPA, 24 Class Action (5.4%)
- 163 TCPA, 109 Class Action (66.9%)
- 546 FCRA, 25 Class Action (4.6%)
Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):
- Of those cases, there were about 993 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
- Of those plaintiffs, about 414, or (42%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
- Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 3095 lawsuits since 2001
- Actions were filed in 155 different US District Court branches.
- About 686 different collection firms and creditors were sued.
The top courts where lawsuits were filed:
- 73 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
- 48 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
- 46 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
- 43 Lawsuits: Minnesota District Court – Dmn
- 39 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
- 30 Lawsuits: New York Southern District Court – Foley Square
- 30 Lawsuits: Texas Northern District Court – Dallas
- 29 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Orlando
- 23 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Southern Division – Santa Ana
- 19 Lawsuits: Texas Western District Court – Austin
The most active consumer attorneys were:
- Representing 33 Consumers: DAVID J S MADGETT
- Representing 32 Consumers: OCTAVIO GOMEZ
- Representing 25 Consumers: RYAN LEE MCBRIDE
- Representing 17 Consumers: JOEL SPENCER HALVORSEN
- Representing 16 Consumers: MOHAMMAD KAZEROUNI
- Representing 15 Consumers: FETHULLAH GULEN
- Representing 14 Consumers: YITZCHAK ZELMAN
- Representing 13 Consumers: JENNIFER GOMES SIMIL
- Representing 12 Consumers: JENNA DAKROUB
- Representing 12 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
Statistics Year to Date:
4525 total lawsuits for 2024, including:
- 1935 FDCPA
- 2744 FCRA
- 774 TCPA
Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2024: 4465 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)
The most active consumer attorneys of the year:
- Representing 129 Consumers: OCTAVIO GOMEZ
- Representing 127 Consumers: ZAREH JACK KOUSIAN
- Representing 127 Consumers: MELKON RAFI MELKONIAN
- Representing 127 Consumers: EILEEN KEUSSEYAN
- Representing 127 Consumers: HAROUT GREG KEOSIAN
- Representing 100 Consumers: ZHENYA A BAGDASARYAN
- Representing 100 Consumers: NELLY ISPIRYAN
- Representing 100 Consumers: EUGENE PATTERSON HARRIS
- Representing 100 Consumers: TAMAR G ARMINAK
- Representing 71 Consumers: ELLIOT ELO
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CFPB Complaint Statistics:
There were 12297 complaints filed against debt collectors from May 01, 2024 to May 31, 2024.
Total number of debt collectors complained about: 858
The types of debt behind the complaints were:
- 5241 I do not know (43%)
- 2181 Other debt (18%)
- 2145 Credit card debt (17%)
- 773 Telecommunications debt (6%)
- 695 Rental debt (6%)
- 599 Medical debt (5%)
- 353 Auto debt (3%)
- 157 Payday loan debt (1%)
- 67 Mortgage debt (1%)
- 57 Private student loan debt (0%)
- 29 Federal student loan debt (0%)
Here is a breakdown of complaints:
- 5517 Attempts to collect debt not owed (45%)
- 4778 Written notification about debt (39%)
- 741 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (6%)
- 515 False statements or representation (4%)
- 463 Communication tactics (4%)
- 154 Electronic communications (1%)
- 129 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (1%)
The top five subissues were:
- 3364 Debt is not yours (27%)
- 2485 Notification didnt disclose it was an attempt to collect a debt (20%)
- 1473 Debt was result of identity theft (12%)
- 1209 Didnt receive notice of right to dispute (10%)
- 1084 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (9%)
The top states complaints were filed from are:
- 2207 Complaints: TX
- 1449 Complaints: FL
- 1121 Complaints: CA
- 895 Complaints: GA
- 621 Complaints: NY
- 493 Complaints: PA
- 427 Complaints: IL
- 404 Complaints: VA
- 359 Complaints: NC
- 323 Complaints: MD
The status of the month’s complaints are as follows:
- 6146 Closed with explanation (50%)
- 4398 In progress (36%)
- 1722 Closed with non-monetary relief (14%)
- 16 Closed with monetary relief (0%)
- 15 Untimely response (0%)
This includes 12206 (99%) timely responses to complaints, and 91 (1%) untimely responses.