WebRecon Nov 2023 Stats: FCRA Up for the Month, TCPA Up YTD

Quick analysis: With just December consumer litigation left to tabulate in the coming weeks, 2023 YTD looks to have shaken out like this…

TCPA is up (+8.9%), FCRA is about even (-.3%) and FDCPA is down (-10.3%).

The die appears to be cast for one of the most interesting spreads in memory. The only real question left is if FCRA lawsuits in December will tip the tally above the zero point to end in slim positive territory or not. Either way, it will be pretty close with the big three diverging in the most balanced pattern we can remember.

For the month of November 2023, only FCRA (+2.7%) was in positive territory, while TCPA (-9.3%) and FDCPA (-11.6%) were both down. CFPB complaints were down (-2.7%) for the month but up (+.3%) YTD.

In other news, putative class actions represented 9% of FDCPA, 66.7%(!) of TCPA and 1.6% of FCRA lawsuits filed last month. About 41% of all plaintiffs who filed suit last month had filed at least once before. And finally, St. Louis attorney Joel Spencer Halvorsen represented the most consumers in November (25) while Atlanta attorney Matthew Thomas Berry retains the top spot for representing the most consumers YTD (173) so far in 2023.

Complaint Statistics:

5382 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 818 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Nov 01, 2023 to Nov 30, 2023.

• 5382 CFPB Complaints
• 366 FDCPA, 33 Class Action (9.0%)
• 117 TCPA, 78 Class Action (66.7%)
• 498 FCRA, 8 Class Action (1.6%)

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 339, or (41%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 4288 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 146 different US District Court branches.
• About 528 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 56 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 39 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 31 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 31 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 29 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
• 25 Lawsuits: Indiana Southern District Court – Indianapolis
• 18 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Southern Division – Santa Ana
• 18 Lawsuits: Florida Southern District Court – Fort Lauderdale
• 17 Lawsuits: Alabama Northern District Court – Southern
• 17 Lawsuits: New Jersey District Court – Newark

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 25 Consumers: JOEL SPENCER HALVORSEN
• Representing 19 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 19 Consumers: CHRISTOPHER NEIL ARMOR
• Representing 14 Consumers: YITZCHAK ZELMAN
• Representing 14 Consumers: SHAWN SHAWN JAFFER
• Representing 13 Consumers: OCTAVIO GOMEZ
• Representing 13 Consumers: M STAN HERRING
• Representing 13 Consumers: JOHN G WATTS
• Representing 13 Consumers: FRANK H KERNEY
• Representing 12 Consumers: PATRICIA S LOCKHART

Statistics Year to Date:
9196 total lawsuits for 2023, including:

• 3800 FDCPA
• 5159 FCRA
• 1571 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2023: 8040 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 173 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 165 Consumers: OCTAVIO GOMEZ
• Representing 135 Consumers: JOEL SPENCER HALVORSEN
• Representing 122 Consumers: CHRISTOPHER NEIL ARMOR
• Representing 120 Consumers: JOSEPH POWELL MCCLELLAND
• Representing 116 Consumers: SHAWN SHAWN JAFFER
• Representing 111 Consumers: DAVID J PHILIPPS
• Representing 101 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 93 Consumers: JOHN THOMAS STEINKAMP
• Representing 91 Consumers: YITZCHAK ZELMAN

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CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 5382 complaints filed against debt collectors from Nov 01, 2023 to Nov 30, 2023.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 722

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 1634 I do not know (30%)
• 1276 Credit card debt (24%)
• 721 Other debt (13%)
• 431 Telecommunications debt (8%)
• 419 Medical debt (8%)
• 379 Rental debt (7%)
• 265 Auto debt (5%)
• 98 Payday loan debt (2%)
• 88 Mortgage debt (2%)
• 42 Federal student loan debt (1%)
• 29 Private student loan debt (1%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 2604 Attempts to collect debt not owed (48%)
• 1383 Written notification about debt (26%)
• 448 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (8%)
• 384 False statements or representation (7%)
• 352 Communication tactics (7%)
• 123 Electronic communications (2%)
• 88 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (2%)

The top five subissues were:

• 1378 Debt is not yours (26%)
• 1150 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (21%)
• 785 Debt was result of identity theft (15%)
• 364 Debt was paid (7%)
• 291 Attempted to collect wrong amount (5%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 778 Complaints: CA
• 585 Complaints: FL
• 579 Complaints: TX
• 387 Complaints: NY
• 370 Complaints: GA
• 212 Complaints: PA
• 191 Complaints: IL
• 176 Complaints: NC
• 175 Complaints: NJ
• 147 Complaints: VA

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

• 3630 Closed with explanation (67%)
• 993 In progress (18%)
• 679 Closed with non-monetary relief (13%)
• 57 Untimely response (1%)
• 23 Closed with monetary relief (0%)

This includes 5274 (98%) timely responses to complaints, and 108 (2%) untimely responses.