Quick analysis: Everything Up in Oct and YTD
October was an across-the-board up month, with CFPB complaints +5.6 in Oct and +119.3% YTD, TCPA suits +17.5% in Oct and +4.4% YTD, FDCPA suits +4.1% in Oct and +6.3% YTD and FCRA suits +2.1% in Oct and +10.1% YTD.
In other news, putative class actions represented 4% of FDCPA, 71.4%(!) of TCPA and 1.1% of FCRA lawsuits filed last month. TCPA class actions are still extraordinarily high, historically speaking. About 41% of all plaintiffs who filed suit last month had filed at least once before. And finally, Tampa, FL attorney Octavio Gomez again represented the most consumers in August (27) while keeping the top spot for representing the most consumers YTD (244).
| Current Month: | Previous Month: | Previous Year: |
Year to Date: | Year to Date Comp: |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 01, 2024 Oct 31, 2024 |
Sep 01, 2024 Sep 30, 2024 |
Oct 01, 2023 Oct 31, 2023 |
Jan 01, 2024 Oct 31, 2024 |
Jan 01, 2023 Oct 31, 2023 |
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| CFPB | 16633 | 15751 | 5.6% | 5534 | 200.6% | 125665 | 57314 | 119.3% | |
| FDCPA | 329 | 316 | 4.1% | 414 | -20.5% | 3632 | 3416 | 6.3% | |
| FCRA | 476 | 466 | 2.1% | 485 | -1.9% | 5108 | 4638 | 10.1% | |
| TCPA | 161 | 137 | 17.5% | 129 | 24.8% | 1508 | 1444 | 4.4% | |
Complaint Statistics:
16633 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 817 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Oct 01, 2024 to Oct 31, 2024.
- 16633 CFPB Complaints
- 329 FDCPA, 13 Class Action (4.0%)
- 161 TCPA, 115 Class Action (71.4%)
- 476 FCRA, 5 Class Action (1.1%)
Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):
- Of those cases, there were about 817 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
- Of those plaintiffs, about 335, or (41%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
- Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 5105 lawsuits since 2001
- Actions were filed in 137 different US District Court branches.
- About 552 different collection firms and creditors were sued.
The top courts where lawsuits were filed:
- 53 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
- 50 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
- 47 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
- 29 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
- 22 Lawsuits: Florida Southern District Court – Fort Lauderdale
- 22 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
- 21 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Orlando
- 21 Lawsuits: Indiana Southern District Court – Indianapolis
- 20 Lawsuits: Texas Northern District Court – Dallas
- 19 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Eastern Division – Riverside
The most active consumer attorneys were:
- Representing 27 Consumers: OCTAVIO GOMEZ
- Representing 15 Consumers: JOHN THOMAS STEINKAMP
- Representing 15 Consumers: THOMAS JOHN PATTI
- Representing 14 Consumers: DAVID J PHILIPPS
- Representing 14 Consumers: JONATHAN ALEXANDER HEEPS
- Representing 13 Consumers: ZANE CHARLES HEDAYA
- Representing 13 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
- Representing 13 Consumers: AVI ROBERT KAUFMAN
- Representing 13 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
- Representing 13 Consumers: JOEL S HALVORSEN
Statistics Year to Date:
8665 total lawsuits for 2024, including:
- 3632 FDCPA
- 5108 FCRA
- 1508 TCPA
Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2024: 8004 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)
The most active consumer attorneys of the year:
- Representing 244 Consumers: OCTAVIO GOMEZ
- Representing 127 Consumers: EILEEN KEUSSEYAN
- Representing 127 Consumers: MELKON RAFI MELKONIAN
- Representing 127 Consumers: ZAREH JACK KOUSIAN
- Representing 127 Consumers: HAROUT GREG KEOSIAN
- Representing 116 Consumers: YITZCHAK ZELMAN
- Representing 112 Consumers: ELLIOT ELO
- Representing 109 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
- Representing 107 Consumers: JONATHAN ALEXANDER HEEPS
- Representing 102 Consumers: DAVID J PHILIPPS
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CFPB Complaint Statistics:
There were 16633 complaints filed against debt collectors from Oct 01, 2024 to Oct 31, 2024.
Total number of debt collectors complained about: 909
The types of debt behind the complaints were:
- 9368 I do not know (56%)
- 2327 Credit card debt (14%)
- 2198 Other debt (13%)
- 769 Telecommunications debt (5%)
- 652 Rental debt (4%)
- 640 Medical debt (4%)
- 370 Auto debt (2%)
- 160 Payday loan debt (1%)
- 56 Mortgage debt (0%)
- 55 Private student loan debt (0%)
- 38 Federal student loan debt (0%)
Here is a breakdown of complaints:
- 6910 Attempts to collect debt not owed (42%)
- 4389 Written notification about debt (26%)
- 3126 False statements or representation (19%)
- 1217 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (7%)
- 642 Communication tactics (4%)
- 219 Electronic communications (1%)
- 130 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (1%)
The top five subissues were:
- 4530 Debt is not yours (27%)
- 2993 Attempted to collect wrong amount (18%)
- 2348 Notification didnt disclose it was an attempt to collect a debt (14%)
- 1586 Debt was result of identity theft (10%)
- 1273 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (8%)
The top states complaints were filed from are:
- 3201 Complaints: TX
- 1870 Complaints: FL
- 1462 Complaints: GA
- 1237 Complaints: CA
- 739 Complaints: IL
- 730 Complaints: NY
- 610 Complaints: PA
- 548 Complaints: NC
- 458 Complaints: MI
- 419 Complaints: NJ
The status of the month’s complaints are as follows:
- 9615 Closed with explanation (58%)
- 3774 Closed with non-monetary relief (23%)
- 3193 In progress (19%)
- 34 Untimely response (0%)
- 17 Closed with monetary relief (0%)
This includes 16503 (99%) timely responses to complaints, and 130 (1%) untimely responses.