Quick analysis: Everything down in Sept, YTD still up
Other than CFPB complaints which were up +9.2% over August, everything we track had a slow month. TCPA suits were down -12.2% over August, FDCPA was down -17.1% and FCRA was down -1.3%. However, all are still up YTD over 2023, with TCPA +2.4%, FDCPA up +10% and FCRA +11.5%. CFPB complaints are up an astounding +110.6% over last year.
In other news, putative class actions represented 6% of FDCPA, 57.5%(!) of TCPA and 2.6% of FCRA lawsuits filed last month. About 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, Tampa, FL attorney Octavio Gomez represented the most consumers in August (22) while keeping the top spot for representing the most consumers YTD (217).
| Current Month: | Previous Month: | Previous Year: |
Year to Date: | Year to Date Comp: |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 01, 2024 Sep 30, 2024 |
Aug 01, 2024 Aug 31, 2024 |
Sep 01, 2023 Sep 30, 2023 |
Jan 01, 2024 Sep 30, 2024 |
Jan 01, 2023 Sep 30, 2023 |
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| CFPB | 15751 | 14427 | 9.2% | 5354 | 194.2% | 109032 | 51780 | 110.6% | |
| FDCPA | 316 | 381 | -17.1% | 361 | -12.5% | 3303 | 3002 | 10.0% | |
| FCRA | 466 | 472 | -1.3% | 524 | -11.1% | 4632 | 4153 | 11.5% | |
| TCPA | 137 | 156 | -12.2% | 156 | -12.2% | 1347 | 1315 | 2.4% | |
Complaint Statistics:
15751 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 795 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Sep 01, 2024 to Sep 30, 2024.
- 15751 CFPB Complaints
- 316 FDCPA, 19 Class Action (6.0%)
- 137 TCPA, 79 Class Action (57.7%)
- 466 FCRA, 12 Class Action (2.6%)
Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):
- Of those cases, there were about 795 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
- Of those plaintiffs, about 336, or (42%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
- Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 2725 lawsuits since 2001
- Actions were filed in 140 different US District Court branches.
- About 526 different collection firms and creditors were sued.
The top courts where lawsuits were filed:
- 60 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
- 37 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
- 33 Lawsuits: Texas Southern District Court – Houston
- 32 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
- 28 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Southern Division – Santa Ana
- 26 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
- 23 Lawsuits: Indiana Southern District Court – Indianapolis
- 17 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court – San Diego
- 17 Lawsuits: Florida Southern District Court – Fort Lauderdale
- 17 Lawsuits: Michigan Eastern District Court – Detroit
The most active consumer attorneys were:
- Representing 22 Consumers: OCTAVIO GOMEZ
- Representing 15 Consumers: JOHN THOMAS STEINKAMP
- Representing 11 Consumers: ZANE CHARLES HEDAYA
- Representing 11 Consumers: BRITTANY LOVE
- Representing 10 Consumers: MARK A CAREY
- Representing 10 Consumers: YITZCHAK ZELMAN
- Representing 10 Consumers: SYED HASEEB HUSSAIN
- Representing 10 Consumers: JOEL S HALVORSEN
- Representing 10 Consumers: DAVID J PHILIPPS
- Representing 9 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
Statistics Year to Date:
7815 total lawsuits for 2024, including:
- 3303 FDCPA
- 4632 FCRA
- 1347 TCPA
Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2024: 7299 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)
The most active consumer attorneys of the year:
- Representing 217 Consumers: OCTAVIO GOMEZ
- Representing 127 Consumers: EILEEN KEUSSEYAN
- Representing 127 Consumers: HAROUT GREG KEOSIAN
- Representing 127 Consumers: MELKON RAFI MELKONIAN
- Representing 127 Consumers: ZAREH JACK KOUSIAN
- Representing 112 Consumers: ELLIOT ELO
- Representing 110 Consumers: YITZCHAK ZELMAN
- Representing 104 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
- Representing 100 Consumers: EUGENE PATTERSON HARRIS
- Representing 100 Consumers: TAMAR G ARMINAK
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CFPB Complaint Statistics:
There were 15751 complaints filed against debt collectors from Sep 01, 2024 to Sep 30, 2024.
Total number of debt collectors complained about: 929
The types of debt behind the complaints were:
- 7847 I do not know (50%)
- 2692 Other debt (17%)
- 2452 Credit card debt (16%)
- 740 Telecommunications debt (5%)
- 717 Rental debt (5%)
- 612 Medical debt (4%)
- 393 Auto debt (2%)
- 161 Payday loan debt (1%)
- 55 Mortgage debt (0%)
- 43 Private student loan debt (0%)
- 39 Federal student loan debt (0%)
Here is a breakdown of complaints:
- 7137 Attempts to collect debt not owed (45%)
- 4776 Written notification about debt (30%)
- 2056 False statements or representation (13%)
- 865 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (5%)
- 587 Communication tactics (4%)
- 215 Electronic communications (1%)
- 115 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (1%)
The top five subissues were:
- 4543 Debt is not yours (29%)
- 2671 Notification didnt disclose it was an attempt to collect a debt (17%)
- 1913 Attempted to collect wrong amount (12%)
- 1833 Debt was result of identity theft (12%)
- 1072 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (7%)
The top states complaints were filed from are:
- 2864 Complaints: TX
- 1973 Complaints: FL
- 1412 Complaints: GA
- 1281 Complaints: CA
- 740 Complaints: IL
- 681 Complaints: NY
- 671 Complaints: PA
- 503 Complaints: NC
- 409 Complaints: MI
- 372 Complaints: AL
The status of the month’s complaints are as follows:
- 10353 Closed with explanation (66%)
- 4143 Closed with non-monetary relief (26%)
- 1153 In progress (7%)
- 75 Untimely response (0%)
- 27 Closed with monetary relief (0%)
This includes 15540 (99%) timely responses to complaints, and 211 (1%) untimely responses.