Quick analysis: TCPWOW
There seem to be one big lesson so far from the way consumer complaints and litigation are affected by a pandemic.
They aren’t.
Last month’s numbers are almost totally normal and average: CFPB complaints are up a bit, FDCPA complaints are down a hair, FCRA complaints are up a lot and TCPA complaints… well those require a bit of explanation.
TCPA looks like it is up 160% over last month at 650 and that is true… but only in the record number of plaintiffs represented which is the metric we have used forever in these comparison grids. In terms of the number of unique filings, TCPA last month was a totally average 286. So what causes this discrepancy? Porch.com
A whopping 364 of those 650 TCPA consumers were co-plaintiffs distributed among five suits around the country, all against Porch.com and using three different plaintiff attorneys: Michael Zhang from Portland-based Qiu-Qiu Law, Rebecca Evans / Rebecca Anne Evans (one lawyer, two name variations in the filings) from Salt Lake City-based LawHQ and Stephanie Lynn Lucero from Albuquerque-based Lucero Law LLC. Take them out of the picture, and the month is utterly unremarkable.
Except, of course, for the fact that we are having a totally normal month as consumer complaints go in the middle of a worldwide pandemic.
In other news, putative class actions represented 21.2% of FDCPA, 13.4% of TCPA (or, adjusted for this month’s anomaly, 30.4%) and 8.3% of FCRA lawsuits filed last month.
About 29% of all plaintiffs who filed suit last month had filed at least once before.
And finally, if we discount the extreme filings of attorneys Michael Zhang, Rebecca Anne Evans and Stephanie Lynn Lucero, New York attorney Craig B. Sanders represented more consumers than anyone else for the month (42) and of the year with 203. That YTD number also excludes California attorney Nicole Rochelle Lewis, who filed along with Rebecca Evans in another crazy-large Porch.com lawsuit back in January.
| Current Month: | Previous Month: | Previous Year: |
Year to Date: | Year to Date Comp: |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 01, 2020 Apr 30, 2020 |
Mar 01, 2020 Mar 31, 2020 |
Apr 01, 2019 Apr 30, 2019 |
Jan 01, 2020 Apr 30, 2020 |
Jan 01, 2019 Apr 30, 2019 |
|||||
| CFPB | 4560 | 4246 | 7.4% | 4030 | 13.2% | 16616 | 15334 | 8.4% | |
| FDCPA | 603 | 611 | -1.3% | 830 | -27.3% | 2495 | 2930 | -14.8% | |
| FCRA | 460 | 408 | 12.7% | 437 | 5.3% | 1772 | 1523 | 16.3% | |
| TCPA | 650 | 250 | 160.0% | 307 | 111.7% | 1705 | 1167 | 46.1% | |
Complaint Statistics:
4560 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 1527 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Apr 01, 2020 to Apr 30, 2020.
- 4560 CFPB Complaints
- 603 FDCPA, 128 Class Action (21.2%)
- 650 TCPA, 87 Class Action (13.4%)
- 460 FCRA, 38 Class Action (8.3%)
Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):
- Of those cases, there were about 1527 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
- Of those plaintiffs, about 444, or (29%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
- Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 2807 lawsuits since 2001
- Actions were filed in 160 different US District Court branches.
- About 708 different collection firms and creditors were sued.
The top courts where lawsuits were filed:
- 90 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
- 56 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
- 53 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
- 45 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
- 35 Lawsuits: Indiana Southern District Court – Indianapolis
- 31 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
- 29 Lawsuits: New Jersey District Court – Newark
- 24 Lawsuits: Florida Southern District Court – Miami
- 23 Lawsuits: Florida Southern District Court – Fort Lauderdale
- 22 Lawsuits: Nevada District Court – Las Vegas
The most active consumer attorneys were:
- Representing 155 Consumers: MICHAEL ZHANG
- Representing 123 Consumers: REBECCA EVANS
- Representing 87 Consumers: REBECCA ANNE EVANS
- Representing 85 Consumers: STEPHANIE LYNN LUCERO
- Representing 42 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
- Representing 37 Consumers: KRISTIE LYNN FISCHER
- Representing 34 Consumers: JACQUELINE PORTER
- Representing 32 Consumers: CRYSTAL L COOKE
- Representing 25 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
- Representing 25 Consumers: BRIANA SMITH
Statistics Year to Date:
4601 total lawsuits for 2020, including:
- 2495 FDCPA
- 1772 FCRA
- 1705 TCPA
Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2020: 5089 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)
The most active consumer attorneys of the year:
- Representing 361 Consumers: REBECCA EVANS
- Representing 238 Consumers: NICOLE ROCHELLE LEWIS
- Representing 203 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
- Representing 155 Consumers: MICHAEL ZHANG
- Representing 114 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
- Representing 103 Consumers: DAVID M BARSHAY
- Representing 98 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
- Representing 92 Consumers: TAXIARCHIS HATZIDIMITRIADIS
- Representing 91 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
- Representing 87 Consumers: REBECCA ANNE EVANS
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CFPB Complaint Statistics:
There were 4560 complaints filed against debt collectors from Apr 01, 2020 to Apr 30, 2020.
Total number of debt collectors complained about: 761
The types of debt behind the complaints were:
- 1211 I do not know (27%)
- 1134 Other debt (25%)
- 1124 Credit card debt (25%)
- 669 Medical debt (15%)
- 138 Auto debt (3%)
- 118 Payday loan debt (3%)
- 84 Mortgage debt (2%)
- 42 Federal student loan debt (1%)
- 40 Private student loan debt (1%)
Here is a breakdown of complaints:
- 2494 Attempts to collect debt not owed (55%)
- 993 Written notification about debt (22%)
- 389 False statements or representation (9%)
- 323 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (7%)
- 302 Communication tactics (7%)
- 59 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (1%)
The top five subissues were:
- 1129 Debt is not yours (25%)
- 879 Debt was result of identity theft (19%)
- 712 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (16%)
- 407 Debt was paid (9%)
- 299 Attempted to collect wrong amount (7%)
The top states complaints were filed from are:
- 799 Complaints: TX
- 541 Complaints: CA
- 479 Complaints: FL
- 323 Complaints: GA
- 183 Complaints: NY
- 151 Complaints: IL
- 144 Complaints: NJ
- 124 Complaints: PA
- 115 Complaints: NC
- 114 Complaints: OH
The status of the month’s complaints are as follows:
- 3697 Closed with explanation (81%)
- 419 In progress (9%)
- 346 Closed with non-monetary relief (8%)
- 79 Untimely response (2%)
- 19 Closed with monetary relief (0%)
This includes 4418 (97%) timely responses to complaints, and 142 (3%) untimely responses.