Quick analysis: It’s a sweep! For the first time in two and a half years (Feb 2016), every category of complaint we track on a monthly basis (FDCPA, FCRA, TCPA, BCFP and even BBB) are up over the previous month. Furthermore, all three lawsuits categories (FDCPA, FCRA, TCPA) are up by significant margins (24.1%, 13.6% and 13.5% respectively). That just hasn’t happened in a really long time.
Important note: Our BBB complaint acquisition process has been wonky the last couple of months. We have it fixed, and should have much more stable data coming out from this point forward. Here is a comprehensive grid of all BBB complaints filed against debt collectors and creditors since the beginning of 2016.
In other news, putative class actions were mixed last month with 27.7% of FDCPA, 27.3% of TCPA and 5.3% of FCRA lawsuits filed that way.
About 34% of all plaintiffs who filed suit last month had filed at least once before.
And finally, Texas attorney Jonathan Forrest Raburn and New York attorney Craig B. Sanders each represented 45 consumers in August, though Mr. Sanders filed more lawsuits while Mr. Raburn packed more consumers into fewer lawusits as co-defendants. Mr. Sanders retains the title of most active consumer attorney of the year though, with 378 represented consumers so far in 2018.
| Current Month: | Previous Month: | Previous Year: |
Year to Date: | Year to Date Comp: |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 01, 2018 Aug 31, 2018 |
Jul 01, 2018 Jul 31, 2018 |
Aug 01, 2017 Aug 31, 2017 |
Jan 01, 2018 Aug 31, 2018 |
Jan 01, 2017 Aug 31, 2017 |
|||||
| BBB | 2586 | 2577 | 0.3% | 3335 | -22.5% | 21011 | 22417 | -6.3% | |
| BCFP | 4416 | 4023 | 9.8% | 4650 | -5.0% | 37208 | 33533 | 11.0% | |
| FDCPA | 907 | 731 | 24.1% | 866 | 4.7% | 6380 | 6794 | -6.1% | |
| FCRA | 433 | 381 | 13.6% | 351 | 23.4% | 3137 | 2771 | 13.2% | |
| TCPA | 362 | 319 | 13.5% | 374 | -3.2% | 2706 | 3157 | -14.3% | |
Every category of complaint increased in this period. Is your collection business protected against complaints and lawsuits? Read more Here!
Complaint Statistics:
2586 consumers filed BBB complaints, 4416 consumers filed BCFP complaints, and about 1453 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Aug 01, 2018 to Aug 31, 2018.
- 2586 BBB Complaints
- 4416 BCFP Complaints
- 907 FDCPA, 251 Class Action (27.7%)
- 362 TCPA, 99 Class Action (27.3%)
- 433 FCRA, 23 Class Action (5.3%)
Litigation Summary (scroll down for BBB and BCFP data):
- Of those cases, there were about 1453 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
- Of those plaintiffs, about 497, or (34%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
- Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 2598 lawsuits since 2001
- Actions were filed in 168 different US District Court branches.
- About 867 different collection firms and creditors were sued.
The top courts where lawsuits were filed:
- 94 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
- 88 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
- 53 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
- 51 Lawsuits: Nevada District Court – Las Vegas
- 43 Lawsuits: Florida Southern District Court – Fort Lauderdale
- 42 Lawsuits: Indiana Southern District Court – Indianapolis
- 41 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
- 38 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
- 35 Lawsuits: Texas Northern District Court – Dallas
- 33 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Central Islip
The most active consumer attorneys were:
- Representing 45 Consumers: JONATHAN FORREST RABURN
- Representing 45 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
- Representing 39 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
- Representing 35 Consumers: TAXIARCHIS HATZIDIMITRIADIS
- Representing 30 Consumers: ANDREW T THOMASSON
- Representing 29 Consumers: PHILIP D STERN
- Representing 29 Consumers: FRANCIS R GREENE
- Representing 29 Consumers: DAVID H KRIEGER
- Representing 26 Consumers: ANTRANIG N GARIBIAN
- Representing 22 Consumers: JAMES ANTHONY FOLEY
Statistics Year to Date:
9963 total lawsuits for 2018, including:
- 6380 FDCPA
- 3137 FCRA
- 2706 TCPA
Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2018: 9821 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)
The most active consumer attorneys of the year:
- Representing 378 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
- Representing 291 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
- Representing 269 Consumers: TAXIARCHIS HATZIDIMITRIADIS
- Representing 248 Consumers: MOHAMMED OMAR BADWAN
- Representing 196 Consumers: DAVID H KRIEGER
- Representing 195 Consumers: ELLIOT GALE
- Representing 189 Consumers: AHMAD TAYSEER SULAIMAN
- Representing 150 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
- Representing 149 Consumers: JEFFREY N WILENS
- Representing 145 Consumers: CELETHA CHATMAN
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BBB Complaint Statistics:
There were a total of 2586 BBB complaints from Aug 01, 2018 to Aug 31, 2018. That is up 0.3% from last month.
The types of companies being complained about were:
- 1216 banks (47%)
- 1141 collections-agencies (44%)
- 229 credit+reporting (9%)
The categories of complaints filed were:
- 1416 Billing/Collection Issues (55%)
- 1063 Problems with Product/Service (41%)
- 63 Advertising/Sales Issues (2%)
- 38 Delivery Issues (1%)
- 6 Guarantee/Warranty Issues (0%)
The dispositions of these complaints are:
- 2024 The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction. (78%)
- 403 The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction. (16%)
- 124 The business failed to respond to the dispute. (5%)
- 18 BBB is unable to locate the business. (1%)
- 17 The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it. (1%)
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BCFP Complaint Statistics:
There were 4416 complaints filed against debt collectors from Aug 01, 2018 to Aug 31, 2018.
Total number of debt collectors complained about: 838
The types of debt behind the complaints were:
- 1386 Other debt (31%)
- 976 Credit card debt (22%)
- 873 I do not know (20%)
- 643 Medical debt (15%)
- 155 Auto debt (4%)
- 127 Payday loan debt (3%)
- 109 Mortgage debt (2%)
- 76 Federal student loan debt (2%)
- 71 Private student loan debt (2%)
Here is a breakdown of complaints:
- 1985 Attempts to collect debt not owed (45%)
- 984 Written notification about debt (22%)
- 544 Communication tactics (12%)
- 421 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (10%)
- 356 False statements or representation (8%)
- 126 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (3%)
The top five subissues were:
- 1000 Debt is not yours (23%)
- 738 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (17%)
- 491 Debt was result of identity theft (11%)
- 388 Debt was paid (9%)
- 295 Frequent or repeated calls (7%)
The top states complaints were filed from are:
- 584 Complaints: TX
- 537 Complaints: CA
- 425 Complaints: FL
- 266 Complaints: NY
- 254 Complaints: GA
- 167 Complaints: OH
- 150 Complaints: NJ
- 142 Complaints: NC
- 136 Complaints: IL
- 124 Complaints: PA
The status of the month’s complaints are as follows:
- 3537 Closed with explanation (80%)
- 510 Closed with non-monetary relief (12%)
- 228 In progress (5%)
- 116 Untimely response (3%)
- 25 Closed with monetary relief (1%)
This includes 4225 (96%) timely responses to complaints, and 191 (4%) untimely responses.
You can identify consumers with a history of litigation quickly & easily with Webrecon. If you have consumers on your lists that have ever filed lawsuits under FDCPA, TCPA, FCRA, TILA or similar statutes, you’ll find out! Visit WebRecon now for more information!