Quick analysis: 2019 Plays out exactly as expected…
Well, 2019 is officially over, and with the end comes no real surprises. Everything was down for the month of December: FDCPA -.3%, TCPA -12.4%, FCRA -6.7% and CFPB complaints -6.6%.
None of that is particularly surprising, but it isn’t all that important in the grand scheme either. Here is something that is more relevant: Full year 2019 numbers appear to have cemented in some long standing trends in consumer litigation filings.
• FDPCA is down -7.7% for the year (compare to -7.8% for 2018 over 2017, and -5.8% for 2017 over 2016)
• TCPA is down -14.2% (compare to -13.2% for 2018 over 2017, and -9.3% for 2017 over 2016)
• FCRA is up +8.9% (compare to +4.3% for 2018 over 2017, and +9.9% for 2017 over 2016)
In other words, FDCPA and TCPA are continuing their trajectories of slow descent almost exactly on pace from the last couple of years, yet at the same time the growth in FCRA litigation has doubled in intensity from last year (but is on pace from the year before). That tells us something about where consumer litigation filings are headed in 2020.
Incidentally, CFPB complaints did reverse course this year from last. While complaints are down -9.5% from 2018, in full year 2018 they were up +5.9% over 2017, and in 2017 they were up +18.5% from 2016.
Here are some longer term trends for you:
In other news, putative class actions were a bit high last month with 25.3% of FDCPA, 26.5% of TCPA and 7.8% of FCRA lawsuits filed that way.
About 32% of all plaintiffs who filed suit last month had filed at least once before.
And finally, in what I believe is his first time at the top, Kentucky attorney James McKenzie represented more consumers than anyone else in December (38) while New York attorney Craig Sanders has represented more consumers than any other attorney all year (432), retaining the title of most active consumer attorney of the year.
| Current Month: | Previous Month: | Previous Year: |
Year to Date: | Year to Date Comp: |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 01, 2019 Dec 31, 2019 |
Nov 01, 2019 Nov 30, 2019 |
Dec 01, 2018 Dec 31, 2018 |
Jan 01, 2019 Dec 31, 2019 |
Jan 01, 2018 Dec 31, 2018 |
|||||
| CFPB | 3320 | 3553 | -6.6% | 3317 | 0.1% | 46894 | 51803 | -9.5% | |
| FDCPA | 637 | 639 | -0.3% | 570 | 11.8% | 8315 | 9011 | -7.7% | |
| FCRA | 374 | 401 | -6.7% | 320 | 16.9% | 4938 | 4533 | 8.9% | |
| TCPA | 234 | 267 | -12.4% | 223 | 4.9% | 3267 | 3806 | -14.2% | |
Complaint Statistics:
3320 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 1084 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Dec 01, 2019 to Dec 31, 2019.
- 3320 CFPB Complaints
- 637 FDCPA, 161 Class Action (25.3%)
- 234 TCPA, 62 Class Action (26.5%)
- 374 FCRA, 29 Class Action (7.8%)
Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):
- Of those cases, there were about 1084 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
- Of those plaintiffs, about 350, or (32%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
- Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 4278 lawsuits since 2001
- Actions were filed in 155 different US District Court branches.
- About 687 different collection firms and creditors were sued.
The top courts where lawsuits were filed:
- 65 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
- 58 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
- 54 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
- 41 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
- 39 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
- 35 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
- 33 Lawsuits: Nevada District Court – Las Vegas
- 28 Lawsuits: New York Southern District Court – Foley Square
- 28 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court – San Diego
- 26 Lawsuits: Indiana Southern District Court – Indianapolis
The most active consumer attorneys were:
- Representing 38 Consumers: JAMES R MCKENZIE
- Representing 38 Consumers: JAMES H LAWSON
- Representing 26 Consumers: EDWARD Y KROUB
- Representing 26 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
- Representing 24 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
- Representing 23 Consumers: DAVID H KRIEGER
- Representing 22 Consumers: TAXIARCHIS HATZIDIMITRIADIS
- Representing 21 Consumers: JOSEPH LEWIS ERKENBRACK
- Representing 21 Consumers: JOSEPH SCOTT DAVIDSON
- Representing 18 Consumers: MOHAMMED OMAR BADWAN
Statistics Year to Date:
14107 total lawsuits for 2019, including:
- 8315 FDCPA
- 4938 FCRA
- 3267 TCPA
Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2019: 13336 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)
The most active consumer attorneys of the year:
- Representing 432 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
- Representing 399 Consumers: SERGEI LEMBERG
- Representing 347 Consumers: ANTRANIG N GARIBIAN
- Representing 327 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
- Representing 294 Consumers: TAXIARCHIS HATZIDIMITRIADIS
- Representing 265 Consumers: DAVID M BARSHAY
- Representing 255 Consumers: DAVID SCOTT KLAIN
- Representing 250 Consumers: JONATHAN FORREST RABURN
- Representing 235 Consumers: DAVID W HEMMINGER
- Representing 231 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
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CFPB Complaint Statistics:
There were 3320 complaints filed against debt collectors from Dec 01, 2019 to Dec 31, 2019.
Total number of debt collectors complained about: 747
The types of debt behind the complaints were:
- 887 Other debt (27%)
- 781 I do not know (24%)
- 778 Credit card debt (23%)
- 521 Medical debt (16%)
- 119 Auto debt (4%)
- 78 Payday loan debt (2%)
- 58 Mortgage debt (2%)
- 53 Federal student loan debt (2%)
- 45 Private student loan debt (1%)
Here is a breakdown of complaints:
- 1727 Attempts to collect debt not owed (52%)
- 623 Written notification about debt (19%)
- 303 Communication tactics (9%)
- 298 False statements or representation (9%)
- 284 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (9%)
- 85 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (3%)
The top five subissues were:
- 786 Debt is not yours (24%)
- 566 Debt was result of identity theft (17%)
- 436 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (13%)
- 320 Debt was paid (10%)
- 240 Attempted to collect wrong amount (7%)
The top states complaints were filed from are:
- 389 Complaints: CA
- 363 Complaints: TX
- 344 Complaints: FL
- 242 Complaints: GA
- 221 Complaints: NY
- 110 Complaints: PA
- 103 Complaints: SC
- 100 Complaints: NJ
- 98 Complaints: IL
- 93 Complaints: NC
The status of the month’s complaints are as follows:
- 2719 Closed with explanation (82%)
- 272 Closed with non-monetary relief (8%)
- 243 In progress (7%)
- 67 Untimely response (2%)
- 19 Closed with monetary relief (1%)
This includes 3195 (96%) timely responses to complaints, and 125 (4%) untimely responses.