Quick analysis: Quick analysis: Consumer Litigation Down a Bit, Up a Bit in Feb 2017
Consumer litigation last month was mostly flat for FDCPA (up .7%), down a lot for FCRA (-36.3%) and down a bit for TCPA (-6.7%). While that seems like a good trend, it did not change the fact that all three categories were still up over the same period of time in 2016 (FDCPA +5.6%, FCRA +23.6%, TCPA +5.3%)
So, while it is way too early in the year to try to draw a conclusion, it is safe to say that litigation is going to stay unpredictable and (it seems likely) at approximately the same levels we have seen it over the last few years.
CFPB complaints, on the other hand, seem to have exploded in 2017. While only up nominally from January, they are up a whopping 19.6% from this month last year and an even more impressive 22.1% YTD. Maybe people are rushing to get their complaints on the record while the agency is still in it’s current form?
Back to litigation, putative class actions are about normal with 17.9% of FDCPA, 24% of TCPA and only 9.1% of FCRA lawsuits filed that way.
About 34% of all plaintiffs who filed in February had filed at least once before.
And finally, California attorney Todd M. Friedman retakes the crown for representing the most consumer plaintiffs (37) in January and the most year-to-date (95).
| Comparisons: | Current Period: | Previous Period: | Previous Year Comp: | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 01, 2017 Feb 28, 2017 |
Jan 01, 2017 Jan 31, 2017 |
Feb 01, 2016 Feb 28, 2016 |
|||
| CFPB Complaints | 3738 | 3704 | 0.9% | 3126 | 19.6% |
| FDCPA lawsuits | 828 | 822 | 0.7% | 775 | 6.8% |
| FCRA lawsuits | 265 | 416 | -36.3% | 268 | -1.1% |
| TCPA lawsuits | 375 | 402 | -6.7% | 378 | -0.8% |
| YTD CFPB Complaints | 7442 | 6096 | 22.1% | ||
| YTD FDCPA lawsuits | 1650 | 1562 | 5.6% | ||
| YTD FCRA lawsuits | 681 | 551 | 23.6% | ||
| YTD TCPA lawsuits | 777 | 738 | 5.3% | ||
Complaint Statistics:
3738 consumers filed CFPB complaints against debt collectors and about 1300 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Feb 01, 2017 to Feb 28, 2017. Here is an approximate breakdown:
- 3738 CFPB Complaints
- 828 FDCPA, 148 Class Action (17.9%)
- 375 TCPA, 90 Class Action (24.0%)
- 265 FCRA, 24 Class Action (9.1%)
Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):
- Of those cases, there were about 1300 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
- Of those plaintiffs, about 448, or (34%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
- Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 2527 lawsuits since 2001
- Actions were filed in 156 different US District Court branches.
- About 795 different collection firms and creditors were sued.
The top courts where lawsuits were filed:
- 111 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
- 65 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Los Angeles
- 65 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
- 61 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
- 49 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
- 43 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court – San Diego
- 42 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
- 35 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Central Islip
- 31 Lawsuits: Florida Southern District Court – Fort Lauderdale
- 27 Lawsuits: Indiana Southern District Court – Indianapolis
The most active consumer attorneys were:
- Representing 37 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
- Representing 34 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
- Representing 31 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
- Representing 30 Consumers: AHMAD TAYSEER SULAIMAN
- Representing 28 Consumers: SERGEI LEMBERG
- Representing 27 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
- Representing 24 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
- Representing 24 Consumers: MOHAMMED OMAR BADWAN
- Representing 22 Consumers: TAMMY GRUDER HUSSIN
- Representing 19 Consumers: MICHAEL JACOB WOOD
Statistics Year to Date:
2624 total lawsuits for 2017, including:
- 1650 FDCPA
- 681 FCRA
- 777 TCPA
Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2017: 2666 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)
The most active consumer attorneys of the year:
- Representing 95 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
- Representing 83 Consumers: AHMAD TAYSEER SULAIMAN
- Representing 79 Consumers: DAVID H KRIEGER
- Representing 71 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
- Representing 65 Consumers: MOHAMMED OMAR BADWAN
- Representing 63 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
- Representing 62 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
- Representing 62 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
- Representing 53 Consumers: SERGEI LEMBERG
- Representing 47 Consumers: ELLIOT WAYNE GALE
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CFPB Complaint Statistics:
There were 3738 complaints filed against debt collectors from Feb 01, 2017 to Feb 28, 2017.
Total number of debt collectors complained about: 828
The types of debt behind the complaints were:
- 1291 Other (i.e. phone, health club, etc.) (35%)
- 685 I do not know (18%)
- 659 Medical (18%)
- 642 Credit card (17%)
- 140 Payday loan (4%)
- 105 Auto (3%)
- 92 Mortgage (2%)
- 72 Federal student loan (2%)
- 52 Non-federal student loan (1%)
Here is a breakdown of complaints:
- 1489 Contd attempts collect debt not owed (40%)
- 1151 Disclosure verification of debt (31%)
- 430 Communication tactics (12%)
- 266 False statements or representation (7%)
- 219 Improper contact or sharing of info (6%)
- 183 Taking/threatening an illegal action (5%)
The top five subissues were:
- 879 Not given enough info to verify debt (24%)
- 860 Debt is not mine (23%)
- 415 Debt was paid (11%)
- 250 Frequent or repeated calls (7%)
- 220 Right to dispute notice not received (6%)
The top states complaints were filed from are:
- 453 Complaints: TX
- 435 Complaints: CA
- 352 Complaints: FL
- 199 Complaints: GA
- 173 Complaints: NY
- 151 Complaints: IL
- 123 Complaints: NJ
- 114 Complaints: PA
- 113 Complaints: TN
- 113 Complaints: OH
The status of the month’s complaints are as follows:
- 3738 (100%)
This includes 3509 (94%) timely responses to complaints, and 229 (6%) untimely responses.
Of the company responses, consumers accepted 0 (%) of them, disputed 514 (14%) of them, and 3224 (86%) were N\A.
The top five days for complaints were:
- 219 Complaints: Fri, 02/03/2017
- 203 Complaints: Wed, 02/15/2017
- 193 Complaints: Tue, 02/07/2017
- 176 Complaints: Thu, 02/09/2017
- 171 Complaints: Fri, 02/10/2017