Quick analysis: Happy New Year… for Plaintiffs
It looks like 2017 is starting off with a litigation uptick across the board.
FDCPA: Jan was up 4.3% over (prev month) Dec, and 4.1% over (previous year) Jan 2016
TCPA: Jan was up 11% over (prev month) Dec, and 11.7% over (previous year) Jan 2016
FCRA: Jan was up a whopping 48.6% over (prev month) Dec, and 47% over (previous year) Jan 2016
Crazy coincidence… Jan 2017 looks an awful lot like Jan 2016. Cosmic interference?
Class actions are on the high-ish end of normal with 18.2% of FDCPA, 26.1 of TCPA and 26.1 of FCRA lawsuits filed that way.
About 35% of all plaintiffs who filed in January had filed at least once before.
And finally, Las Vegas attorney David Krieger takes the prize for the representing the most consumer plaintiffs (67) in January.
| Comparisons: | Current Period: | Previous Period: | Previous Year Comp: | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 01, 2017 Jan 31, 2017 |
Dec 01, 2016 Dec 31, 2016 |
Jan 01, 2016 Jan 31, 2016 |
|||
| CFPB Complaints | 3410 | 3650 | -6.6% | 2970 | 14.8% |
| FDCPA lawsuits | 819 | 785 | 4.3% | 787 | 4.1% |
| FCRA lawsuits | 416 | 280 | 48.6% | 283 | 47.0% |
| TCPA lawsuits | 402 | 362 | 11.0% | 360 | 11.7% |
| YTD CFPB Complaints | 3410 | 2970 | 14.8% | ||
| YTD FDCPA lawsuits | 819 | 787 | 4.1% | ||
| YTD FCRA lawsuits | 416 | 283 | 47.0% | ||
| YTD TCPA lawsuits | 402 | 360 | 11.7% | ||
Complaint Statistics:
3410 consumers filed CFPB complaints against debt collectors and about 1425 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Jan 01, 2017 to Jan 31, 2017. Here is an approximate breakdown:
- 3410 CFPB Complaints
- 819 FDCPA, 149 Class Action (18.2%)
- 402 TCPA, 105 Class Action (26.1%)
- 416 FCRA, 39 Class Action (9.4%)
Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):
- Of those cases, there were about 1425 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
- Of those plaintiffs, about 501, or (35%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
- Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 2318 lawsuits since 2001
- Actions were filed in 153 different US District Court branches.
- About 1005 different collection firms and creditors were sued.
The top courts where lawsuits were filed:
- 104 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
- 94 Lawsuits: Nevada District Court – Las Vegas
- 75 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Los Angeles
- 57 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
- 54 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
- 41 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
- 39 Lawsuits: Florida Southern District Court – Fort Lauderdale
- 38 Lawsuits: New Jersey District Court – Newark
- 37 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Central Islip
- 37 Lawsuits: Indiana Southern District Court – Indianapolis
The most active consumer attorneys were:
- Representing 67 Consumers: DAVID H KRIEGER
- Representing 58 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
- Representing 53 Consumers: AHMAD TAYSEER SULAIMAN
- Representing 47 Consumers: ELLIOT WAYNE GALE
- Representing 41 Consumers: MOHAMMED OMAR BADWAN
- Representing 40 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
- Representing 38 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
- Representing 36 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
- Representing 28 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
- Representing 25 Consumers: JOHN D BLYTHIN
Statistics Year to Date:
1389 total lawsuits for 2017, including:
- 819 FDCPA
- 416 FCRA
- 402 TCPA
Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2017: 1425 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)
The most active consumer attorneys of the year:
- Representing 67 Consumers: DAVID H KRIEGER
- Representing 58 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
- Representing 53 Consumers: AHMAD TAYSEER SULAIMAN
- Representing 47 Consumers: ELLIOT WAYNE GALE
- Representing 41 Consumers: MOHAMMED OMAR BADWAN
- Representing 40 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
- Representing 38 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
- Representing 36 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
- Representing 28 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
- Representing 25 Consumers: JOHN D BLYTHIN
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CFPB Complaint Statistics:
There were 3410 complaints filed against debt collectors from Jan 01, 2017 to Jan 31, 2017.
Total number of debt collectors complained about: 784
The types of debt behind the complaints were:
- 1203 Other (i.e. phone, health club, etc.) (35%)
- 619 I do not know (18%)
- 585 Medical (17%)
- 582 Credit card (17%)
- 126 Payday loan (4%)
- 100 Auto (3%)
- 81 Mortgage (2%)
- 58 Non-federal student loan (2%)
- 56 Federal student loan (2%)
Here is a breakdown of complaints:
- 1447 Contd attempts collect debt not owed (42%)
- 943 Disclosure verification of debt (28%)
- 417 Communication tactics (12%)
- 252 False statements or representation (7%)
- 200 Improper contact or sharing of info (6%)
- 151 Taking/threatening an illegal action (4%)
The top five subissues were:
- 816 Debt is not mine (24%)
- 708 Not given enough info to verify debt (21%)
- 401 Debt was paid (12%)
- 276 Frequent or repeated calls (8%)
- 207 Attempted to collect wrong amount (6%)
The top states complaints were filed from are:
- 479 Complaints: CA
- 398 Complaints: TX
- 334 Complaints: FL
- 206 Complaints: GA
- 169 Complaints: IL
- 160 Complaints: NY
- 107 Complaints: OH
- 94 Complaints: NJ
- 90 Complaints: PA
- 88 Complaints: MD
The status of the month’s complaints are as follows:
- 3410 (100%)
This includes 3196 (94%) timely responses to complaints, and 214 (6%) untimely responses.
Of the company responses, consumers accepted 0 (%) of them, disputed 485 (14%) of them, and 2925 (86%) were N\A.
The top five days for complaints were:
- 177 Complaints: Tue, 01/24/2017
- 172 Complaints: Thu, 01/26/2017
- 167 Complaints: Tue, 01/31/2017
- 150 Complaints: Wed, 01/11/2017
- 150 Complaints: Thu, 01/19/2017