WebRecon Stats for Jan 2021: Lawsuit complaints 🔻 down from 2020, ↕️ mixed from previous month…

Home >> WebRecon Stats for Jan 2021: Lawsuit complaints 🔻 down from 2020, ↕️ mixed from previous month…

Quick analysis: 2021 Starts Down Compared To 2020

It’s something, right? All three of the major statutes are down in January from where they were a year ago at this time: FDCPA (-24.3%), FCRA (-4.4%) and TCPA (-55.6%). Of course, FCRA and TCPA are both up over December 2020 (+3.1% and +23.2% respectively) and FDCPA is only down by .2%, so it is not terribly newsworthy.

Of course, this can be viewed as standard fluctuation and doesn’t really offer much in the way of predictive value for next month or the rest of 2021 for that matter, but it is still a nice headline and we’re sticking with it.

Of the three, TCPA had by far the most interesting January. Down -55.6% from a year ago but up +23.2% from the previous month, TCPA wins the award for creating the most drama in an otherwise blah kind of month.

On the CFPB complaint front, complaints rose +3% from the previous month and are up a not insignificant +27.3% from last January. A sign of the 2021 to come? We’ll have to wait and see.

In other news, putative class actions represented 17.5% of FDCPA, 54% of TCPA and 4.6% of FCRA lawsuits filed last month.

About 35% of all plaintiffs who filed suit last month had filed at least once before.

And finally, for the second January in a row, Los Angeles attorney Todd M. Friedman represented more consumers than anyone else in January (52) which also makes him the most active consumer attorney of the year (so far…).

Current Month: Previous Month: Previous
Year:
Year to Date: Year to
Date Comp:
Jan 01, 2021
Jan 31, 2021
Dec 01, 2020
Dec 31, 2020
Jan 01, 2020
Jan 31, 2020
Jan 01, 2021
Jan 31, 2021
Jan 01, 2020
Jan 31, 2020
CFPB  4796 4657 3.0% 3766 27.3% 4796 3766 27.3%
FDCPA  492 493 -0.2% 650 -24.3% 492 650 -24.3%
FCRA  461 447 3.1% 482 -4.4% 461 482 -4.4%
TCPA  239 194 23.2% 538 -55.6% 239 538 -55.6%

 

Complaint Statistics:

4796 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 1080 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Jan 01, 2021 to Jan 31, 2021.

  • 4796 CFPB Complaints
  • 492 FDCPA, 86 Class Action (17.5%)
  • 239 TCPA, 129 Class Action (54.0%)
  • 461 FCRA, 21 Class Action (4.6%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

  • Of those cases, there were about 1080 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
  • Of those plaintiffs, about 378, or (35%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
  • Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 3827 lawsuits since 2001
  • Actions were filed in 162 different US District Court branches.
  • About 735 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

  • 73 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
  • 68 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
  • 47 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
  • 43 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
  • 43 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
  • 28 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
  • 27 Lawsuits: Minnesota District Court – Dmn
  • 26 Lawsuits: New York Southern District Court – Foley Square
  • 23 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court – San Diego
  • 22 Lawsuits: Indiana Southern District Court – Indianapolis

The most active consumer attorneys were:

  • Representing 52 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
  • Representing 44 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
  • Representing 28 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
  • Representing 22 Consumers: MATTHEW B WEISBERG
  • Representing 22 Consumers: GARY SCHAFKOPF
  • Representing 22 Consumers: ELLIOT ALBERT ROSENBERGER
  • Representing 22 Consumers: BLAKE MAKOA KAWABATA
  • Representing 19 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
  • Representing 18 Consumers: ALEJANDRO EMMANUEL FIGUEROA
  • Representing 18 Consumers: JONATHAN MARK CADER

Statistics Year to Date:
1068 total lawsuits for 2021, including:

  • 492 FDCPA
  • 461 FCRA
  • 239 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2021: 1080 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

  • Representing 52 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
  • Representing 44 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
  • Representing 28 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
  • Representing 22 Consumers: MATTHEW B WEISBERG
  • Representing 22 Consumers: GARY SCHAFKOPF
  • Representing 22 Consumers: ELLIOT ALBERT ROSENBERGER
  • Representing 22 Consumers: BLAKE MAKOA KAWABATA
  • Representing 19 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
  • Representing 18 Consumers: ALEJANDRO EMMANUEL FIGUEROA
  • Representing 18 Consumers: JONATHAN MARK CADER

——————————————————————————————————-
CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 4796 complaints filed against debt collectors from Jan 01, 2021 to Jan 31, 2021.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 783

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

  • 1338 Credit card debt (28%)
  • 1283 Other debt (27%)
  • 937 I do not know (20%)
  • 767 Medical debt (16%)
  • 221 Auto debt (5%)
  • 100 Payday loan debt (2%)
  • 77 Mortgage debt (2%)
  • 43 Private student loan debt (1%)
  • 30 Federal student loan debt (1%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

  • 2766 Attempts to collect debt not owed (58%)
  • 979 Written notification about debt (20%)
  • 347 False statements or representation (7%)
  • 335 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (7%)
  • 296 Communication tactics (6%)
  • 73 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (2%)

The top five subissues were:

  • 1438 Debt is not yours (30%)
  • 839 Debt was result of identity theft (17%)
  • 715 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (15%)
  • 429 Debt was paid (9%)
  • 282 Attempted to collect wrong amount (6%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

  • 703 Complaints: TX
  • 531 Complaints: FL
  • 441 Complaints: CA
  • 418 Complaints: GA
  • 306 Complaints: NY
  • 220 Complaints: MA
  • 163 Complaints: IL
  • 163 Complaints: PA
  • 122 Complaints: NJ
  • 118 Complaints: NC

The status of the month’s complaints are as follows:

  • 3840 Closed with explanation (80%)
  • 439 In progress (9%)
  • 405 Closed with non-monetary relief (8%)
  • 89 Untimely response (2%)
  • 23 Closed with monetary relief (0%)

This includes 4658 (97%) timely responses to complaints, and 138 (3%) untimely responses.