WebRecon Stats for June 2017: Mostly Downward Movement, But Not Really…

Quick analysis: WebRecon Stats for June 2017: Mostly Downward Movement, But Not Really…

Quick analysis: After a very robust May, June tells a different story with CFPB complaints down 26.1%, FDCPA complaints down 7.8%, TCPA complaints down 11.3% and FCRA complaints up 2.4%.

But… CFPB complaints are still up 21.7% year-to-date (YTD), TCPA complaints are still up 3.8% YTD and FCRA complaints are up 6.2% YTD. Only FDCPA suits are down at 3% YTD.

“Moral of the story… there is very little comprehensible pattern to be discerned, beyond the fact that the overarching pattern seems to be pretty steady in spite of the monthly ups and downs” said WebRecon CEO Jack Gordon.

Here are some raw numbers for the first six months of 2017: 7865 unique consumer plaintiffs filed 5230 FDCPA, 2494 TCPA and 2115 FCRA lawsuit actions against debt collectors and creditors.

Putative class actions were relatively stable last month with 19.1% of FDCPA, 12.0% of TCPA and 11.9% of FCRA lawsuits filed that way.

About 32% of all plaintiffs who filed suit last month had filed at least once before.

And finally, Florida attorney Christopher W Boss took the crown for representing the most consumer plaintiffs (74) in June (all in ONE lawsuit!), and New York attorney Craig B Sanders keeps the crown for representing the most consumers year-to-date (314).

Comparisons:	Current Period:	Previous Period:		Previous Year Comp:
	Jun 01, 2017 Jun 30, 2017	May 01, 2017 May 31, 2017		Jun 01, 2016 Jun 30, 2016
CFPB Complaints	3033	4102	-26.1%	3281	-7.6%
FDCPA lawsuits	894	970	-7.8%	958	-6.7%
FCRA lawsuits	386	377	2.4%	415	-7.0%
TCPA lawsuits	449	506	-11.3%	389	15.4%
YTD CFPB Complaints	23722			19488	21.7%
YTD FDCPA lawsuits	5257			5419	-3.0%
YTD FCRA lawsuits	2117			1993	6.2%
YTD TCPA lawsuits	2515			2422	3.8%

 

Complaint Statistics:

3033 consumers filed CFPB complaints against debt collectors and about 1477 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Jun 01, 2017 to Jun 30, 2017. Here is an approximate breakdown:

• 3033 CFPB Complaints
• 894 FDCPA, 171 Class Action (19.1%)
• 449 TCPA, 54 Class Action (12.0%)
• 386 FCRA, 46 Class Action (11.9%)

Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):

• Of those cases, there were about 1477 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 472, or (32%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 2104 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 178 different US District Court branches.
• About 826 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 118 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 80 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Central Islip
• 66 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 63 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 53 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
• 42 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
• 42 Lawsuits: Nevada District Court – Las Vegas
• 41 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court – San Diego
• 27 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 25 Lawsuits: Florida Southern District Court – Fort Lauderdale

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 74 Consumers: CHRISTOPHER W BOSS
• Representing 57 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
• Representing 47 Consumers: AHMAD TAYSEER SULAIMAN
• Representing 46 Consumers: MOHAMMED OMAR BADWAN
• Representing 42 Consumers: WILLIAM CRAFT HUGHES
• Representing 32 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 30 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 29 Consumers: TAXIARCHIS HATZIDIMITRIADIS
• Representing 25 Consumers: MICHAEL JACOB WOOD
• Representing 25 Consumers: CELETHA CHATMAN

Statistics Year to Date:
8139 total lawsuits for 2017, including:

• 5257 FDCPA
• 2117 FCRA
• 2515 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2017: 7893 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 314 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
• Representing 248 Consumers: AHMAD TAYSEER SULAIMAN
• Representing 213 Consumers: MOHAMMED OMAR BADWAN
• Representing 203 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
• Representing 201 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
• Representing 195 Consumers: DAVID H KRIEGER
• Representing 190 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
• Representing 156 Consumers: TAXIARCHIS HATZIDIMITRIADIS
• Representing 136 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
• Representing 124 Consumers: PAUL JONATHAN SIEG

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CFPB Complaint Statistics:

There were 3033 complaints filed against debt collectors from Jun 01, 2017 to Jun 30, 2017.

Total number of debt collectors complained about: 739

The types of debt behind the complaints were:

• 919 Other debt (30%)
• 584 Credit card debt (19%)
• 568 Medical debt (19%)
• 557 I do not know (18%)
• 108 Mortgage debt (4%)
• 107 Payday loan debt (4%)
• 85 Auto debt (3%)
• 60 Private student loan debt (2%)
• 45 Federal student loan debt (1%)

Here is a breakdown of complaints:

• 1305 Attempts to collect debt not owed (43%)
• 708 Written notification about debt (23%)
• 348 Communication tactics (11%)
• 325 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (11%)
• 271 False statements or representation (9%)
• 76 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (3%)

The top five subissues were:

• 680 Debt is not yours (22%)
• 505 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (17%)
• 364 Debt was paid (12%)
• 224 Attempted to collect wrong amount (7%)
• 171 Debt was result of identity theft (6%)

The top states complaints were filed from are:

• 389 Complaints: TX
• 352 Complaints: CA
• 307 Complaints: FL
• 217 Complaints: GA
• 159 Complaints: NY
• 145 Complaints:
• 109 Complaints: NJ
• 92 Complaints: IL
• 87 Complaints: PA
• 84 Complaints: NC

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

• 3033 (100%)

This includes 2884 (95%) timely responses to complaints, and 149 (5%) untimely responses.

Of the company responses, consumers accepted (%) of them, disputed (%) of them, and (%) were N\A.

The top five days for complaints were:

• 181 Complaints: Tue, 06/06/2017
• 180 Complaints: Fri, 06/09/2017
• 162 Complaints: Tue, 06/20/2017
• 159 Complaints: Thu, 06/01/2017
• 148 Complaints: Wed, 06/14/2017