Quick analysis: Litigation for June 2019 followed a now-familiar path, with FDCPA and TCPA dipping significantly down from the previous month (-29.2% and -26.4% respectively) while FCRA increased +8.4%. Year-to-date shows the same trends, but more moderated with FDCPA -7.5%, FCRA +2% and TCPA -12.7%.
CFPB complaints are also showing a dip, down -2.5% from the previous month and -18.1 YTD.
In other news, putative class actions were a little high last month with 19% of FDCPA, 32.8% of TCPA and 4.5% of FCRA lawsuits filed that way.
About 34% of all plaintiffs who filed suit last month had filed at least once before.
And finally, Connecticut attorney Sergei Lemberg continued his resurgence into the top spot, representing more consumers (45) than anyone else last month. New York attorney Craig B. Sanders is still at the top of the list YTD with 225 consumers represented.
| Current Month: | Previous Month: | Previous Year: |
Year to Date: | Year to Date Comp: |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 01, 2019 Jun 30, 2019 |
May 01, 2019 May 31, 2019 |
Jun 01, 2018 Jun 30, 2018 |
Jan 01, 2019 Jun 30, 2019 |
Jan 01, 2018 Jun 30, 2018 |
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| CFPB | 4070 | 4176 | -2.5% | 4326 | -5.9% | 23578 | 28785 | -18.1% | |
| FDCPA | 605 | 854 | -29.2% | 778 | -22.2% | 4387 | 4742 | -7.5% | |
| FCRA | 441 | 407 | 8.4% | 375 | 17.6% | 2371 | 2324 | 2.0% | |
| TCPA | 256 | 348 | -26.4% | 326 | -21.5% | 1767 | 2025 | -12.7% | |
Complaint Statistics:
4070 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 1195 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Jun 01, 2019 to Jun 30, 2019.
- 4070 CFPB Complaints
- 605 FDCPA, 115 Class Action (19.0%)
- 256 TCPA, 84 Class Action (32.8%)
- 441 FCRA, 20 Class Action (4.5%)
Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):
- Of those cases, there were about 1195 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
- Of those plaintiffs, about 403, or (34%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
- Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 2867 lawsuits since 2001
- Actions were filed in 161 different US District Court branches.
- About 768 different collection firms and creditors were sued.
The top courts where lawsuits were filed:
- 71 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
- 46 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
- 44 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
- 44 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
- 37 Lawsuits: Delaware District Court – Wilmington
- 36 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
- 35 Lawsuits: Florida Southern District Court – Fort Lauderdale
- 33 Lawsuits: Indiana Southern District Court – Indianapolis
- 30 Lawsuits: Nevada District Court – Las Vegas
- 30 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
The most active consumer attorneys were:
- Representing 45 Consumers: SERGEI LEMBERG
- Representing 35 Consumers: ANTRANIG N GARIBIAN
- Representing 30 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
- Representing 29 Consumers: DAVID W HEMMINGER
- Representing 26 Consumers: TAXIARCHIS HATZIDIMITRIADIS
- Representing 26 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
- Representing 22 Consumers: DAVID M BARSHAY
- Representing 20 Consumers: DAVID H KRIEGER
- Representing 16 Consumers: JIBRAEL JARALLAH SAID HINDI
- Representing 15 Consumers: ANDREW JOHN SHAMIS
Statistics Year to Date:
7258 total lawsuits for 2019, including:
- 4387 FDCPA
- 2371 FCRA
- 1767 TCPA
Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2019: 7065 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)
The most active consumer attorneys of the year:
- Representing 225 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
- Representing 212 Consumers: ANTRANIG N GARIBIAN
- Representing 183 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
- Representing 181 Consumers: SERGEI LEMBERG
- Representing 161 Consumers: TAXIARCHIS HATZIDIMITRIADIS
- Representing 131 Consumers: DAVID W HEMMINGER
- Representing 128 Consumers: DAVID SCOTT KLAIN
- Representing 126 Consumers: MITCHELL L PASHKIN
- Representing 108 Consumers: DAVID M BARSHAY
- Representing 99 Consumers: DAVID H KRIEGER
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CFPB Complaint Statistics:
There were 4070 complaints filed against debt collectors from Jun 01, 2019 to Jun 30, 2019.
Total number of debt collectors complained about: 785
The types of debt behind the complaints were:
- 1073 Other debt (26%)
- 1014 Credit card debt (25%)
- 864 I do not know (21%)
- 656 Medical debt (16%)
- 143 Auto debt (4%)
- 114 Payday loan debt (3%)
- 86 Mortgage debt (2%)
- 64 Federal student loan debt (2%)
- 56 Private student loan debt (1%)
Here is a breakdown of complaints:
- 2038 Attempts to collect debt not owed (50%)
- 767 Written notification about debt (19%)
- 437 Communication tactics (11%)
- 375 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (9%)
- 337 False statements or representation (8%)
- 116 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (3%)
The top five subissues were:
- 969 Debt is not yours (24%)
- 613 Debt was result of identity theft (15%)
- 539 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (13%)
- 388 Debt was paid (10%)
- 271 Attempted to collect wrong amount (7%)
The top states complaints were filed from are:
- 592 Complaints: TX
- 465 Complaints: CA
- 443 Complaints: FL
- 279 Complaints: GA
- 172 Complaints: NY
- 147 Complaints: OH
- 130 Complaints: NJ
- 126 Complaints: AZ
- 121 Complaints: PA
- 118 Complaints: NC
The status of the month’s complaints are as follows:
- 3157 Closed with explanation (78%)
- 420 In progress (10%)
- 375 Closed with non-monetary relief (9%)
- 96 Untimely response (2%)
- 22 Closed with monetary relief (1%)
This includes 3901 (96%) timely responses to complaints, and 169 (4%) untimely responses.