Quick analysis: FDCPA cases (+4.1%) are the only consumer complaint category up in May. Take a wild guess as to why that might be. Spoiler alert… it starts with “Hun” and ends with “Stein”. As of today, there are at least 225 filings since late April that could be considered copycat Hunstein cases.
TCPA cases (-19.6%) and FCRA cases (-5.2%) are both down in May, along with CFPB complaints about debt collectors (-7.4%), though those are still way up for the year (+34.1%).
YTD TCPA is down (-56%) but that number is complicated by an anomalous early 2020 surge in plaintiffs, making 2021 numbers seem lower in contrast than they should be. YTD FCRA is up a bit (+2.7%), keeping FCRA as the only consistently growing statute year over year.
In other news, putative class actions represented 30.5% of FDCPA, 55% of TCPA and 4.7% of FCRA lawsuits filed last month.
About 35% of all plaintiffs who filed suit last month had filed at least once before.
And finally, St. Louis, Missouri attorney Michael T. George took the top spot for representing the most consumers – 37 – for the month of May. Georgia attorney Matthew Thomas Berry kept the title of the most active consumer attorney of the year with 102 consumers represented so far in 2021
| Current Month: | Previous Month: | Previous Year: |
Year to Date: | Year to Date Comp: |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 01, 2021 May 31, 2021 |
Apr 01, 2021 Apr 30, 2021 |
May 01, 2020 May 31, 2020 |
Jan 01, 2021 May 31, 2021 |
Jan 01, 2020 May 31, 2020 |
|||||
| CFPB | 5263 | 5685 | -7.4% | 4423 | 19.0% | 28005 | 20883 | 34.1% | |
| FDCPA | 609 | 585 | 4.1% | 524 | 16.2% | 2718 | 3021 | -10.0% | |
| FCRA | 423 | 446 | -5.2% | 425 | -0.5% | 2257 | 2198 | 2.7% | |
| TCPA | 111 | 138 | -19.6% | 208 | -46.6% | 847 | 1927 | -56.0% | |
Complaint Statistics:
5263 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 1041 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from May 01, 2021 to May 31, 2021.
- 5263 CFPB Complaints
- 609 FDCPA, 186 Class Action (30.5%)
- 111 TCPA, 61 Class Action (55.0%)
- 423 FCRA, 20 Class Action (4.7%)
Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):
- Of those cases, there were about 1041 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
- Of those plaintiffs, about 360, or (35%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
- Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 1991 lawsuits since 2001
- Actions were filed in 150 different US District Court branches.
- About 636 different collection firms and creditors were sued.
The top courts where lawsuits were filed:
- 64 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
- 59 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
- 50 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
- 44 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
- 43 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
- 34 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Central Islip
- 29 Lawsuits: Florida Southern District Court – Fort Lauderdale
- 28 Lawsuits: Nevada District Court – Las Vegas
- 26 Lawsuits: New Jersey District Court – Newark
- 25 Lawsuits: New Jersey District Court – Trenton
The most active consumer attorneys were:
- Representing 37 Consumers: MICHAEL T GEORGE
- Representing 26 Consumers: YOSEF STEINMETZ
- Representing 25 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
- Representing 25 Consumers: DAVID M BARSHAY
- Representing 21 Consumers: TAMIR SALAND
- Representing 17 Consumers: YITZCHAK ZELMAN
- Representing 17 Consumers: EDWARD Y KROUB
- Representing 16 Consumers: ALEJANDRO EMMANUEL FIGUEROA
- Representing 14 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
- Representing 14 Consumers: CRAIG CARLEY MARCHIANDO
Statistics Year to Date:
5265 total lawsuits for 2021, including:
- 2718 FDCPA
- 2257 FCRA
- 847 TCPA
Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2021: 5092 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)
The most active consumer attorneys of the year:
- Representing 102 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
- Representing 93 Consumers: DAVID M BARSHAY
- Representing 83 Consumers: TODD M FRIEDMAN
- Representing 79 Consumers: YOSEF STEINMETZ
- Representing 79 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
- Representing 77 Consumers: AMY LYNN BENNECOFF GINSBURG
- Representing 70 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
- Representing 69 Consumers: ADRIAN ROBERT BACON
- Representing 65 Consumers: DAVID W HEMMINGER
- Representing 62 Consumers: ALEJANDRO EMMANUEL FIGUEROA
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CFPB Complaint Statistics:
There were 5263 complaints filed against debt collectors from May 01, 2021 to May 31, 2021.
Total number of debt collectors complained about: 801
The types of debt behind the complaints were:
- 1491 Credit card debt (28%)
- 1213 Other debt (23%)
- 1206 I do not know (23%)
- 902 Medical debt (17%)
- 217 Auto debt (4%)
- 116 Payday loan debt (2%)
- 49 Mortgage debt (1%)
- 35 Private student loan debt (1%)
- 34 Federal student loan debt (1%)
Here is a breakdown of complaints:
- 2601 Attempts to collect debt not owed (49%)
- 1520 Written notification about debt (29%)
- 379 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (7%)
- 379 False statements or representation (7%)
- 319 Communication tactics (6%)
- 65 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (1%)
The top five subissues were:
- 1425 Debt is not yours (27%)
- 1145 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (22%)
- 687 Debt was result of identity theft (13%)
- 421 Debt was paid (8%)
- 323 Didnt receive notice of right to dispute (6%)
The top states complaints were filed from are:
- 660 Complaints: TX
- 583 Complaints: CA
- 576 Complaints: FL
- 420 Complaints: GA
- 272 Complaints: NY
- 193 Complaints: NC
- 191 Complaints: IL
- 176 Complaints: PA
- 174 Complaints: MA
- 154 Complaints: VA
The status of the month’s complaints are as follows:
- 4132 Closed with explanation (79%)
- 584 In progress (11%)
- 435 Closed with non-monetary relief (8%)
- 84 Untimely response (2%)
- 28 Closed with monetary relief (1%)
This includes 5103 (97%) timely responses to complaints, and 160 (3%) untimely responses.