Quick analysis: November was a mixed bag…
On the one hand, FDCPA and FCRA litigation were both down from October, -5.2% and -8% respectively. And FDCPA litigation was also down 5.9% over the month of October 2018 *and* down -9% YTD. TCPA was down -6.3% over the month of Oct 2018 and down -15.3% YTD. All good news for businesses in the crosshairs.
On the other hand, TCPA litigation was up 8.5% over October, defying the years-long trend of slow downward movement. And FCRA was up 5.5% over the month of Oct 2018 and still up 8.4% YTD.
Next month, we’ll have our 2019 year in review stats newsletter!
In other news, putative class actions were typical last month with 19.9% of FDCPA, 19.9% of TCPA and 5.7% of FCRA lawsuits filed that way.
About 31% of all plaintiffs who filed suit last month had filed at least once before.
And finally, Connecticut attorney Sergei Lemberg reclaimed the top spot for consumer attorneys, representing way more consumers (96) than anyone else last month. New York attorney Craig B. Sanders is at the top of the list YTD with 417 consumers represented in 2019 so far.
| Current Month: | Previous Month: | Previous Year: |
Year to Date: | Year to Date Comp: |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 01, 2019 Nov 30, 2019 |
Oct 01, 2019 Oct 31, 2019 |
Nov 01, 2018 Nov 30, 2018 |
Jan 01, 2019 Nov 30, 2019 |
Jan 01, 2018 Nov 30, 2018 |
|||||
| CFPB | 3511 | 4059 | -13.5% | 3380 | 3.9% | 43526 | 48486 | -10.2% | |
| FDCPA | 639 | 674 | -5.2% | 679 | -5.9% | 7678 | 8439 | -9.0% | |
| FCRA | 401 | 436 | -8.0% | 380 | 5.5% | 4564 | 4211 | 8.4% | |
| TCPA | 267 | 246 | 8.5% | 285 | -6.3% | 3034 | 3581 | -15.3% | |
Complaint Statistics:
3511 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 1205 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Nov 01, 2019 to Nov 30, 2019.
- 3511 CFPB Complaints
- 639 FDCPA, 127 Class Action (19.9%)
- 267 TCPA, 53 Class Action (19.9%)
- 401 FCRA, 23 Class Action (5.7%)
Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):
- Of those cases, there were about 1205 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
- Of those plaintiffs, about 371, or (31%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
- Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 1828 lawsuits since 2001
- Actions were filed in 147 different US District Court branches.
- About 718 different collection firms and creditors were sued.
The top courts where lawsuits were filed:
- 75 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
- 59 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
- 51 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
- 38 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
- 31 Lawsuits: Florida Southern District Court – Fort Lauderdale
- 30 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
- 27 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Central Islip
- 27 Lawsuits: Nevada District Court – Las Vegas
- 27 Lawsuits: New Jersey District Court – Newark
- 26 Lawsuits: Texas Eastern District Court – Sherman
The most active consumer attorneys were:
- Representing 96 Consumers: SERGEI LEMBERG
- Representing 38 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
- Representing 36 Consumers: EDWARD Y KROUB
- Representing 34 Consumers: DAVID M BARSHAY
- Representing 30 Consumers: THOMAS JOHN PATTI
- Representing 29 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
- Representing 27 Consumers: JIBRAEL JARALLAH SAID HINDI
- Representing 23 Consumers: DAVID SCOTT KLAIN
- Representing 22 Consumers: PAUL AARON HERMAN
- Representing 22 Consumers: JOEL ADRIAN BROWN
Statistics Year to Date:
13035 total lawsuits for 2019, including:
- 7678 FDCPA
- 4564 FCRA
- 3034 TCPA
Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2019: 12387 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)
The most active consumer attorneys of the year:
- Representing 417 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
- Representing 382 Consumers: SERGEI LEMBERG
- Representing 331 Consumers: ANTRANIG N GARIBIAN
- Representing 301 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
- Representing 272 Consumers: TAXIARCHIS HATZIDIMITRIADIS
- Representing 254 Consumers: DAVID M BARSHAY
- Representing 250 Consumers: JONATHAN FORREST RABURN
- Representing 241 Consumers: DAVID SCOTT KLAIN
- Representing 223 Consumers: DAVID W HEMMINGER
- Representing 207 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
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CFPB Complaint Statistics:
There were 3511 complaints filed against debt collectors from Nov 01, 2019 to Nov 30, 2019.
Total number of debt collectors complained about: 764
The types of debt behind the complaints were:
- 885 Other debt (25%)
- 822 Credit card debt (23%)
- 798 I do not know (23%)
- 589 Medical debt (17%)
- 131 Auto debt (4%)
- 97 Payday loan debt (3%)
- 76 Federal student loan debt (2%)
- 73 Mortgage debt (2%)
- 40 Private student loan debt (1%)
Here is a breakdown of complaints:
- 1876 Attempts to collect debt not owed (53%)
- 671 Written notification about debt (19%)
- 322 Communication tactics (9%)
- 294 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (8%)
- 259 False statements or representation (7%)
- 89 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (3%)
The top five subissues were:
- 864 Debt is not yours (25%)
- 624 Debt was result of identity theft (18%)
- 447 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (13%)
- 330 Debt was paid (9%)
- 207 Attempted to collect wrong amount (6%)
The top states complaints were filed from are:
- 388 Complaints: FL
- 365 Complaints: TX
- 359 Complaints: CA
- 302 Complaints: GA
- 202 Complaints: NY
- 149 Complaints: SC
- 110 Complaints: NC
- 99 Complaints: IL
- 96 Complaints: PA
- 92 Complaints: NJ
The status of the month’s complaints are as follows:
- 2774 Closed with explanation (79%)
- 325 In progress (9%)
- 285 Closed with non-monetary relief (8%)
- 108 Untimely response (3%)
- 19 Closed with monetary relief (1%)
This includes 3359 (96%) timely responses to complaints, and 152 (4%) untimely responses.