Quick analysis: 3rd Quarter Results, FDCPA Ekes One Out
The 3rd quarter has officially wrapped, and for the most part the years’ trends have solidified. CFPB complaints and FDCPA/TCPA lawsuits are down by significant margins while FCRA lawsuits are up.
Not statistically important… but like a sprout pushing through the crack in a sidewalk, FDCPA litigation in September did manage to eke out a small victory over the August number, beating it by three filings for the month. With FDCPA litigation taking a bit of a beating over the last few years, I thought this was a moment worth sharing.
In other news, putative class actions were typical last month with 17.1% of FDCPA, 33% of TCPA and 3% of FCRA lawsuits filed that way.
About 35% 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 more consumers (35) than anyone else last month. New York attorney Craig B. Sanders is still at the top of the list YTD with 330 consumers represented.
| Current Month: | Previous Month: | Previous Year: |
Year to Date: | Year to Date Comp: |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 01, 2019 Sep 30, 2019 |
Aug 01, 2019 Aug 31, 2019 |
Sep 01, 2018 Sep 30, 2018 |
Jan 01, 2019 Sep 30, 2019 |
Jan 01, 2018 Sep 30, 2018 |
|||||
| CFPB | 3995 | 4280 | -6.7% | 3719 | 7.4% | 35931 | 40985 | -12.3% | |
| FDCPA | 637 | 634 | 0.5% | 639 | -0.3% | 6365 | 7022 | -9.4% | |
| FCRA | 430 | 413 | 4.1% | 339 | 26.8% | 3727 | 3477 | 7.2% | |
| TCPA | 221 | 246 | -10.2% | 248 | -10.9% | 2521 | 2955 | -14.7% | |
Complaint Statistics:
3995 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 1135 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Sep 01, 2019 to Sep 30, 2019.
- 3995 CFPB Complaints
- 637 FDCPA, 109 Class Action (17.1%)
- 221 TCPA, 73 Class Action (33.0%)
- 430 FCRA, 13 Class Action (3.0%)
Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):
- Of those cases, there were about 1135 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
- Of those plaintiffs, about 395, or (35%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
- Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 2821 lawsuits since 2001
- Actions were filed in 155 different US District Court branches.
- About 729 different collection firms and creditors were sued.
The top courts where lawsuits were filed:
- 59 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
- 54 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
- 48 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
- 38 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
- 38 Lawsuits: Indiana Southern District Court – Indianapolis
- 36 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
- 35 Lawsuits: Florida Southern District Court – Fort Lauderdale
- 29 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
- 25 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court – San Diego
- 23 Lawsuits: New York Southern District Court – Foley Square
The most active consumer attorneys were:
- Representing 35 Consumers: SERGEI LEMBERG
- Representing 29 Consumers: PAUL JONATHAN SIEG
- Representing 29 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
- Representing 29 Consumers: TAXIARCHIS HATZIDIMITRIADIS
- Representing 25 Consumers: JONATHAN LAWRENCE HILTON
- Representing 24 Consumers: DAVID SCOTT KLAIN
- Representing 23 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
- Representing 23 Consumers: JONATHAN FORREST RABURN
- Representing 23 Consumers: DENNIS DEAN MCCARTY
- Representing 22 Consumers: EDWARD Y KROUB
Statistics Year to Date:
10735 total lawsuits for 2019, including:
- 6365 FDCPA
- 3727 FCRA
- 2521 TCPA
Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2019: 10256 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)
The most active consumer attorneys of the year:
- Representing 330 Consumers: CRAIG B SANDERS
- Representing 299 Consumers: ANTRANIG N GARIBIAN
- Representing 266 Consumers: SERGEI LEMBERG
- Representing 260 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
- Representing 236 Consumers: TAXIARCHIS HATZIDIMITRIADIS
- Representing 226 Consumers: JONATHAN FORREST RABURN
- Representing 191 Consumers: DAVID W HEMMINGER
- Representing 187 Consumers: DAVID SCOTT KLAIN
- Representing 186 Consumers: DAVID M BARSHAY
- Representing 172 Consumers: MITCHELL L PASHKIN
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CFPB Complaint Statistics:
There were 3995 complaints filed against debt collectors from Sep 01, 2019 to Sep 30, 2019.
Total number of debt collectors complained about: 762
The types of debt behind the complaints were:
- 1087 Other debt (27%)
- 984 Credit card debt (25%)
- 869 I do not know (22%)
- 647 Medical debt (16%)
- 136 Auto debt (3%)
- 104 Payday loan debt (3%)
- 70 Federal student loan debt (2%)
- 64 Mortgage debt (2%)
- 34 Private student loan debt (1%)
Here is a breakdown of complaints:
- 1978 Attempts to collect debt not owed (50%)
- 790 Written notification about debt (20%)
- 409 Communication tactics (10%)
- 384 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (10%)
- 342 False statements or representation (9%)
- 92 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (2%)
The top five subissues were:
- 854 Debt is not yours (21%)
- 668 Debt was result of identity theft (17%)
- 546 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (14%)
- 366 Debt was paid (9%)
- 276 Attempted to collect wrong amount (7%)
The top states complaints were filed from are:
- 536 Complaints: TX
- 422 Complaints: FL
- 398 Complaints: CA
- 225 Complaints: GA
- 224 Complaints: NY
- 191 Complaints: SC
- 132 Complaints: PA
- 118 Complaints: NC
- 115 Complaints: OH
- 114 Complaints: NJ
The status of the month’s complaints are as follows:
- 3137 Closed with explanation (79%)
- 394 Closed with non-monetary relief (10%)
- 364 In progress (9%)
- 76 Untimely response (2%)
- 24 Closed with monetary relief (1%)
This includes 3863 (97%) timely responses to complaints, and 132 (3%) untimely responses.