Quick analysis: Last Month Was So Last Month.
In August, all of the rows were green, meaning CFPB complaints, TCPA, FDCPA and FCRA lawsuits were all up over July.
However, in September all of the rows are red, meaning, well you know. Everything went boom in comparison to August. And all by double-digits, except for FCRA which “only” dropped by -6.4%. CFPB complaints fell -11.1%, FDCPA fell -18% and TCPA was down -20.2% for the month.
Most are down YTD as well, again except for FCRA which is still up YTD by +5.6%. CFPB complaints are down YTD -16.6%, FDCPA is down -27.3% and TCPA is down -16.7% for the year.
In other news, putative class actions represented 9.2% of FDCPA, 47% of TCPA and 1.9% of FCRA lawsuits filed last month. About 46% of all plaintiffs who filed suit last month had filed at least once before. And finally, Minnesota attorney Catrina Eom Smith makes her debut at the top of this list for representing the most consumers in August (38) while Florida attorney Jibrael S Hindi has still represented the most consumers for the year so far (229).
| Current Month: | Previous Month: | Previous Year: |
Year to Date: | Year to Date Comp: |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 01, 2022 Sep 30, 2022 |
Aug 01, 2022 Aug 31, 2022 |
Sep 01, 2021 Sep 30, 2021 |
Jan 01, 2022 Sep 30, 2022 |
Jan 01, 2021 Sep 30, 2021 |
|||||
| CFPB | 4479 | 5040 | -11.1% | 6022 | -25.6% | 46210 | 55400 | -16.6% | |
| FDCPA | 305 | 372 | -18.0% | 533 | -42.8% | 3664 | 5043 | -27.3% | |
| FCRA | 465 | 497 | -6.4% | 392 | 18.6% | 4295 | 4066 | 5.6% | |
| TCPA | 134 | 168 | -20.2% | 112 | 19.6% | 1162 | 1395 | -16.7% | |
Complaint Statistics:
4479 consumers filed CFPB complaints, and about 804 consumers filed lawsuits under consumer statutes from Sep 01, 2022 to Sep 30, 2022.
- 4479 CFPB Complaints
- 305 FDCPA, 28 Class Action (9.2%)
- 134 TCPA, 63 Class Action (47.0%)
- 465 FCRA, 9 Class Action (1.9%)
Litigation Summary (scroll down for CFPB data):
- Of those cases, there were about 804 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
- Of those plaintiffs, about 368, or (46%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
- Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 2257 lawsuits since 2001
- Actions were filed in 145 different US District Court branches.
- About 594 different collection firms and creditors were sued.
The top courts where lawsuits were filed:
- 69 Lawsuits: Minnesota District Court – Dmn
- 53 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
- 39 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
- 37 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
- 30 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Tampa
- 27 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
- 21 Lawsuits: Florida Southern District Court – Fort Lauderdale
- 21 Lawsuits: Nevada District Court – Las Vegas
- 20 Lawsuits: Florida Southern District Court – Miami
- 19 Lawsuits: Texas Southern District Court – Houston
The most active consumer attorneys were:
- Representing 38 Consumers: CATRINA EOM SMITH
- Representing 16 Consumers: TIMOTHY S ANDERSON
- Representing 13 Consumers: MICHAEL FREDERICK CARDOZA
- Representing 13 Consumers: SYED HASEEB HUSSAIN
- Representing 13 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
- Representing 12 Consumers: GEORGE HAINES
- Representing 12 Consumers: DAVID J PHILIPPS
- Representing 11 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
- Representing 11 Consumers: GERARDO AVALOS
- Representing 11 Consumers: YITZCHAK ZELMAN
Statistics Year to Date:
8372 total lawsuits for 2022, including:
- 3664 FDCPA
- 4295 FCRA
- 1162 TCPA
Number of Unique Plaintiffs for 2022: 7488 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)
The most active consumer attorneys of the year:
- Representing 197 Consumers: THOMAS JOHN PATTI
- Representing 190 Consumers: MATTHEW THOMAS BERRY
- Representing 140 Consumers: JIBRAEL JARALLAH SAID HINDI
- Representing 135 Consumers: CRAIG CARLEY MARCHIANDO
- Representing 129 Consumers: LEONARD ANTHONY BENNETT
- Representing 119 Consumers: MICHAEL FREDERICK CARDOZA
- Representing 117 Consumers: DREW DAVID SARRETT
- Representing 115 Consumers: CHRISTOPHER NEIL ARMOR
- Representing 112 Consumers: SYED HASEEB HUSSAIN
- Representing 98 Consumers: NATHAN CHARLES VOLHEIM
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CFPB Complaint Statistics:
There were 4479 complaints filed against debt collectors from Sep 01, 2022 to Sep 30, 2022.
Total number of debt collectors complained about: 754
The types of debt behind the complaints were:
- 1343 Other debt (30%)
- 1058 Credit card debt (24%)
- 896 I do not know (20%)
- 701 Medical debt (16%)
- 268 Auto debt (6%)
- 79 Payday loan debt (2%)
- 78 Mortgage debt (2%)
- 30 Federal student loan debt (1%)
- 26 Private student loan debt (1%)
Here is a breakdown of complaints:
- 2345 Attempts to collect debt not owed (52%)
- 826 Written notification about debt (18%)
- 453 Took or threatened to take negative or legal action (10%)
- 444 False statements or representation (10%)
- 349 Communication tactics (8%)
- 62 Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly (1%)
The top five subissues were:
- 1142 Debt is not yours (25%)
- 724 Debt was result of identity theft (16%)
- 543 Didnt receive enough information to verify debt (12%)
- 409 Debt was paid (9%)
- 366 Attempted to collect wrong amount (8%)
The top states complaints were filed from are:
- 574 Complaints: TX
- 531 Complaints: FL
- 471 Complaints: CA
- 364 Complaints: GA
- 205 Complaints: NY
- 175 Complaints: NC
- 173 Complaints: IL
- 146 Complaints: PA
- 137 Complaints: NJ
- 121 Complaints: VA
The status of the month’s complaints are as follows:
- 3374 Closed with explanation (75%)
- 644 In progress (14%)
- 388 Closed with non-monetary relief (9%)
- 54 Untimely response (1%)
- 19 Closed with monetary relief (0%)
This includes 4366 (97%) timely responses to complaints, and 113 (3%) untimely responses.