FDCPA Lawsuits Increase in Last Half of May; Still Down 6% for Year

The number of lawsuits filed against accounts receivable management firms claiming violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) increased in the second half of May after a sharp decrease in the first 15 days if the month.

From May 16 to May 31, FDCPA lawsuits filed by consumers increased 21.4 percent from the previous 15-day period, but were down more than 18 percent compared to the same period in 2011.

Even though FDCPA litigation rebounded from last period, the suit totals continue an overall decline from 2011′s record numbers, slipping to 6.4 percent below the level seen at the same time last year.

“It is significant to note that last year in the same period there was a single lawsuit with 100 plaintiffs alleging both FDCPA and TCPA claims,” said WebRecon CEO Jack Gordon. “That one suit’s spike in the 2011 numbers accounts for most of the year-over-year decline.”

“TCPA and FCRA suits are both continuing to show strong growth over last year, even with the above-mentioned 100-plaintiff case skewing last year’s TCPA totals,” added Gordon. “Both statutes are clearly on track to significantly surpass last year’s totals.”

FDCPA and Other Consumer Lawsuit Statistics, May 16-31, 2012

Full Statistics

There were about 605 lawsuits filed under consumer statutes in the second half of May 2012. Here is an approximate breakdown:

538 FDCPA
119 FCRA
40 TCPA
83 TILA

Summary:

Of those cases, there were about 702 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
Of those plaintiffs, about 230, or 33%, had sued under consumer statutes before.
Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 1346 lawsuits since 2001
Actions were filed in 123 different US District Court branches.
About 720 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

41 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
39 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
36 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
31 Lawsuits: Colorado District Court – Denver
24 Lawsuits: California Northern District Court – San Francisco
18 Lawsuits: Florida Southern District Court – Fort Lauderdale
16 Lawsuits: Minnesota District Court – Dmn
16 Lawsuits: Florida Middle District Court – Orlando
15 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court – San Diego
15 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia

The most active consumer attorneys were:

Representing 53 Consumers: Robin R Horner
Representing 23 Consumers: Arshak Bartoumian
Representing 21 Consumers: Craig T Kimmel
Representing 17 Consumers: G Thomas Martin Iii
Representing 16 Consumers: David M Larson
Representing 14 Consumers: Samuel A Ehrenfeld
Representing 13 Consumers: Gary D Nitzkin
Representing 13 Consumers: Adam J Fishbein
Representing 12 Consumers: Donald A Yarbrough
Representing 12 Consumers: Hashim Rahman

Statistics Year to Date

5291 total lawsuits for 2012, including:

4640 FDCPA
977 FCRA
423 TCPA
402 TILA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs: 5423 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

Representing 139 Consumers: David M Larson
Representing 136 Consumers: Sergei Lemberg
Representing 133 Consumers: Craig T Kimmel
Representing 89 Consumers: David J Philipps
Representing 82 Consumers: Dennis R Kurz

WebRecon LLC has transformed into the Bureau of Litigant Data, and as a result is now tracking even more useful data, including data on non-filed litigation demand attempts. For more information on our consumer litigant batching, monitoring and searching service, please visit www.webrecon.com or call (616) 682-5327.

Related Content