FDCPA Suits Jump in Second Half of January

Consumer lawsuits filed against ARM companies in the second half of January 2012 roared back from a slow start to the year, with strong increases in litigation for three of the four main statutes tracked by WebRecon: The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA).

The following statistics are provided courtesy of WebRecon LLC.

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

FDCPA lawsuits jumped to 491 from 377 in the first half of January (and up from 411 in the same period 2011). FCRA lawsuits jumped to 102 from 66 in the first half of January (and up from 47 in the same period 2011). TCPA lawsuits jumped to 46 from 18 in the first half of January (and up from 29 in the same period 2011). TILA was the exception, dropping slightly to 38 from 48 in the first half of January (but still up from 21 in the same period 2011).

Nineteen percent of plaintiffs this period were repeat litigants, and the most active attorney was Craig Thor Kimmel from Pennsylvania firm Kimmel & Silverman, representing 19 consumers.

There were about 571 lawsuits filed under consumer statutes in the second half of January 2012. Here is an approximate breakdown:

• 491 FDCPA
• 102 FCRA
• 46 TCPA
• 38 TILA

Summary:

• Of those cases, there were about 601 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 205, or 19%, had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 1123 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 111 different US District Court branches.
• About 609 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 53 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
• 42 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 34 Lawsuits: Minnesota District Court – Dmn
• 32 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 29 Lawsuits: Colorado District Court – Denver
• 19 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 19 Lawsuits: Michigan Eastern District Court – Detroit
• 14 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 14 Lawsuits: Tennessee Eastern District Court – Greeneville
• 13 Lawsuits: New Jersey District Court – Newark

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 19 Consumers: Craig T Kimmel
• Representing 17 Consumers: Sergei Lemberg
• Representing 14 Consumers: Mark L Vavreck
• Representing 13 Consumers: Adam J Fishbein
• Representing 13 Consumers: George T Martin III
• Representing 12 Consumers: David M Larson
• Representing 10 Consumers: Gary D Nitzkin
• Representing 10 Consumers: James M Feagle
• Representing 9 Consumers: Alan C Lee
• Representing 9 Consumers: Brent F Vullings

Statistics Year to Date

976 total lawsuits for 2012, including:

• 873 FDCPA
• 171 FCRA
• 65 TCPA
• 86 TILA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs: 1054 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 33 Consumers: Sergei Lemberg
• Representing 31 Consumers: Craig T Kimmel
• Representing 18 Consumers: David M Larson
• Representing 16 Consumers: Joseph M Meinhardt
• Representing 16 Consumers: Jody B Burton

Creditors and collection firms use WebRecon’s services to easily segregate predictably litigious consumers from their databases. A significant percentage of consumer litigation is initiated by the same consumers over and over again, and screening them out of the general population can reduce lawsuits by as much as a third.