FDCPA Lawsuits Against Collectors Rise in Second Half of March

The number of lawsuits filed by consumers and their attorneys against ARM firms increased in the second half of March when compared to the first two weeks of the month.

The following statistics are provided to the ARM industry courtesy of WebRecon LLC.

FDCPA and Other Consumer Lawsuit Statistics, March 16-31, 2011

There were about 570 lawsuits filed under consumer statutes in the second half of March 2011. Here is an approximate breakdown:

• 562 FDCPA
• 60 FCRA
• 14 TILA
• 6 TCPA

Summary

• Of those cases, there were about 626 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 163 had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 1088 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 130 different US District Court branches.
• About 515 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 33 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 31 Lawsuits: Colorado District Court – Denver
• 28 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 22 Lawsuits: New Jersey District Court – Newark
• 20 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 18 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
• 15 Lawsuits: Michigan Eastern District Court – Detroit
• 14 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court – San Diego
• 14 Lawsuits: Michigan Western District Court – Southern Division
• 14 Lawsuits: New York Western District Court – Buffalo

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 25 Consumers: David Michael Larson
• Representing 18 Consumers: Brent F. Vullings
• Representing 18 Consumers: Adam Jon Fishbein
• Representing 18 Consumers: J Phillip Bott
• Representing 17 Consumers: James D. Pacitti
• Representing 17 Consumers: David J. Philipps
• Representing 16 Consumers: Lara Ruth Shapiro
• Representing 14 Consumers: Darin Shaw
• Representing 12 Consumers: Michael S. Agruss
• Representing 11 Consumers: Craig Thor Kimmel

Statistics Year to Date

3187 total lawsuits for 2011, including:

• 2682 FDCPA
• 296 FCRA
• 117 TILA
• 108 TCPA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs: 3213 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 86 Consumers: David Michael Larson
• Representing 69 Consumers: Craig Thor Kimmel
• Representing 58 Consumers: James D. Pacitti
• Representing 55 Consumers: Adam Jon Fishbein
• Representing 54 Consumers: Lara Ruth Shapiro

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.