FDCPA Statistics Provided by WebRecon

Grand Rapids, MI – The following statistics are provided to the ARM industry courtesy of WebRecon LLC.

2009 has ended, and it shattered the previous year’s record number of FDCPA cases filed in (or removed to) US District Courts. Expectations that FDCPA cases would break the 8000 barrier were easily met, though FCRA cases actually fell just short of 2008 numbers and TCPA cases remained statistically (though not legally) insignificant.

Annual Comparisons:

2009: 8287 FDCPA, 1174 FCRA, 28 TCPA Cases
2008: 5188 FDCPA, 1164 FCRA, 16 TCPA Cases
2007: 3813 FDCPA, 1347 FCRA, 22 TCPA Cases
2006: 3220 FDCPA, 955 FCRA, 14 TCPA Cases

Monthly Recap: There were about 907 consumer rights lawsuits in the month of November, including 774 FDCPA and 79 FCRA suits filed against creditors and collection agencies.

FDCPA and Other Consumer Rights Lawsuit Statistics, December 16-31, 2009

There were about 427 lawsuits filed under consumer statutes in the second half of December. Here is an approximate breakdown:

358 Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
41 Fair Credit Reporting Act
21 Truth In Lending Act
2 Credit Repair Organizations Act
1 Equal Credit Opportunity Act
1 Electronic Fund Transfers Act
1 Federal Communications Act
1 Graham-Leach-Bliley Act
1 Home Ownership And Equity Protection Act
6 State of California Consumer Statutes
2 State of Florida Consumer Statutes
1 State of Kentucky Consumer Statutes
1 State of Michigan Consumer Statutes
1 State of Rhode Island Consumer Statutes
1 State of Texas Consumer Statutes
1 State of West Virginia Consumer Statutes
2 Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act
1 Right to Financial Privacy Act
1 Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act

Summary:

Of those cases, there were about 459 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
Of those plaintiffs, about 141 had sued under consumer statutes before.
Combined, those 141 plaintiffs have filed about 805 lawsuits since 2001
Actions were filed in 101 different US District Court branches.
About 268 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

36 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
24 Lawsuits: New York Western District Court – Buffalo
23 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
20 Lawsuits: Minnesota District Court – DMN
18 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
11 Lawsuits: Colorado District Court – Denver
11 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
10 Lawsuits: Arizona District Court – Phoenix
10 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court – San Diego
8 Lawsuits: California Eastern District Court – Sacramento

The most active consumer attorneys were:

Representing 21 Consumers: Matthew William Kiverts
Representing 16 Consumers: Sergei Lemberg
Representing 15 Consumers: Adam Theodore Hill
Representing 14 Consumers: Nicholas J. Bontrager
Representing 11 Consumers: Todd Michael Friedman
Representing 10 Consumers: Ryan Scott Lee
Representing 10 Consumers: Joseph A Mullaney III
Representing 9 Consumers: David Michael Larson
Representing 9 Consumers: James Marvin Feagle
Representing 8 Consumers: Brian P. Parker

Statistics Year to Date: 10128 total lawsuits for 2009, including:

8287 FDCPA
1174 FCRA
28 TCPA

Number of unique Plaintiffs: 9697 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

Representing 441 Consumers: Ryan Scott Lee
Representing 329 Consumers: Nicholas J. Bontrager
Representing 239 Consumers: Todd Michael Friedman
Representing 227 Consumers: Sergei Lemberg
Representing 220 Consumers: Brent F. Vullings

About WebRecon LLC:
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.