FDCPA and Other Consumer Lawsuit Statistics, February 1-15, 2012

The first half of February 2012 slowed down a bit for FDCPA and TILA litigation after a very active second half of January. Both categories are also down in YTD tracking, FDCPA by about 3.6% and TILA by a strong 43.8% (but don’t expect it to stay that way).

In contrast, numbers stayed strong for FCRA and TCPA litigation, barely moving from last period. Neither show any signs of slowing anytime in the near term. Both statutes are also showing strong YTD growth – FCRA by 66.5% and TCPA by 21.1%.

Full Statistics:

There were about 483 lawsuits filed under consumer statutes in the first half of February 2012. Here is an approximate breakdown:

• 391 FDCPA
• 103 FCRA
• 44 TCPA
• 27 TILA

Summary:

• Of those cases, there were about 500 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 189, or 18%, had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 1108 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 111 different US District Court branches.
• About 633 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 32 Lawsuits: Colorado District Court – Denver
• 26 Lawsuits: Minnesota District Court – Dmn
• 23 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 20 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 15 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
• 15 Lawsuits: Michigan Eastern District Court – Detroit
• 14 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court – San Diego
• 12 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 11 Lawsuits: Florida Southern District Court – Fort Lauderdale
• 11 Lawsuits: Massachusetts District Court – Boston

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 19 Consumers: Sergei Lemberg
• Representing 15 Consumers: David M Larson
• Representing 15 Consumers: Joseph M Meinhardt
• Representing 10 Consumers: Craig T Kimmel
• Representing 8 Consumers: Gary D Nitzkin
• Representing 8 Consumers: Mark L Vavreck
• Representing 7 Consumers: David J Philipps
• Representing 6 Consumers: Tammy L Hussin
• Representing 6 Consumers: Fred W Schwinn
• Representing 5 Consumers: Donald A Yarbrough

Statistics Year to Date:

1458 total lawsuits for 2012, including:

• 1263 FDCPA
• 273 FCRA
• 109 TCPA
• 113 TILA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs: 1531 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 52 Consumers: Sergei Lemberg
• Representing 41 Consumers: Craig T Kimmel
• Representing 33 Consumers: David M Larson
• Representing 31 Consumers: Joseph M Meinhardt
• Representing 23 Consumers: Gary D Nitzkin

 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 significantly.

 WebRecon LLC is transforming into the Bureau of Litigant Data, and as a result will be able to track even more useful data in the coming months and years, 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.