FDCPA and Other Consumer Lawsuit Statistics, Full Year 2011 Recap

Posted on 12. Jan, 2012 by Collections Recon in Press Releases

Grand Rapids, MI (January 11, 2012) – The following statistics are provided to the ARM industry courtesy of WebRecon LLC.

FDCPA and Other Consumer Lawsuit Statistics, Full Year 2011 Recap

2011 ended with another record year in consumer litigation. Notably, FCRA, TCPA and Truth-in-Lending lawsuits were all up very significantly over 2010, each setting new records. FCRA litigation had a big jump after several years of relatively flat numbers, TCPA litigation more than doubled, and TILA nearly tripled over the previous year.

FDCPA litigation set a record as well, but fell just short of our projected 12,000 cases, with 11,811 cases filed in 2011. The growth rate of FDCPA litigation has plummeted over the last two years, though it is important to note that the number of FDCPA lawsuits filed does continue to grow each year, just on a shrinking trajectory. FDCPA litigation hit its peak growth in 2009, when it rose 52% over previous year numbers. That dropped to 19% in 2010, and is just 8% in 2011.

Despite some aggressive challenges from others late in the year, Colorado Springs attorney David M Larson represented 357 consumers in 2011 – more than anyone else in consumer litigation, followed by Petersburg VA attorney Dale Wood Pittman with 309, and Parsippany NJ attorney Feng Li with 299, primarily from one giant lawsuit in September.

Led by Larson’s charge, the Denver Colorado district court saw the most suits filed in it, totaling 658. Philadelphia was 2^nd with 634 suits, Los Angeles was 3^rd with 623, followed by Chicago with 592 and Newark with 486.

Statewide, California led with 1654 lawsuits in 2011. Florida was next with 1146 lawsuits, followed by New York with 1128, Pennsylvania with 940 and New Jersey with 711.

For your convenience, we are providing annual comparisons of FDCPA, FCRA, TCPA and TILA litigation. Missing data indicates years we do not have reliable data for.  Please note, these statistics are for cases filed in federal U.S. District Courts only.

Annual comparisons:
2011: 11,811 FDCPA Cases, 1838 FCRA Cases, 660 TCPA Cases, 1462 TILA Cases
2010: 10,859 FDCPA Cases, 1295 FCRA Cases, 272 TCPA Cases, 529 TILA Cases
2009: 9135 FDCPA Cases, 1174 FCRA Cases
2008: 6025 FDCPA Cases, 1164 FCRA Cases
2007: 4372 FDCPA Cases, 1347 FCRA Cases
2006: 3710 FDCPA Cases, 955 FCRA Cases
2005: 3215 FDCPA Cases

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

There were about 453 lawsuits filed under consumer statutes in the second half of December 2011. Here is an approximate breakdown:

• 397 FDCPA
• 63 FCRA
• 53 TILA
• 26 TCPA

Summary:

• Of those cases, there were about 507 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 183, or 22%, had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 870 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 96 different US District Court branches.
• About 522 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 29 Lawsuits: New Jersey District Court – Newark
• 25 Lawsuits: Colorado District Court – Denver
• 24 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
• 23 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 21 Lawsuits: Michigan Eastern District Court – Detroit
• 19 Lawsuits: Minnesota District Court – Dmn
• 17 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 15 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court – San Diego
• 13 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Central Islip
• 11 Lawsuits: New York Southern District Court – Foley Square

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 22 Consumers: Yaakov Saks
• Representing 16 Consumers: Gary D Nitzkin
• Representing 14 Consumers: Samuel A Ehrenfeld
• Representing 11 Consumers: Khinh Voury Yam
• Representing 11 Consumers: Craig T Kimmel
• Representing 11 Consumers: Sergei Lemberg
• Representing 11 Consumers: Mark L Vavreck
• Representing 11 Consumers: David M Larson
• Representing 9 Consumers: Tammy L Hussin
• Representing 9 Consumers: Alex D Weisberg

Statistics Year to Date:

12542 total lawsuits for 2011, including:

• 11811 FDCPA
• 1838 FCRA
• 660 TCPA
• 1462 TILA

Number of Unique Plaintiffs: 12640 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 357 Consumers: David M Larson
• Representing 309 Consumers: Dale Wood Pittman
• Representing 299 Consumers: Feng Li
• Representing 260 Consumers: Craig T Kimmel
• Representing 246 Consumers: Sergei Lemberg

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.

For more information, please contact:

Jack Gordon, CEO
WebRecon LLC, The FDCPA Litigant Alert
Web: www.WebRecon.com
Email: admin@webrecon.net
Phone: (616) 682-5327

Tags: 2011, FCRA, FDCPA, TCPA, TILA, Web Recon