FDCPA and Other Consumer Rights Lawsuit Stats from WebRecon

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

Monthly recap: For the month of January, FDCPA cases are up, FCRA cases are down over January 2009.

• 716 FDCPA (Fair Debt Collection Practices Act), vs. 551 in January 2009
• 77 FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act), vs. 109 in January 2009
• 5 TCPA (Telephone Consumer Protection Act), vs. 1 in January 2009
• 39 TILA (Truth in Lending Act)

FDCPA and Other Consumer Rights Lawsuit Statistics, January 16-31, 2010 There were about 465 lawsuits filed under consumer statutes in the second half of January. Here is an approximate breakdown:

• 403 Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
• 43 Fair Credit Reporting Act
• 1 Telephone Consumer Protection Act
• 15 Truth In Lending Act
• 1 Equal Credit Opportunity Act
• 1 Electronic Fund Transfers Act
• 1 Fair Credit Billing Act
• 1 Home Ownership And Equity Protection Act
• 3 State of California Consumer Statutes
• 1 State of Florida Consumer Statutes
• 1 State of Indiana Consumer Statutes
• 2 State of Maryland Consumer Statutes
• 1 State of Massachusetts Consumer Statutes
• 1 State of Michigan Consumer Statutes
• 2 State of West Virginia Consumer Statutes
• 7 Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act
• 1 Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act

Summary:

• Of those cases, there were about 484 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 801 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 104 different US District Court branches.
• About 303 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

• 30 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 24 Lawsuits: Minnesota District Court – DMN
• 24 Lawsuits: Colorado District Court – Denver
• 18 Lawsuits: New York Western District Court – Buffalo
• 18 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
• 17 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Middle District Court – Scranton
• 17 Lawsuits: Michigan Eastern District Court – Detroit
• 16 Lawsuits: Arizona District Court – Phoenix
• 16 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 16 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia

The most active consumer attorneys were:

• Representing 20 Consumers: Matthew William Kiverts
• Representing 19 Consumers: Brent F. Vullings
• Representing 17 Consumers: Kenneth R. Hiller
• Representing 17 Consumers: Nicholas J. Bontrager
• Representing 14 Consumers: Todd Michael Friedman
• Representing 12 Consumers: Adam Theodore Hill
• Representing 12 Consumers: Kenneth W. Pennington
• Representing 12 Consumers: Ryan Scott Lee
• Representing 11 Consumers: Phillip C. Rogers
• Representing 11 Consumers: David Michael Larson

Statistics Year to Date: 851 total lawsuits for 2010, including:

• 716 FDCPA
• 77 FCRA
• 5 TCPA
• 39 TILA (Truth in Lending Act)

Number of unique Plaintiffs: 881 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit) The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

• Representing 36 Consumers: Ryan Scott Lee
• Representing 34 Consumers: Brent F. Vullings
• Representing 32 Consumers: Matthew William Kiverts
• Representing 27 Consumers: Adam Theodore Hill
• Representing 26 Consumers: Todd Michael Friedman

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 consumersover and over again, and screening them out of the general population can reduce lawsuits by as much as a third.