FDCPA, Other Lawsuits Stats from WebRecon

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

FDCPA and Other Consumer Rights Lawsuit Statistics, February 1-15, 2010

There were about 436 lawsuits filed under consumer statutes in the first half of February. Here is an approximate breakdown:

•     372 Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
•     38 Fair Credit Reporting Act
•     2 Telephone Consumer Protection Act
•     15 Truth In Lending Act
•     1 Credit Repair Organizations Act
•     1 Electronic Fund Transfers Act
•     2 Home Ownership And Equity Protection Act
•     5 State of California Consumer Statutes
•     3 State of Florida Consumer Statutes
•     1 State of Massachusetts Consumer Statutes
•     2 State of Pennsylvania Consumer Statutes
•     1 State of Texas Consumer Statutes
•     1 State of West Virginia Consumer Statutes
•     7 Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act
•     2 Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act

Summary:

•     Of those cases, there were about 462 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
•     Of those plaintiffs, about 153 had sued under consumer statutes before.
•     Combined, those 153 plaintiffs have filed about 766 lawsuits since 2001
•     Actions were filed in 99 different US District Court branches.
•     About 293 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:

•     31 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
•     26 Lawsuits: Colorado District Court – Denver
•     17 Lawsuits: Arizona District Court – Phoenix
•     17 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
•     16 Lawsuits: Michigan Western District Court – Southern Division
•     14 Lawsuits: Missouri Eastern District Court – St. Louis – Eastern Division
•     13 Lawsuits: New York Western District Court – Buffalo
•     12 Lawsuits: Minnesota District Court – DMN
•     12 Lawsuits: New Jersey District Court – Newark
•     11 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Middle District Court – Scranton

The most active consumer attorneys were:

•     Representing 29 Consumers: Matthew William Kiverts
•     Representing 17 Consumers: Ryan Scott Lee
•     Representing 14 Consumers: David Michael Larson
•     Representing 14 Consumers: Robert T. Healey, Jr.
•     Representing 11 Consumers: Daniel A. Edelman
•     Representing 11 Consumers: J. Mark Meinhardt
•     Representing 11 Consumers: Nicholas J. Bontrager
•     Representing 11 Consumers: Phillip C. Rogers
•     Representing 10 Consumers: John Cole Gayle, Jr.
•     Representing 10 Consumers: Michael S Agruss

Statistics Year to Date: 1284 total lawsuits for 2010, including:

•     1087 FDCPA (vs. 882 same time 2009, 601 same time 2008)
•     115 FCRA (vs. 155 same time 2009, 150 same time 2008)
•     7 TCPA (vs. 1 same time 2009, 4 same time 2008)
•     54 TILA (Truth in Lending Act)

Number of unique Plaintiffs: 1327 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:

•     Representing 61 Consumers: Matthew William Kiverts
•     Representing 53 Consumers: Ryan Scott Lee
•     Representing 38 Consumers: David Michael Larson
•     Representing 37 Consumers: Brent F. Vullings
•     Representing 33 Consumers: Nicholas J. Bontrager

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.