Grand Rapids, MI (May 25, 2010) – The following statistics are provided to the ARM industry courtesy of WebRecon LLC.
FDCPA and Other Consumer Rights Lawsuit Statistics, May 1-15, 2010
There were about 495 lawsuits filed under consumer statutes in the first half of May. Here is an approximate breakdown:
• 434 Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
• 37 Fair Credit Reporting Act
• 3 Telephone Consumer Protection Act
• 14 Truth In Lending Act
• 1 Bankruptcy Related
• 4 Electronic Fund Transfers Act
• 1 Home Ownership And Equity Protection Act
• 2 Personal Injury
• 4 State of California Consumer Statutes
• 1 District Of Columbia Consumer Statutes
• 1 State of Illinois Consumer Statutes
• 1 State of West Virginia Consumer Statutes
• 3 Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act
• 1 Right to Financial Privacy Act
Summary:
• Of those cases, there were about 510 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
• Of those plaintiffs, about 195 had sued under consumer statutes before.
• Combined, those 195 plaintiffs have filed about 1117 lawsuits since 2001
• Actions were filed in 109 different US District Court branches.
• About 425 different collection firms and creditors were sued.
The top courts where lawsuits were filed:
• 27 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
• 23 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
• 22 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
• 21 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
• 19 Lawsuits: Florida Southern District Court – Fort Lauderdale
• 19 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
• 15 Lawsuits: Colorado District Court – Denver
• 14 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Central Islip
• 13 Lawsuits: Minnesota District Court – DMN
• 12 Lawsuits: New Jersey District Court – Newark
The most active consumer attorneys were:
• Representing 29 Consumers: Donald A. Yarbrough
• Representing 19 Consumers: Sergei Lemberg
• Representing 17 Consumers: Adam Jon Fishbein
• Representing 15 Consumers: Jennifer M. Kurtz
• Representing 13 Consumers: James Marvin Feagle
• Representing 13 Consumers: David J. Philipps
• Representing 13 Consumers: Brent F. Vullings
• Representing 12 Consumers: Jody B. Burton
• Representing 12 Consumers: David Michael Larson
• Representing 11 Consumers: Todd Michael Friedman
Statistics Year to Date:
4340 total lawsuits for 2010, including:
• 3701 FDCPA
• 377 FCRA
• 12 TCPA
• 153 TILA (Truth in Lending Act)
Number of unique Plaintiffs: 4306 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)
• The most active consumer attorneys of the year:
• Representing 134 Consumers: Sergei Lemberg
• Representing 125 Consumers: Brent F. Vullings
• Representing 114 Consumers: Ryan Scott Lee
• Representing 109 Consumers: David Michael Larson
• Representing 107 Consumers: Todd Michael Friedman
About WebRecon LLC: www.WebRecon.com
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.
Hudson Henley has recorded a short video answering what is a debt buyer. If you are being sued by a debt collector or debt buyer in Texas you can call (214) 552-6647 or visit www.henleycreditlaw.com
Hudson Henley has recorded a short video speaking about FDCPA laws and lawsuits. If you are being harassed by a debt collector Texas you can call (214) 552-6647 or visit www.henleycreditlaw.com
Hudson Henley has recorded a short video explaining Texas debt buyer and debt collector lawsuits. If you are being sued by a debt collector in Texas you can call (214) 552-6647 or visit www.henleycreditlaw.com
Hudson Henley, a Texas and California attorney, has recorded this video of what to do when you have been served a law suit. If you have any questions, you can contact his office here.
Can an out of state debt collection attorney sue me? This is a common question that I get asked a lot.
In general, it is unlikely.
First, an attorney has to be licensed in the state you are located in (or where the lawsuit will be filed) to sue you. You can check the states he is licensed in by looking at the letterhead. If it does not disclose other states where he is licensed you can deduce that he is only licensed in the state the letter came from. To verify this, you may want to go to your state’s bar page to see if the attorney is licensed in your state. We have links to all the states bar associations here.
Second, there is a cost factor. Most of the time it is not cost effective for an attorney to travel to show up for a trial. There would have to be a lot of money at stake(think hundreds of thousands and up) .
There are also a couple of caveats to this too. If you incurred the debt in another state and he is licensed there he may be able to sue you where you used to live. Also, it is common now for there to be a common network of collection attorneys that refer business to each other. RCAN is a great example of this.
If you do get served you should seek the advice of an attorney immediately. There are time restrictions on how long you have to respond to a lawsuit. If you do not you face a default judgment in the case and another blemish on your credit report.
If you are located in Texas or California, give us a call.
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