An estimated 444 collection agencies and creditors were sued between Feb. 1-15, a slight uptick from 440 in the second half of January, according to data from U.S. District Courts.
There were approximately 466 lawsuits filed under consumer statutes in the Feb. 1-15 period, including 456 citing Fair Debt Collection Practices Act violations, 57 listing Fair Credit Reporting Act violations and 24 citing Telephone Consumer Protection Act violations. Several lawsuits cited multiple statute violations, according to WebRecon LLC, the Grand Rapids, Mich.-based research firm that compiles the data from the courts.
There were an estimated 500 unique plaintiffs in the Feb. 1-15 period. Of those plaintiffs, 137 had sued under consumer statutes before. Combined, those plaintiffs have filed an estimated 917 lawsuits since 2001.
The most active courts in the recent half-month period include: Illinois Northern District Court in Chicago, with 32 lawsuits; California Central District Court in Los Angeles, with 23 lawsuits and Pennsylvania Eastern District Court in Philadelphia, with 22 lawsuits. The most active consumer attorneys were David M. Larson and Daniel A. Edelman, both representing 15 consumers.
Craig T. Kimmel of Kimmel & Silverman, in Ambler, Pa., has represented 43 consumers in lawsuits in 2011 and is the most active consumer attorney this year.
Last year, consumers filed an estimated 13,901 lawsuits against collection agencies and creditors last year, including 10,914 FDCPA cases. Both numbers shattered the previous records set in 2009,
To comment, contact Darren Waggoner at darren.waggoner@sourcemedia.com or 815.463.9008.
