Browsing Tag webrecon

Each week we bring you 10 of our most favorite stories from around the industry.

Week of July 25, 2010

1. Facebook makes debt collection sweet for creditors

(Business Daily Africa, 08/02/10)

Collectors overseas harness the power of Facebook.

2. Lawsuits Against Agencies, Creditors Down In Early July

(Credit & Collections Risk, 07/30/10)

Is the decline in lawsuits only temporary?

3. CSA Diploma winners celebrate at awards day

(Business Credit Management UK, 07/29/10)

Seventy-two industry professionals successfully passed the UK’s leading accredited credit and collection training program.

4. Portfolio Recovery, Asset Acceptance Q2 Profits Beat

(Rueters.com, 07/29/10)

Two collection agencies beat expectations for second quarter earnings.

5. Laguna Beach hospital chief was also its debt collector

(California Watch, 07/29/10)

Conflict of interest, yes or no? You be the judge. Share your thoughts in the comments section.

6. Could the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection be Positive for Collectors?

(insideARM.com, 07/29/10)

Kaulkin Media president Stephanie Eidelman shares her opinion on the highly anticipated BCFP.

7. Debt collection firm Affiliated Group to add up to 60 employees

(Post-Bulletin, 07/28/10)

A Rochester, Minnesota collection agency lands large municipal government contract; has plans to hire 30 new employees by the end of September.

8. New York Debt Collector Settles Wrongful Collection Charges

(Credit & Collections Risk, 07/27/10)

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo settles with yet another collection agency. This time: $125,000.

9. Terminally ill Jupiter Farms woman behind on home loan alleges collector taunted, harassed her

(The Palm Beach Post, 07/25/10)

Collection calls regarding a past due mortgage cause woman terminally ill with brain cancer to collapse in front yard.

10. insideARM.com Appoints Forward Thinking Editorial Board

(insideARM.com, 07/28/10)

With its eyes set on shifting the public conversation about the ARM industry, insideARM.comrecently unveiled a 16 member editorial board to help ensure a balanced perspective.

Each week we bring you 10 of our most favorite stories from around the industry.

Week of June 27, 2010

1. 11 arrested in Taipei for debt collection, betting operations

(The China Post 07/02/10)

The Criminal Investigation Bureau busts gang of illegal collectors and uncovers “… machetes, hammers, wooden sticks, and instant glue, among other items, which were used to assault debtors who failed to return loan fees … “. 

2. DebtCollector Harrasses, Threatens Local Family 

(WESH.com Orlando 07/01/10)

Debt collector caught on tape threatening arrest and harassing a consumer’s 10-year-old daughter.

3. Collection agency to put center in Augusta, GA

(Businessweek 07/01/10)

Convergent ERS to is bringing a new call center to Augusta, Georgia with hopes of hiring 400 employees over the next 18 months.

4. Payback? Consumer lawsuits against bill collectors skyrocket

(The Miami Herald, 07/02/10)

WebRecon’s Jack Gordon talks about the latest lawsuit statistics.

5. Missouri Court Dismisses Missouri Attorney General’s Lawsuit Against Portfolio Recovery Associates

(Market Watch, 06/29/10)

It’s rare these days to see a judge rule in favor of a collection agency, but that’s what recently happened in Missouri.

6. Debt Collector Calling Neighbors, Informing Them of Financial Trouble

(cbsatlanta.com, 06/28/10)

Contacting a consumer’s neighbor inspires investigative story. Video included.

7. CreditCard Debt Delinquencies May Lead to More Illegal Debt Collection, Creditor Harrassment, and Bankruptcy Filings

(Debt Free League press release, accessed on earthtimes.org 06/27/10)

Eric Santacruz, vice president of San Diego, California’s Debt Free League, offers some interesting predictions for the credit and collection industry.

8. Forget to pay court costs? You may get a call from a collection agency chasing unpaid fines, fees

(jacksonsun.com 06/27/10)

Florida clerk of court turns to collection agency for assistance in recovering $3.2 million in unpaid fines and court costs.

9. Portfolio Recovery Associates Appoints New Attorneys

(Portfolio Recovery Associates press release, accessed on insideARM.com 07/01/10)

Portfolio Recovery Associates’ Executive vice president and general counsel Judy Scott announces the addition of five new attorneys to the PRA team. New members include: Trey Huelsberg, Beaufort “Shawn” Martin, Franci Ware, Kevin Duffan, and Brian Pearson.

10. Very Competitive Field in ED Collection Performance Rankings

(insideARM.com, 07/01/10)

Cynthia Wilson offers the latest insight and statistics on the Department of Education’s third-party collection efforts.

The Litigant Alert is powered by a rapidly growing database of FDCPA, FCRA, TCPA, and other consumer lawsuits filed in U.S. District Courts, as well as some state, county, and local courts. The Litigant Alert uses proprietary logic to find relevant matches to debtors by name, geography, and Social Security number. 

An emerging trend finds that approximately 30% of debtors that have filed consumer litigation have filed more than one lawsuit. As such, agencies are experiencing rapidly escalating legal costs, many of which result from frivolous lawsuits where the FDCPA has not actually been violated. 

“Collection agencies saw a 40% increase in consumer rights lawsuits in 2009,” said Merlin’s VP of Sales and Marketing, Todd Twete. “The Litigant Alert is a tool that will help agencies identify potentially risky debtors in their portfolios. Many of our agency customers understand that identifying these debtors proactively is key to mitigating risk and controlling expenses.” 

A secondary result of the alliance is that the litigants will also be identifiable by appended Social Security numbers. WebRecon CEO, Jack Gordon, comments this is crucial to meeting the needs of the collections market. “Matching by Social Security number has been the number one demand of my customer base. We are continually innovating, but I don’t think there is a single more important thing we could have done than bringing SSNs into the mix. Speaking as a former collection agency owner, I could have saved thousands of dollars with an easy tool like this to pre-empt repeat litigants. I wish we had something like this just 2 or 3 years ago – it would have been tremendously helpful. I am very excited to be working with an equally innovative partner in Merlin to make this extraordinary product even better.” 

About Merlin
Merlin Information Services offers data solutions providing information about people, businesses, and assets. A leader in the investigative data industry, Merlin has a reputation for superior customer service, high ethical standards, excellent data, and flexible search and retrieval software. 

About WebRecon
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 IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Grand Rapids, MI (April 7, 2010) – The following statistics are provided to the ARM industry courtesy of WebRecon LLC.

FDCPA and Other Consumer Rights Lawsuit Statistics, April 7, 2010

There were about 545 lawsuits filed under consumer statutes in the second half of March. Here is an approximate breakdown:
 476 Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
 42 Fair Credit Reporting Act
 17 Truth In Lending Act
 2 Equal Credit Opportunity Act
 2 Electronic Fund Transfers Act
 1 Higher Education Opportunity Act
 1 Home Ownership And Equity Protection Act
 2 Internal Revenue Code
 1 Personal Injury
 2 State of California Consumer Statutes
 1 State of Florida Consumer Statutes
 1 State of Maryland Consumer Statutes
 1 State of New York Consumer Statutes
 1 State of Ohio Consumer Statutes
 1 State of Vermont Consumer Statutes
 2 State of West Virginia Consumer Statutes
 3 Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act

Summary:
 Of those cases, there were about 588 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
 Of those plaintiffs, about 172 had sued under consumer statutes before.
 Combined, those 172 plaintiffs have filed about 1045 lawsuits since 2001
 Actions were filed in 111 different US District Court branches.
 About 525 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:
 36 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
 30 Lawsuits: Colorado District Court – Denver
 28 Lawsuits: Minnesota District Court – DMN
 25 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
 25 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
 24 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
 20 Lawsuits: New York Western District Court – Buffalo
 15 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Brooklyn
 13 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Central Islip
 12 Lawsuits: California Northern District Court – San Francisco

The most active consumer attorneys were:
 Representing 23 Consumers: Sergei Lemberg
 Representing 21 Consumers: Brent F. Vullings
 Representing 20 Consumers: David Michael Larson
 Representing 17 Consumers: Todd Michael Friedman
 Representing 17 Consumers: James D. Pacitti
 Representing 17 Consumers: James Marvin Feagle
 Representing 16 Consumers: Craig Thor Kimmel
 Representing 15 Consumers: Adam Jon Fishbein
 Representing 15 Consumers: Nicholas J. Bontrager
 Representing 13 Consumers: Jon N. Robbins

Statistics Year to Date:
2816 total lawsuits for 2010, including:
 2403 FDCPA
 255 FCRA
 8 TCPA
 101 TILA (Truth in Lending Act)

Number of unique Plaintiffs: 2869 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:
 Representing 92 Consumers: Ryan Scott Lee
 Representing 90 Consumers: Matthew William Kiverts
 Representing 90 Consumers: Brent F. Vullings
 Representing 83 Consumers: Sergei Lemberg
 Representing 80 Consumers: David Michael Larson

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 IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Grand Rapids, MI (March 9, 2010) – The following statistics are provided to the ARM industry courtesy of WebRecon LLC.

FDCPA and Other Consumer Rights Lawsuit Statistics, February 16-28, 2010

There were about 463 lawsuits filed under consumer statutes in the second half of February. Here is an approximate breakdown:

 384 Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (vs. 238 same period 2009, 221 same period 2008)
 49 Fair Credit Reporting Act (vs. 31 same period 2009, 39 same period 2008)
 0 Telephone Consumer Protection Act (vs. 2 same period 2009, 0 same period 2008)
 16 Truth In Lending Act
 1 Credit Repair Organizations Act
 2 Driver’s Privacy Protection Act
 3 Equal Credit Opportunity Act
 1 Electronic Fund Transfers Act
 1 Fair Housing Act
 1 Higher Education Opportunity Act
 1 Homeowners Loan Act
 4 State of California Consumer Statutes
 1 State of Maryland Consumer Statutes
 1 State of Oregon Consumer Statutes
 4 State of Texas Consumer Statutes
 2 State of West Virginia Consumer Statutes
 9 Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act

Summary:
 Of those cases, there were about 502 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
 Of those plaintiffs, about 258 had sued under consumer statutes before.
 Combined, those 258 plaintiffs have filed about 947 lawsuits since 2001
 Actions were filed in 105 different US District Court branches.
 About 471 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:
 36 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
 34 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
 21 Lawsuits: Minnesota District Court – DMN
 16 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
 16 Lawsuits: Colorado District Court – Denver
 15 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
 14 Lawsuits: New York Western District Court – Buffalo
 12 Lawsuits: Michigan Eastern District Court – Detroit
 12 Lawsuits: California Northern District Court – San Francisco
 10 Lawsuits: New York Eastern District Court – Central Islip

The most active consumer attorneys were:
 Representing 16 Consumers: Adam Theodore Hill
 Representing 14 Consumers: George Thomas Martin, III
 Representing 14 Consumers: Matthew William Kiverts
 Representing 14 Consumers: Sergei Lemberg
 Representing 13 Consumers: Ryan Scott Lee
 Representing 13 Consumers: Todd Michael Friedman
 Representing 12 Consumers: Brent F. Vullings
 Representing 11 Consumers: David J. Philipps
 Representing 10 Consumers: Diana P. Larson
 Representing 9 Consumers: Lara Ruth Shapiro

Statistics Year to Date:

1742 total lawsuits for 2010, including:
 1470 FDCPA (vs. 1120 same period 2009, 824 same period 2008)
 164 FCRA (vs. 186 same period 2009, 189 same period 2008)
 7 TCPA (vs. 3 same period 2009, 5 same period 2008)
 69 TILA (Truth in Lending Act)

Number of unique Plaintiffs: 1792 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:
 Representing 75 Consumers: Matthew William Kiverts
 Representing 66 Consumers: Ryan Scott Lee
 Representing 49 Consumers: Brent F. Vullings
 Representing 48 Consumers: Adam Theodore Hill
 Representing 46 Consumers: David Michael Larson

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.

The FDCPA Litigant Alert Batch up to one million accounts per hour through our massive litigant database
The ‘Litigant Exchange’ Provide your state & local lawsuit data in exchange for access to others’ lawsuit data
The ‘Reputation Tracker’ The industry’s only Consumer Web Site search engine
The ‘Litigant Hotsheet’ A quick snapshot of the most active litigious consumers sent twice monthly

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

Grand Rapids, MI (February 23, 2010) – The following statistics are provided to the ARM industry courtesy of WebRecon LLC.

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.

The FDCPA Litigant Alert Batch up to one million accounts per hour through our massive litigant database
The ‘Litigant Exchange’ Provide your state & local lawsuit data in exchange for access to others’ lawsuit data
The ‘Reputation Tracker’ The industry’s only Consumer Web Site search engine
The ‘Litigant Hotsheet’ A quick snapshot of the most active litigious consumers sent twice monthly

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
###

Grand Rapids, MI (January 21, 2010) 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 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

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Grand Rapids, MI (January 21, 2010) – The following statistics are provided to the ARM industry courtesy of WebRecon LLC.

There were about 396 lawsuits filed under consumer statutes in the first half of January. Here is an
approximate breakdown:

 319 Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
 36 Fair Credit Reporting Act
 4 Telephone Consumer Protection Act
 24 Truth In Lending Act
 1 Bankruptcy Related
 5 Equal Credit Opportunity Act
 2 Electronic Fund Transfers Act
 1 Higher Education Opportunity Act
 2 Home Ownership And Equity Protection Act
 6 State of California Consumer Statutes
 2 State of Florida Consumer Statutes
 1 State of Georgia Consumer Statutes
 1 State of Illinois Consumer Statutes
 1 State of Maryland Consumer Statutes
 1 State of New Jersey Consumer Statutes
 7 Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act
 3 Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act

Summary:
 Of those cases, there were about 418 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
 Of those plaintiffs, about 114 had sued under consumer statutes before.
 Combined, those 114 plaintiffs have filed about 702 lawsuits since 2001
 Actions were filed in 96 different US District Court branches.
 About 260 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:
 23 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
 22 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Los Angeles
 20 Lawsuits: Colorado District Court – Denver
 16 Lawsuits: California Northern District Court – San Francisco
 14 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
 10 Lawsuits: Alabama Northern District Court – Western
 10 Lawsuits: Arizona District Court – Phoenix
 10 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Middle District Court – Scranton
 10 Lawsuits: California Southern District Court – San Diego
 9 Lawsuits: Indiana Southern District Court – Indianapolis

The most active consumer attorneys were:
 Representing 26 Consumers: Ryan Scott Lee
 Representing 15 Consumers: Adam Theodore Hill
 Representing 15 Consumers: Brent F. Vullings
 Representing 13 Consumers: David Michael Larson
 Representing 13 Consumers: Sergei Lemberg
 Representing 13 Consumers: Todd Michael Friedman
 Representing 12 Consumers: Matthew William Kiverts
 Representing 9 Consumers: Brandon Lee Blankenship
 Representing 8 Consumers: John Cole Gayle, Jr.
 Representing 8 Consumers: Joseph A Mullaney III

Statistics Year to Date:

396 total lawsuits for 2010, including:
 319 FDCPA
 36 FCRA
 4 TCPA

Number of unique Plaintiffs: 418 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:
 Representing 26 Consumers: Ryan Scott Lee
 Representing 15 Consumers: Adam Theodore Hill
 Representing 15 Consumers: Brent F. Vullings
 Representing 13 Consumers: David Michael Larson
 Representing 13 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.

The FDCPA Litigant Alert Batch up to one million accounts per hour through our massive litigant database

The ‘Litigant Exchange’ Provide your state & local lawsuit data in exchange for access to others’ lawsuit data

The ‘Reputation Tracker’ The industry’s only Consumer Web Site search engine

The ‘Litigant Hotsheet’ A quick snapshot of the most active litigious consumers sent twice monthly

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

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Grand Rapids, MI (December 11, 2009) – WebRecon LLC is excited to announce the launch of “The Reputation Tracker” – a one-of-a-kind search engine focused solely on “consumer rights” themed websites. All existing batch clients have access to this new service.

According to WebRecon CEO Jack Gordon, “Collection agencies and creditors are uniquely targeted by hostile consumers for negative and defamatory comments. This tool will help our clients stay on top of what is being said about them, and give them the ability to react if deemed necessary.”

“Over 100 of the most dangerous web sites are indexed using Google technology, and any query will bring instant results sure to be an eye-opener for just about any collection agency out there,” says Gordon.

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 or interview requests, please contact:

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

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Grand Rapids, MI (December 7, 2009) – The following statistics are provided to the ARM industry courtesy of WebRecon LLC.

Monthly recap: There were about 915 consumer rights lawsuits in the month of November, including 765 FDCPA and 85 FCRA suits filed against creditors and collection agencies.

There were about 480 lawsuits filed under consumer statutes in the second half of November. Here is an approximate breakdown:
 408 Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
 39 Fair Credit Reporting Act
 1 Telephone Consumer Protection Act
 19 Truth In Lending Act
 2 Bankruptcy Related
 3 Equal Credit Opportunity Act
 2 Electronic Fund Transfers Act
 1 Fair Credit Billing Act
 2 Federal Trade Commission Act
 1 Graham-Leach-Bliley Act
 1 Higher Education Opportunity Act
 2 Homeowners Loan Act
 1 Home Ownership And Equity Protection Act
 1 Internal Revenue Code
 1 State of California Consumer Statutes
 1 District Of Columbia Consumer Statutes
 1 State of Michigan Consumer Statutes
 1 State of Missouri Consumer Statutes
 1 State of New York Consumer Statutes
 1 State of Ohio Consumer Statutes
 4 Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act
 1 Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act

Summary:
 Of those cases, there were about 501 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
 Of those plaintiffs, about 148 had sued under consumer statutes before.
 Combined, those 148 plaintiffs have filed about 1384 lawsuits since 2001
 Actions were filed in 106 different US District Court branches.
 About 315 different collection firms and creditors were sued.

The top courts where lawsuits were filed:
 44 Lawsuits: California Central District Court – Western Division – Los Angeles
 24 Lawsuits: Illinois Northern District Court – Chicago
 21 Lawsuits: New York Western District Court – Buffalo
 19 Lawsuits: Connecticut District Court – New Haven
 18 Lawsuits: Minnesota District Court – DMN
 18 Lawsuits: Pennsylvania Eastern District Court – Philadelphia
 16 Lawsuits: Georgia Northern District Court – Atlanta
 13 Lawsuits: Colorado District Court – Denver
 13 Lawsuits: Arizona District Court – Phoenix
 11 Lawsuits: California Northern District Court – San Francisco

The most active consumer attorneys were:
 Representing 22 Consumers: Sergei Lemberg
 Representing 21 Consumers: Todd Michael Friedman
 Representing 18 Consumers: Matthew William Kiverts
 Representing 18 Consumers: George Thomas Martin, III
 Representing 18 Consumers: Ryan Scott Lee
 Representing 17 Consumers: Nicholas J. Bontrager
 Representing 16 Consumers: Adam Theodore Hill
 Representing 13 Consumers: Brent F. Vullings
 Representing 12 Consumers: Donald A. Yarbrough
 Representing 11 Consumers: Peter Cozmyk

Statistics Year to Date:
9213 total lawsuits for 2009, including:
 7511 FDCPA
 1090 FCRA
 25 TCPA

Number of unique Plaintiffs: 8908 (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit)

The most active consumer attorneys of the year:
 Representing 404 Consumers: Ryan Scott Lee
 Representing 304 Consumers: Nicholas J. Bontrager
 Representing 216 Consumers: Todd Michael Friedman
 Representing 203 Consumers: Kenneth R. Hiller
 Representing 201 Consumers: Brent F. Vullings

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
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