Bankruptcy

In Persinger v. Sw. Credit Sys., L.P., No. 21-1037, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 37986, at *16-17 (7th Cir. Dec. 22, 2021), the Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit affirmed dismissal of an FCRA "Permissible Purpose" case arising out of a post-discharge credit pull.  The facts were as follows: Persinger and her husband jointly filed for bankruptcy in 2017. Their… Read More

In Trim v. CMRE Fin. Servs., No. 20-cv-451-AJB-LL, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 48060, at *1-3 (S.D. Cal. Mar. 12, 2021), Judge Battaglia denied a motion to dismiss an FCRA permissible purpose class action. Around May 4, 2018, Plaintiff incurred a financial obligation ("Debt") to a third party, Rady Children's Hospital San Diego ("Rady"). (Doc. No. 1 at 5.) On September… Read More

In Hogue v Silver State Schools Credit Union, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed dismissal of an FCRA case due to lack of Article III standing. First, Hogue has not shown actual harm to his concrete interests. The district court found that “no third parties made an adverse credit decision as to [Hogue] based on this disputed… Read More

In Ku v. Trans, No. 2:18-CV-1714 JCM (BNW), 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 27474 (D. Nev. Feb. 18, 2020), Judge Mahan ruled against an FCRA Plaintiff alleging inaccurate reporting of a bankrupt account. Unsurprisingly, information in a consumer report is inaccurate if it is patently incorrect. Carvalho, 629 F.3d at 890. Even if information is "technically accurate," however, it may be… Read More

In Zemelka v. Trans, No. CV-18-04179-PHX-SMB, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 91207 (D. Ariz. May 31, 2019), Judge Brnovich dismissed an FCRA claim against a CRA arising from bankruptcy reporting due to the absence of an inaccuracy. Plaintiff has two claims against Defendant Trans Union. The first is a clam under 15 U.S.C. §1681e(b) and the second under 15 U.S.C. §1681i.… Read More

In Hernandez v. Certified Fed. Credit Union, No. CV 18-10448-CJC (JEMx), 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 79020, at *6-9 (C.D. Cal. May 9, 2019), Judge Carney allowed an FCRA claim to proceed despite a challenge to Plaintiff's Article III standing. Plaintiffs have alleged a sufficiently "concrete and [*7]  particularized" injury. Under the FCRA and CCCRAA, a credit report or credit information is… Read More

In Jaras v. Equifax Inc., No. 17-15201, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 8743 (9th Cir. Mar. 25, 2019), the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit addressed the Article III standing of bankrupt debtors complaining about how their bankruptcy was reported on their consumer report. In holding [in Spokeo, Ed.] that the plaintiff did have standing, we emphasized that  the inaccuracies in… Read More

In In re Ocwen Loan Servicing LLC Litig., No. 3:16-cv-00200-MMD-WGC, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25968 (D. Nev. Feb. 19, 2019), Judge Du found that a mortgage company had a permissible purpose to ‘soft’ pull a consumer report post-bankruptcy discharge.  The facts were as follows. Plaintiffs are Christopher Marino, Henry L. Farrin, Jr., Joshua E. Hardin, Kristen Hardin, Dionne Horton, Deonca… Read More

In Gadomski v. Equifax Information Services, Inc., 2018 WL 2096862, at *4–6 (E.D.Cal., 2018), the District Court found that no willful violation of the CRA could lie absent prior notice that the information was inaccurate or that the information came from an unreliable source.  Here, Defendant does not dispute that the information reported on Plaintiff’s credit report was inaccurate. (See ECF… Read More

Scott Hyman, Don Cram, and Bernie Kornberg published an article in the Conference on Consumer Finance Law Quarterly entitled Hyman, Cram, & Kornberg, The Intersection of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Federal Consumer Bankruptcy Laws, 70 Conf. Con. Fin. L. Q 113 (Summer 2017). A copy of the article can be found here. Read More

In Keller v. Experian Information Solutions, Inc., 2017 WL 130285, at *6–8 (N.D.Cal., 2017), Judge Koh dismissed a FCRA plaintiff's argument that her creditor's reporting of an account during bankruptcy was inaccurate. Experian and Wells Fargo argue Plaintiff's FAC must be dismissed because Plaintiff fails to identify any inaccurate or misleading statements in Plaintiff's credit report. In response, Plaintiff argues… Read More

In Riekki v. Bayview Financial Loan Servicing, 2016 WL 4083216 (D. Nev. 2016), Judge Mahan found that post-Chapter 13 discharge credit reporting of a debt was not improper. Plaintiff argues that defendant furnished an inaccurate credit report in violation of the FCRA. (ECF No. 29). Plaintiff alleges that the report is inaccurate because defendant reported a debt on plaintiff’s delinquent… Read More

In Blakeney v. Experian Information Solutions, Inc., 2016 WL 4270244, at *4–6 (N.D.Cal., 2016), Judge Koh dismissed a FCRA claim grounded in debt collectors' reporting of an account passing through Chapter 13 bankruptcy. As to Plaintiff's first theory of liability, the FCRA requires a furnisher to “conduct an investigation with respect to the disputed information” after the furnisher receives notice… Read More

In Jackson v. Experian Information Solutions, Inc., et. al., 2016 WL 2910027, at *3-5 (N.D.Ill., 2016), Judge Kennelly found that a Chapter 13 debtor stated a claim that a loan servicer's post-Chapter 13 bankruptcy reporting remained inaccurate even after the furnisher made corrections because it did not correct all the inaccuracies in the consumer's report. In count 2 of his complaint, Jackson… Read More

In Blakeney v. Experian Information Solutions, 2016 WL 1535085, at *1-2 (N.D.Cal., 2016), Judge Koh grants a Motion to Dismiss filed by a FCRA furnisher who was alleged to have failed to properly re-investigate a dispute regarding an account that passed through Chapter 13. On November 7, 2014, Plaintiff filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy. ECF No. 1 (“Compl.”) ¶ 5. “Chapter… Read More

In Mestayer v. Experian Information Solutions, Inc, 2016 WL 631980, at *1 (N.D.Cal., 2016), Judge Chen dismissed a Plaintiff's FCRA/CCRAA claims grounded in credit reporting during bankruptcy proceedings. On or about November 25, 2013, Ms. Mestayer filed for bankruptcy in the Northern District of California. On or about April 20, 2014, she received a bankruptcy discharge. During the bankruptcy proceedings, Ms.… Read More

I know it's a real property case, but the argument is something that we've seen a bit of in California on the personal property side.  In Groff v. Wells Fargo Home Mortg., Inc., 2015 WL 2169811 (E.D. Mich. 2015), Judge Lawson found that the defendant did not violate the Fair Credit Reporting Act when it reported that the plaintiff’s bankruptcy-discharged… Read More

In Landini v. FIA Card Services, National Association, 2014 WL 587520 (N.D.Cal. 2014), Magistrate Judge Lloyd granted summary judgment on two matters filed by the Sagaria law group alleging that a debt collector’s affirmation of pre-bankruptcy historical reporting after bankruptcy was filed did not result in FCRA liability.  The facts were as follows: Landini opened a credit card account with… Read More

In Mortimer v. Bank of America, N.A., 2013 WL 57856 (N.D.Cal. 2013), Judge Spero rejected a FCRA plaintiff's complaints about a creditor's reporting of his account through and after bankruptcy, but allowed leave to amend as to Plaintiff's CCRAA and UCL claims. Several courts, including two in this district involving closely analogous factual situations, have held that reports, after discharge, of delinquencies… Read More

In Giovanni v. Bank of America, Nat. Ass'n  2012 WL 6599681 (N.D.Cal. 2012), Judge Beeler found that a FCRA Plaintiff failed to plead an inaccuracy in its reporting of a consumer's account that went through bankruptcy.   The facts were as follows: Plaintiff, Katheryn Giovanni currently resides in Chatham County, Georgia, but lived in California during the relevant times in the complaint.… Read More