FCRA -- 15 U.S.C. § 1681

In Pigg v. Fair Collections & Outsourcing of New England, Inc., No. 1:16-cv-01902-JMS-DML, 2017 WL 3034266 (D. Ind. July 18, 2017), Judge Magnus-Stinson held that a rental agreement was not a consumer credit transaction under the FCRA so a debt collector had an impermissible purpose to access the debtor consumer report for collection purposes. Here, the Court emphasizes that Fair Collections' only… Read More

In Demay v. Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Inc., 2017 WL 2954629, at *2–3 (N.D.Cal., 2017), Judge Gilliam dismissed an FCRA Plaintiff's class action based on accessing consumer reports after receiving a bankruptcy discharge. Plaintiffs allege that Wells Fargo lacked a permissible purpose for accessing their credit reports after their bankruptcy discharge. FAC ¶ 31. According to Plaintiffs, the discharge eliminated… Read More

In Ritchie v. Lease Finance Group, LLC, et. al., 2017 WL 2963462, at *2 (C.A.2 (N.Y.), 2017), the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit said that it was the substance of the reinvestigation, not the time spent on it, that matters under the FCRA. Ritchie argues that when Experian notified defendants that Ritchie's signature was disputed, FCRA required them… Read More

In Turner v. Experian Information Solutions, Inc., 2017 WL 2832738, at *6 (N.D.Ohio, 2017), Judge Zouhary found no recoverable FCRA damages. Turner concedes her damages are limited to emotional distress (Doc. 21 at ¶ 62). . . Turner testified that a mortgage broker advised her in early 2015—several months before the July 2015 dispute letter that forms the basis for this lawsuit—that… Read More

In In re Keller, BAP No. EC–16–1152–BJuTa, Bk. No. 12–22391, 2017 WL 2312849  (9th Cir. BAP May 26, 2017), the Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit BAP held that a creditor did not violate the automatic stay or the order confirming the debtor's Chapter 13 plan by reporting a debt to a credit reporting agency as overdue or delinquent during… Read More

In Williams v. LVNV Funding, LLC, 2017 WL 1331014, at *1–2 (N.D.Ala. 2017), Judge Owen Bowdre compelled production of a FCRA plaintiff's settlement with the CRA. Before the court is the Plaintiff Michael Williams' motion to reconsider and motion to stay order to compel disclosure. (Doc. 71). Previously, the court granted Defendants' motion to compel the disclosure of the terms… Read More

Anderson v. Experian Information Solutions, Inc., 2017 WL 914394, at *3–6 (N.D.Cal., 2017), Judge Freeman dismissed an FCRA claim grounded in a furnisher's and CRA's Ch. 13 credit reporting. Experian argues that even if Plaintiff had alleged his FCRA claim under § 1681i, the claim would fail because Plaintiff has not alleged facts showing that Experian's credit reporting was inaccurate.… 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 Boyd v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., 2016 WL 7323293, at *6–9 (S.D.Ga., 2016), Judge Wood found that a Furnisher's reinvestigation of a FCRA dispute was reasonable and that the Plaintiff had suffered no damages.    Boyd is a nuclear submarine missile technician, who executed a power of attorney authorizing his then-wife, Siana Boyd, “to borrow money and to execute in… Read More

In Mestayer v. Experian Information Solutions, Inc, 2016 WL 7188015, at *3 (N.D.Cal., 2016), Judge Chen dismissed an FCRA case based on a furnisher's post-bankruptcy reporting. Even assuming that deviating from Metro 2 could be misleading (and hence actionable, see Gorman, 584 F.3d at 1163) when the underlying information is accurate, the TAC fails to adequately allege that CapOne's reporting… Read More

In Watts v. Diversified Adjustment Service, Inc., 2016 WL 6025496, at *1–2 (N.D.Cal., 2016), Judge Freeman granted a Motion to Dismiss, but granted leave to amend. Claim 1 is asserted under the FCRA, which is titled “Responsibilities of furnishers of information to consumer reporting agencies.” 15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(b). The FCRA provides a private right of action under § 1681s-2(b) against… Read More

Severson & Werson's article entitled Recovery of Commercial Losses under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 20 J. of Comm. & Cons. Law 2 (Fall 2016) was just published.  For questions or a copy, please contact Scott Hyman at sjh@severson.com Read More

In Aubert v. Russell Collection Agency, Inc. 2016 WL 5430184, at *2–3 (E.D.Mich., 2016), Magistrate Judge Patti held that a furnisher's "reinvestigation" requires a different kind of investigation (i.e. less) "validation" under the FDCPA. Whether verification is a requisite function in conducting a reasonable investigation?  Answering this question in the affirmative, Plaintiff cites a Senate Report, which provides:  "Currently, the… Read More

In Robinson v. TransUnion, LLC, 2016 WL 5339807, at *3–4 (N.D.Cal., 2016), Judge Davila found that a FCRA Plaintiff stated a claim for how a debt was reported as it passed through bankruptcy. Looking at the Complaint, the same allegations underlie both the FCRA claim and the CCRAA claim. Plaintiff alleges he filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy protection on March… Read More

In Biggs v. Experian Information Solutions, Inc., 2016 WL 5235043, at *2–4 (N.D.Cal., 2016), Judge Davila dismissed a FCRA Plaintiff's claim with leave to amend. Here, Plaintiff alleges she filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy protection on December 10, 2014, and that a plan was confirmed on March 21, 2015. Compl., Dkt. No. 1, at ¶ 5. Plaintiff then ordered a… Read More

In McDonough v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., 2016 WL 4944099, at *2–3 (E.D.Mo., 2016), Judge Hamilton allowed, but limited, the testimony of Evan Hendricks in an FCRA case. Upon consideration of the Parties' arguments, this Court concludes that Mr. Hendricks is qualified to serve as an expert in this case. He has served as an expert witness in numerous other… 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 Larson v. Transunion, LLC, 2016 WL 4367253, at *4 (N.D.Cal., 2016), Judge Orrick found Spokeo standing for a FCRA class representative and absent classmembers, and granted class certification. Given that Larson continues to have Article III standing to bring this case despite Spokeo, Trans Union' s challenges to my tentative rulings on ascertainability, predominance, and superiority also fail. Each… Read More

In Baker v. American Financial Services, Inc., 2016 WL 4030964, at *3 (W.D.Ky., 2016), Judge Stivers allowed an FCRA claim to proceed where the debtor claimed that the reporting of a debt was inaccurate because a 1099-C Form filed by the auto finance lender stated that the debt had been discharged by agreement of the parties. The parties urge the… Read More