Identity Theft

In Blackmon v. Ad Astra Recovery Servs., Case No.: 20-CV-800-CAB-JLB, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 75878 (S.D. Cal. April 20, 2021), Judge Bencivengo granted summary judgment to a debt collector who was alleged to have committed errors in connection with handling a purported claim of identity theft.   After the debtor failed to submit an affidavit of theft or police report but then… Read More

In Randall v. Dish Network, LLC, 2018 WL 3235543, at *3 (E.D.N.Y., 2018), Judge Spatt dismissed an FCRA-permissible purpose case premised on identity theft. The Plaintiff has not successfully alleged that Dish negligently violated § 1681q by allowing an identity thief to open an account and perform a consumer credit check on the Plaintiff’s account. “A person cannot obtain information… Read More

In Petrou v. Navient Corporation, 2018 WL 3020160 (S.D.Cal., 2018), the District Court found that a mere claim of identity theft did not render the reporting of an account inaccurate within the context of the substantive laws governing the collection of student loans. Plaintiff alleges that his daughter, Selaina A. Petrou, in order to fund her undergraduate education, fraudulently obtained two… Read More

In Seungtae Kim v. BMW Financial Services NA, LLC, 2015 WL 6680911, at *2 (C.D.Cal., 2015), Judge O'Connell denied a new trial to an automobile finance company, against whom a $430,000 jury verdict was assessed.  The facts were as follows: On August 28, 2015, the jury rendered its unanimous verdict, finding in Plaintiff's favor on two of his three claims. (Judgment… Read More

In Galper v. JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., 2015 WL 5711882, at *5-8 (C.A.2 (N.Y.),2015), the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that New York's ID Theft Laws were not preempted by FCRA with respect to furnisher misconduct that was not regulated by 15 USC 1681(s)-2 of FCRA. Here, the language of the provision expresses Congress's intent to preempt… Read More

In Drew v. Equifax Information Services, LLC --- F.3d ----, 2012 WL 3186110 (9th Cir. 2012), the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that a furnisher could have violated its statutory duty under FCRA to block all reporting following its investigation of the consumer's identity theft claim.  A consumer had reported to a credit bureau that his identity had… Read More

Yesterday, the FTC prevailed against the National Automobile Dealers' Association's challenge to the FTC's Risk Based Pricing Rules under FACTA.  The FTC's Motion to Dismiss was granted and the NADA's Summary Judgment Motion was denied.  (National Auto. Dealers Ass'n v. F.T.C., --- F.Supp.2d ----, 2012 WL 1854088 (D.D.C. 2012) Judge Huvelle summarized the case as follows: The National Automobile Dealers… Read More

In Reilly v. Ceridian Corp., --- F.3d ----, 2011 WL 6144191 (3rd Cir. 2011), the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held that fear of identity theft is not a compensable loss conferring Article III standing litigants in federal court.  The case arose from the following facts.  Ceridian is a payroll processing firm.  To process its commercial business customers'… Read More

In Tara v. AFNI, Inc., here, Judge Dalzell held that an identity theft victim has standing to sue a debt collector under the TCPA for calling the victim’s land-line (not the victim’s cell phone) with its autodialer, but found that debt collection calls made to land lines are exempt from the TCPA – whether made to debtors or innocent non-debtors. … Read More

The Red Flag Program Clarification Act of 2010 narrows the definition of the term “creditor” to include only entities that that use consumer reports, furnish information to consumer reporting agencies, or to others who extend credit.  More specifically, it amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act, with respect to federal agency (red flag) guidelines regarding identity theft and the users of consumer… Read More

In Paul v. Providence Health System-Oregon, --- P.3d ----, 2010 WL 3894650 (Or.App. 2010), the Oregon Court of Appeal rejected a claim by approximately 365,000 individuals whose unencrypted records containing personal, medical, and financial information were stolen from the car of one of defendant's employees.  Plaintiffs alleged that defendant had negligently failed to safeguard those records.   Plaintiffs sought injunctive relief… Read More

In Ruiz v. Gap, Inc. Ruiz v. Gap, Inc. 2010 WL 2170993 (9th Cir. 2010), the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit found speculative Plaintiff’s claims of fear of future identity theft based on theft of a laptop computer that contained the Plaintiff’s social security number. The Court of Appeals explained, in an unpublished opinion, that:   The district… Read More

Here's the short ruling:  red-flag-rule-15-amended-order.   The FTC today issued an amended Red Flag Rule here.  The FTC also delayed its enforcement of the Rule until June 1, 2010:    FTC Extends Enforcement Deadline for Identity Theft Red Flags Rule. At the request of Members of Congress, the Federal Trade Commission is delaying enforcement of the "Red Flags" Rule until June… Read More

See the FTC's Press Release here. Read More

Six federal agencies issued a set of frequently asked questions (FAQs) today to help financial institutions, creditors, users of consumer reports, and issuers of credit cards and debit cards comply with federal regulations on identity theft and discrepancies in changes of address. The “Red Flags and Address Discrepancy Rules,” which implement sections of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act… Read More

The FTC recently added a web page to offer assistance to businesses attempting to comply with its Red Flag identity theft rules.   http://www.ftc.gov/redflagsrule Read More

The Federal Trade Commission said it would delay implementation of what is known as the “Red Flag” rules from Nov. 1 to May 1, 2009. The rule requires that creditors adopt programs to identify and respond to indicators of identity theft.For the FTC's Notification, please see http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2008/10/redflags.shtm Read More

Reminder:  FACTA Red Flag Rules become mandatory November 1, 2008.    From the FTC's website: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the federal bank regulatory agencies, and the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) have issued regulations (the Red Flags Rules) requiring financial institutions and creditors to develop and implement written identity theft prevention programs, as part of the Fair and Accurate Credit… Read More