15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(b)

In Vandonzel v. JP Morgan Chase Bank, et. al., No. 17-CV-01819-LHK, 2017 WL 3267571 (N.D. Cal., July 31, 2017), Judge Koh denied a furnisher's FRCP 12b6 Motion in an FCRA case. However, Gorman does not support Chase’s argument that an investigation of disputed information is narrowly limited to the exact wording of the dispute letter. In Gorman, the Ninth Circuit… Read More

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

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

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 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 Moses v. Experian Information Solutions, Inc., 2016 WL 3670068, at *1 (N.D.Cal., 2016), Judge Freeman allowed an FCRA bankruptcy-reporting case past the pleadings.  The Plaintiff alleged that he filed a Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition in January 2015; his Chapter 13 plan was confirmed in May 2015; credit reports obtained in July 2015 showed that AFNI was reporting a balance… Read More

In Hughes v. Experian Information Solutions, Inc., 2016 WL 3670051, at *2-3 (N.D.Cal., 2016), Judge Freeman found that a FCRA plaintiff had not adequately pleaded an "inaccuracy" to sustain an FCRA claim. IQ Data contends that the FAC does not allege facts showing a credit reporting inaccuracy. The Court agrees. Plaintiff alleges that IQ Data reported Plaintiff's account as being… Read More

In Hinkle v. Midland Credit Management, Inc., 2016 WL 3672112, at *4-8 (C.A.11 (Ga.), 2016), the Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit reversed summary judgment for a debt buyer on the plaintiff's reinvestigation under FCRA, finding that more investigation was required than checking the dispute against its electronic records. When the CRAs informed Midland that Hinkle disputed the GE/Meijer… Read More

In Maiteki v. Marten Transport Ltd., 2016 WL 3747396, at *1 (10th Cir.  2016), the Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit affirmed judgment in favor of a furnisher against a FCRA plaintiff's claim that the furnisher inadequately re-investigated a credit dispute.  The facts did not necessarily arise out of a consumer transaction.   Marten is a transportation company that employed… Read More

In Bacharach v. Suntrust Mortgage, Incorporated, 2016 WL 3568059, at *1-2 (C.A.5 (La.), 2016), the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that the FCRA does not provide protection against commercial losses. Bacharach argues that due to SunTrust's alleged FCRA violations that resulted in the reporting of misinformation to various credit agencies, she was unable to purchase property at 2841… Read More