Disputed Accounts

In Gatanas v. Am. Honda Fin. Corp., No. 20-07788 (KM) (JBC), 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 228973 (D.N.J. Dec. 7, 2020), Judge McNulty allowed an FCRA claim to proceed against an auto finance company. Gatanas contracted with Honda for an auto loan. (See Compl. ¶ 1.) He paid off that loan, and the account was closed. (See id. ¶ 15.) Honda… Read More

In Isler v. GE Emples. Fed. Credit Union, No. 3:18-cv-00867 (MPS), 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 176562 (D. Conn. Sep. 25, 2020), Judge Shea clarified when a Furnisher is and is not required to report an account as “disputed”. Plaintiff [*22]  also argues that GE Credit Union was negligent in failing at least to mark Plaintiff's account as disputed. Some courts have… Read More

In Chuluunbat v. Cavalry Portfolio Servs., LLC, No. 20 C 164, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 128931 (N.D. Ill. July 22, 2020), Judge Kocoras granted a furnisher’s motion to dismiss an FCRA claim. Given these letters, Cavalry argues that it was required to do nothing further than what it had already done to comply with its obligations under Section 1681s-2(b). Chuluunbat… Read More

In Hall v. Southwest Credit Sys., L.P., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 73350, *5-11 (D.C. Dist. May 1, 2019), Judge Howell found that a debt collector's failure to report to the consumer reporting agencies that the account was "disputed" could violate multiple provisions of the FDCPA. This case concerns one allegation: The defendant reported a debt to credit bureaus that the… Read More

In Evans v. Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC, 2018 WL 2035315, at *5–7 (C.A.7 (Ill.), 2018), the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that a debt collector violates the FDCPA when the debt collector receives an (untimely) dispute from a debtor in response to a 30-day validation letter and thereafter reports the account to a consumer reporting agency without reporting… Read More

In Fredrickson v. Cannon Federal Credit Union, 2017 WL 6558578, at *4 (D.N.M., 2017), Judge Brack granted summary judgment to a furnisher who allegedly failed to report a consumer's dispute as "disputed" because, Judge Brack said, the dispute was meritless. Furnishers can breach their § 1681s–2(b) duties if they fail to report the existence of a dispute because such an omission… 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 Powers v. Selcon Community Credit Union, et. al., 2016 WL 126739, at *4-5 (D.Or. 2016), Judge McShane denied summary judgment to a FCRA furnisher defendant on the reasonableness of its re-investigation.  The takeaways from the decision are four, from someone who has handled a number of such cases.  First, the decision demonstrates how granular these cases can get in terms of… Read More

In Vasquez-Estrada v. Collecto, Inc., 2015 WL 6163971, at *2 (D.Or., 2015), Judge Stewart addressed some FCRA rules for furnishers in the context of identity theft. Defendant also argues that plaintiff has been compensated for these same damages through his settlement with the CRAs in separate litigation. However, the settlement with the CRAs resolved only claims under the FCRA, not… Read More

In Calhoun v. Certegy Check Services, Inc., 2014 WL 4146886 (M.D.Fla. 2014), Judge Whittemore found that a Plaintiff stated a FCRA claim against a check services company for failing to report an account as ‘disputed’ during its reinvestigation. Plaintiff brought this action alleging violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”), 15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq., the Fair Debt… Read More