FCRA -- 15 U.S.C. § 1681

In Mader v. Experian Info. Sols., Inc., Nos. 20-3073, 21-2171, 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 79, at *11-17 (2d Cir. Jan. 4, 2023), the Court of Appeals found that pure legal disputes cannot form the basis for an "inaccuracy" under the FCRA.  The Court of Appeals summarized the issue as follows: The district court assumed that the kind of inaccuracy alleged… Read More

In Ringenbach v. DirecTV, LLC, No. 4:21 CV 1400 CDP, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 214026, at *2-4 (E.D. Mo. Nov. 29, 2022), Judge Perry denied a debt collector's motion to compel discovery of settlements with other co-defendants because she held that offset is not an affirmative defense under the FCRA/FDCPA. I.C. System's motions will be denied as it cites no… Read More

In Scarbo v. Wisdom Fin., No. 22-1398, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 31020, at *9 (3d Cir. Nov. 9, 2022), the Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit held that a furnisher conducted a reasonable investigation as a matter of law. We conclude that the District Court properly granted summary judgment in favor of LVNV and Great Lakes on Scarbo's claims… Read More

In Miller v. Westlake Servs. LLC, No. 8:21-cv-00692-JLS-KES, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 197076, at *21-30 (C.D. Cal. Oct. 28, 2022), Judge Staton granted partial summary judgment to an FCRA Plaintiff who claimed that she was a victim of identity theft. First, the Court declines Plaintiff's invitation to rule that "solely engaging in data conformity" renders a furnisher's investigation per se… Read More

In Angulo v. Truist Bank, No. 22 C 923, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 193573, at *8 (N.D. Ill. Oct. 25, 2022), Judge Kendall granted a motion for judgment on the pleadings against an FCRA Plaintiff. The intangible humiliation and embarrassment of credit denial may also be considered a concrete injury in the FCRA context. In passing the FCRA, Congress found,… Read More

In Rydholm v. Equifax Info. Servs. LLC, No. 20-3425, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 22691, at *5-7 (8th Cir. Aug. 16, 2022), the Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit held that the FCRA's standards applicable to the CRAs are not strict liability. "CRAs must look beyond information furnished to them when it is inconsistent with [their] own records, contains a… Read More

In Towle v. TD Bank USA, N.A., No. 22-CV-0624 (PJS/TNL), 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 146898, at *1-3 (D. Minn. Aug. 17, 2022), Judge Schiltz dismissed a credit reporting claim premised on the grounds that reporting charged off debt is inaccurate because, allegedly, it's not owing anymore.  Judge Schiltz found the allegation to be frivolous. Towle filed his original complaint on… Read More

In Richmond v. Medicredit, Inc., No. 5:21-CV-00068-KDB-DSC, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 130092, at *8 (W.D.N.C. July 22, 2022), Judge Bell denied an FDCPA defendant's summary judgment motion. The Court finds that there is a genuine issue of material fact as to whether Medicredit reported Richmond's debts as disputed to the credit reporting agencies ("CRAs"). The FDCPA protects consumers from certain… Read More

In Riser v. Cent. Portfolio Control, Inc., 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 109545, Case No. 3:21-cv-05238-LK (W.D. Wash. June 21, 2022), Judge King dismissed an FCRA claim against a consumer reporting agency over the propriety of reporting a medical debt which the Plaintiff claimed that she did not owe because she was covered by Washington's Medicaid plan. Relying on the Ninth… Read More

In George v. Summit Credit Union, No. 21-CV-259-JPS, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 112739, at *14-21 (E.D. Wis. June 27, 2022), Judge Stadtmueller granted partial summary judgment to an FCRA Plaintiff against a furnisher, leaving for further litigation only the issue of recoverable damages. The FCRA provides that a furnisher (such as Summit) can be held liable to a consumer for… Read More

We previously reported on this case here:  https://www.severson.com/consumer-finance/district-court-cal-finds-no-fdcpa-claim-based-on-reporting-account-as-disputed-when-debtor-did-not-dispute-the-debt/ Now, again, in Samano v. LVNV Funding, LLC, No. 1:21-cv-01692-SKO, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 114028, at *4-8 (E.D. Cal. June 27, 2022), Magistrate Oberta again granted a Motion to Dismiss, but again gave leave to amend, on whether credit reporting constituted debt collection activity. The purposes of the FDCPA are "to eliminate… Read More

In Gross v. Citimortgage (9th Cir. 2022) -- FCRA decision, No. 20-17160, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 13096, at *8 (9th Cir. May 16, 2022), the Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit held that under the FCRA, a furnisher of credit information must make a reasonable investigation if the consumer about whom it furnishes information to a credit reporting bureau… Read More

The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has long held that as part of their investigation obligations under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, consumer reporting agencies (“CRAs”) are not required to assess the merits of a legal defense to a payment obligation being reported on a consumer credit report. Carvalho v. Equifax Info. Servs., LLC, 629 F.3d 876, 891… Read More

In a strange fact pattern, in Samano v. LVNV Funding, LLC, No. 1:21-cv-01692-SKO, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 72102, at *11-14 (E.D. Cal. Apr. 18, 2022), Magistrate Judge Oberto dismissed FDCPA claims derived from Plaintiff's complaint that the debt collector reported the Account as disputed when the Plaintiff previously had written to the debt collector to advise that he did not… Read More

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

Smith v. Trans Union LLC, No. 20-4233, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 198812 (E.D. Pa. Oct. 14, 2021), Judge Savage dismissed an FCRA case premised on an alleged inconsistency in reporting an account as closed with a zero balance but also a past due balance. The issue in these Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) actions is whether a consumer reporting agency's… Read More

In Weiser v. Castille, No. 20-2043, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 173993, at *13-14 (E.D. La. Sep. 14, 2021), Judge Lemmon dismissed FDCPA and FCRA claims arising out of a Plaintiff's investment mobile home properties.   Additionally, an obligation arising from a commercial transaction, as opposed to a transaction "primarily for personal, family, or household purposes" is not a "debt" as defined… Read More

In Canady v. Kaps & Co. (USA) Ltd. Liab. Co., No. 4:20-CV-1253-CLM, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 148878, at *7-9 (N.D. Ala. Aug. 9, 2021), Judge Maze found that an FDCPA Plaintiff stated a 1692e(8) claim. Kaps also argues that Canady's complaint fails to state a claim under § 1692e(8) because Canady alleges that she disputed the debt only after Kaps… Read More

In TransUnion LLC v. Ramirez, No. 20-297, 2021 U.S. LEXIS 3401, at *1-7 (June 25, 2021), the Supreme Court held that every classmember must meet Art. III Standing.  SCOTUS explained in the syllabus: The Fair Credit Reporting Act regulates the consumer reporting agencies that compile and disseminate personal information about consumers. 15 U. S. C. §1681 et seq. The Act also creates a cause… Read More

In  Bruce v. Am. Honda Fin. Corp., No. 3:20-cv-00128-ECM, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 107187, at *9 (M.D. Ala. June 8, 2021), Judge Marks ruled against a FCRA Plaintiff on the claim that identification of the amount monthly payment on a closed, zero-balanced account is "inaccurate" and suggests to users that the account is open. Now pending before the Court is… Read More