In September 2023, the CFPB announced that it was launching a Fair Credit Reporting Act rulemaking and issued an outline of the proposals it is considering in preparation for convening a Small Business Advisory Review Panel. A group of consumer financial industry trade groups recently sent a letter to Director Chopra urging the CFPB to issue an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) before it publishes a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.… Continue Reading
Eleventh Circuit rules consumers can recover statutory damages for willful FCRA violations without proving actual damages
Posted in Credit Reports, Litigation and Court Decisions
Joining every other circuit to address the same issue, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit recently ruled that a consumer does not have to prove actual damages to recover statutory damages for willful violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
In Omar Santos, et al. v. Experian Information Solutions, Inc.… Continue Reading
FTC and CFPB submit amicus brief in Second Circuit on FCRA requirement for furnisher to conduct reasonable investigation of disputed information
Posted in Credit Reports, Litigation and Court Decisions
The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) have filed a joint amicus brief in which they urge the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to reverse the decision of a New York federal court in Suluki v. Credit One Bank, NA. The agencies argue that the district court disregarded the Fair Credit Reporting Act’s (“FCRA”) requirement that a furnisher delete disputed information that it cannot verify. … Continue Reading
CFPB Launches FCRA Rulemaking to Eliminate Creditor Use of Medical Debt
By John L. Culhane, Jr., Reid F. Herlihy & Ballard CFS Group on
On September 21, 2023, with limited time to digest the comments received by September 11, 2023 from the request for information regarding medical payment products, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) started the FCRA rulemaking process. The press release describes a “rulemaking process to remove medical bills from Americans’ credit reports.”… Continue Reading
FTC Settles With Background Report Companies for FCRA Violations and Deceptive Acts
By Loran Kilson on
Posted in Fair Credit, FTC Enforcement
The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) on September 11, 2023, settled a claim against a group of affiliated entities operating a background reporting business, Instant Checkmate, LLC, TruthFinder, LLC, The Control Group Media Company, LLC, Intelicare Direct, LLC, and PubRec LLC (“background report companies” or “companies”) for alleged misrepresentations that deceived consumers about whether they had criminal records and for operating as a consumer reporting agency without following the requirements of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”).… Continue Reading
CBA weighs in on the CFPB’s proposed expansion of what constitutes a credit report
By Elanor A. Mulhern on
The Consumer Bankers Association (“CBA”) recently published a letter it sent to the CFPB describing the information that banks typically use for identity verification and fraud prevention and addressing the impact of subjecting such information to the requirements of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”).
The letter is a response to CFPB Director Chopra’s recent remarks detailing proposed changes to the FCRA.… Continue Reading
This week’s podcast episode: Responding to direct and indirect identity theft disputes under the FCRA: What are the differences?
By Barbara S. Mishkin on
Posted in Credit Reports
We first review the Fair Credit Reporting Act provisions that establish the different requirements for how a creditor or other furnisher of information to a credit bureau must respond to direct and indirect identify theft disputes involving credit report information reported by the furnisher to a credit bureau. A direct dispute is one made directly by the consumer to the furnisher and an indirect dispute is one made by the consumer to the credit bureau and then submitted to the furnisher by the credit bureau.… Continue Reading
CFPB announces plans to propose rule regulating data brokers under the FCRA
By John L. Culhane, Jr., Michael Gordon & Ballard CFS Group on
In remarks delivered yesterday at a roundtable convened by the White House on protecting Americans from harmful data broker practices, CFPB Director Chopra announced that the CFPB plans to propose a rule under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) to address the practices of data brokers. In connection with Director Chopra’s announcement, the CFPB issued FAQs about its rulemaking plans. … Continue Reading
Second Circuit rules whether alleged inaccuracy is “factual” or “legal” does not determine if claim is actionable under the FCRA
By Joel E. Tasca & John L. Culhane, Jr. on
Posted in Credit Reports, Litigation and Court Decisions
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has ruled that because “there is no bright-line rule that only purely factual or transcription errors are actionable under the [Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)],” the FCRA does not contemplate a threshold inquiry by the court as to whether an alleged inaccuracy is “legal” for purposes of determining whether the plaintiff has stated a cognizable claim under the FCRA. … Continue Reading
Second Circuit holds inclusion on credit report of student loan debt alleged to have been discharged in bankruptcy did not make report inaccurate under FCRA
By John L. Culhane, Jr. on
Posted in Credit Reports, Litigation and Court Decisions
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently ruled that a plaintiff who alleged that Experian had violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act by including a discharged student loan debt on his credit report had not alleged an inaccuracy for purposes of the FCRA requirement that consumer reporting agencies (CRAs) follow reasonable procedures to assure the accuracy of information included in consumer reports. … Continue Reading