Meagan Mihalko

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The District of Arizona recently granted a Spokeo motion filed by CenturyLink, holding that plaintiff Lydia Bultemeyer lacked standing to bring a purported class action under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

In her suit, Bultemeyer alleged that CenturyLink violated the FCRA when it accessed her credit report when she visited the company’s …

In early February, Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced that the agencies had reached a settlement with Woodbridge Coins and Jewelry Exchange, Inc. d/b/a Woodbridge Gold & Pawn (“Woodbridge Pawn”) to provide $56,763.60 in refunds to approximately 1,000 consumers. The CFPB and the AG’s Office alleged that the business…

Late last year, TransUnion agreed to pay approximately $17 million as part of a settlement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in connection with TransUnion’s advertising and marketing practices.  The settlement stems from a civil investigative demand that addressed TransUnion’s common industry practices relating to the advertising, marketing, and sale of consumer reports, credit scores,…

In an unpublished decision, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a complaint sufficiently alleged that Federal National Mortgage Association (“Fannie Mae”) may act as a consumer reporting agency (“CRA”) under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which could potentially subject Fannie Mae to the accuracy requirements imposed by section 1681e(b) of the FCRA.

In…

Last week, a district court in New Jersey dismissed a consolidated action against Michaels Stores, Inc., finding that the plaintiffs lacked Article III standing to bring their FCRA claims.

In the consolidated action, plaintiffs Christina Graham, Gary Anderson, Michele Castro, Janice Bercut, and Michelle Bercut applied for and were hired by Michaels.  Despite obtaining employment,…

On January 20, 2017, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision of first impression in Syed v. M-I, LLC, a putative class action, when it held that a prospective employer willfully violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) by including a liability waiver in its FCRA background check disclosure form.

Any employer who…

CashCall Inc. and Western Sky Financial LLC have settled another state action over alleged charging of interest rates in excess of the 18 percent limit.  The action, filed by the Florida Office of Attorney General, alleged that loans with illegal interest rates were made to consumers by Western Sky and were later purchased, serviced, …

On December 2, the court in Lee v. Hertz Corp., No. 15-cv-04562-BLF (N.D. Cal.) granted a motion to dismiss a putative Fair Credit Reporting Act class action against Hertz.  The court’s order, which was based on a finding that the named plaintiffs—Peter Lee and Latonya Campbell—lacked Article III standing, remanded the case to …

Petco’s motion to dismiss a background screening class action alleging violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act was recently denied by a district court in the Southern District of California.  In the putative class action, the plaintiffs alleged that Petco’s background check disclosure form violated the FCRA because it was not provided in a stand-alone…

Last week, a district court in the Northern District of California denied TransUnion LLC’s motion to decertify a Fair Credit Reporting Act class action that was certified prior to the Supreme Court’s 2016 Spokeo ruling.  The class action case accused TransUnion of including inaccurate information on its consumer reports as well as failing to comply …