The U.S. Supreme Court has been asked to decide whether a homeowner association (HOA) assessment constitutes a “credit transaction” under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), which would open up an inquiry to the fundamental scope of one of the FCRA’s most important permissible purposes.

On July 24, the California Office of Administrative Law approved the Civil Rights Council’s (the Council) proposed amendment to California’s Employment Regulations Relating to Criminal History, which are set to become effective on October 1, 2023. Among other changes, the amendment modifies the existing regulations regarding employers’ investigation of a job applicant’s criminal history. Notably, the amendment expands the definition of “employer” under those regulations in such a way that could potentially implicate a background screener conducting a background check on behalf of an employer.

The drumbeat to increase regulation of tenant screening continues, this time in Michigan.

On June 15, Michigan state Representative Brenda Carter (D-29) introduced House Bill 4818, which proposes to amend landlord-tenant act 1972 PA 348. Specifically, the amendment proposes to exclude the credit score of a prospective Michigan tenant from being a deciding factor in determining the prospective tenant’s eligibility for a lease. Under the proposed amendment “credit score” is defined as, “the numerical score ranging from 300 to 850 assigned by a consumer reporting agency to measure credit risk.”

Do companies that use workplace surveillance tools to make hiring and firing decisions risk violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)? According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) in a recent comment, the answer to that question is yes. The Bureau’s official comment comes in response to a request for information

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it is launching an inquiry into the small business credit reporting industry. Specifically, it is ordering five firms to provide detailed information about their products and processes.

According to the FTC, the impetus for this inquiry is that unlike consumer reports, which are governed by the Fair Credit

On March 15, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a Request for Information (Request) seeking public comment on the business practices of data brokers and how they impact the daily lives of consumers. Specifically, the CFPB is interested in hearing details about the types of data that data brokers collect and sell, as well

A recent opinion issued by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted an employer’s motion for summary judgment, rejecting a series of technical arguments advanced by the plaintiff that the employer’s background check authorization forms violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

In Keefer v. Ryder Integrated Logistics, Inc. (Ryder Integrated),

On May 26, preliminary approval was sought to resolve a proposed class action, pending in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, against background screening company Inflection Risk Solutions LLC (Inflection). The proposed settlement seeks to resolve claims that Inflection violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act by allegedly reporting misdemeanor convictions as felonies

In December 2021, a federal judge granted a motion for summary judgment in Mitchell v. Specialized Loan Servicing LLC, holding that defendant Specialized Loan Servicing LLC (Specialized Loan) properly reported plaintiff Eric Mitchell’s (Mitchell) loan status by using a designation indicating “no payment history available this month.” The court held that this designation complied

On January 26, a federal judge granted plaintiff Maria Garcia’s (Garcia) motion to remand on the basis that the amount in controversy was below the required threshold. The order was based on the court’s interpretation of the California Investigative Consumer Reporting Act’s (ICRAA) statutory damages scheme and its finding that the statute allows for one