The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has affirmed a lower court’s decision in a Fair Credit Reporting Act case because the plaintiff chose to file suit instead of notifying the credit reporting agency and furnisher about the accuracy of the date in which a Chapter 13 bankruptcy filing was being reported.
A copy of the ruling in the case of Goz v. Allied Collection Service Inc., Grant & Weber Inc., Experian Information Solutions Inc., Silver State Schools Credit Union, and Wells Fargo Home Mortgage can be accessed by clicking here.
The administrator of an estate filed suit after the individual notified Experian and the credit union that information in her credit report was being mis-reported. The two entities investigated the disputes and corrected the inaccuracies and Experian reported back to the individual that she could submit additional documentation if she still questioned the accuracy of the information that was being reported.
Even though the individual still questioned the accuracy of the information, she chose to file suit rather than continue to work with the defendants to address the issues.
A lower court granted summary judgment in favor of the defendants, ruling that there was no genuine issue of material fact that proved the plaintiff notified Experian of the specific reporting error.
The Ninth Circuit agreed with the lower court, saying the plaintiff cited “no case in which we have permitted a consumer to prevail on an FCRA claim without first putting the credit reporting agency on notice of the information that is disputed.”
