A District Court judge has dismissed a Fair Credit Reporting Act and Fair Debt Collection Practices Act lawsuit filed by a consumer against a collection operation that was accused of obtaining information from the consumer’s credit report without a permissible purpose and for failing to initiate collection activity prior to access her credit report.
The background: The case was filed after the plaintiff noticed three inquiries on her credit report. The plaintiff alleged that the defendant, a collection operation, accessed her credit information without a permissible purpose under the FCRA. She further claimed that the defendant failed to initiate collection activity before accessing her report and did not provide her the opportunity to dispute the debt.
- The plaintiff specifically argued that one of the inquiries involved an attempt to collect an unpaid highway toll balance, which she contended was not a consumer debt.
- For the other inquiries, the plaintiff claimed she never entered into any credit transaction with the creditors listed by the defendant.
The ruling: Without needing anything from the defendant, Judge Chad F. Kenney of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania dismissed the case because the plaintiff failed to state a claim.
- Judge Kenney noted that the FCRA permits debt collectors to obtain a credit report for the purpose of collecting on a delinquent account, which is a permissible purpose. The defendant’s inquiries into the plaintiff’s credit report fell within this scope as they were for collection purposes.
- Regarding the FDCPA claim, the judge found that the plaintiff failed to allege that the defendant had actually attempted to collect a debt. The plaintiff admitted that no collection efforts had been initiated for the accounts in question, which undercuts any claim under the FDCPA. Additionally, Judge Kenney noted that the plaintiff did not cite any specific provision of the FDCPA that was violated.
- Since this was already an amended complaint that had been filed by the plaintiff, Judge Kenney dismissed the case.
