A District Court judge in Pennsylvania has granted motions to dismiss filed by the defendants — a credit reporting agency and a collection operation — in a Fair Credit Reporting Act case that claimed inaccurate information was included in the plaintiff’s credit report.
The background: The plaintiff alleged that after a debt collection lawsuit against him was dismissed with prejudice in 2023, the collection operation continued to furnish data about the debt to the credit reporting agency, which in turn continued to list the account as “in collections” through April 2025. He claimed this was inaccurate under the FCRA and that he was denied credit as a result.
- The plaintiff brought claims against the credit reporting agency under Section 1681e(b) for failing to ensure “maximum possible accuracy,” and against the collector under Section 1681s-2(b) for failing to investigate and correct inaccurate information.
The ruling: Judge Christy Criswell Wiegand of the District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania ruled that the plaintiff’s dispute was a legal one — about whether the debt was enforceable after dismissal — not a factual inaccuracy that could support an FCRA claim. Judge Wiegand noted that “consumer reporting agencies are not required to investigate the legal validity of the underlying debts they report” and that such disputes fall outside the scope of the FCRA.
- Even if the information could be verified, the judge said the reporting agency’s characterization of the account as “in collections” was “objectively appropriate,” since “debt collectors can still collect unenforceable debts.” The ruling emphasized that dismissal of a collection action does not necessarily make the debt uncollectable, as collectors may still seek voluntary payment.
- The court dismissed all claims against both defendants, including willful and negligent violation counts, finding that no actionable inaccuracy existed and that any further amendment would be futile.
- As Judge Wiegand wrote, the plaintiff’s allegations “fail to demonstrate that the credit report was inaccurate or misleading as required by the FCRA.”
- The plaintiff has appealed the ruling to the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
