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DISCLAIMER: This article is based on a complaint. The defendant has not responded to the complaint to present its side of the case. The claims mentioned are accusations and should be considered as such until and unless proven otherwise.
If you check your credit report and notice a number of “unauthorized” inquiries that are being made by a collection operation, yet the operation has yet to make any attempt to communicate with you — at least according to the complaint you have filed — is your first thought to file a lawsuit against that operation? One individual did, accusing the defendant of violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the Fair Credit Reporting Act, along with state law in New York.
The background: The plaintiff checked his credit report back in December and noticed 13 “unauthorized inquiries” from the defendant, dating back to January 2024. The plaintiff claims to have never entered in an account or a contract with the defendant.
- The defendant’s inquiries caused the plaintiff to suffer from emotional distress, an invasion of his privacy, that led to him feeling vulnerable, worried, and anxious which caused sleeplessness, and forced him to incur a loss of time due to research and learning necessitated by the defendant’s invasion of privacy.
The claims: The suit accuses the defendant of violating Section 1681(b)(f) of the FCRA by failing to have a permissible purpose to obtain the plaintiff’s credit report.
- The suit also accuses the defendant of violating Section 1692e of the FDCPA by allegedly using false pretenses to access the plaintiff’s credit report. The defendant allegedly misrepresented that it had a legitimate purpose for accessing the plaintiff’s credit report.
- The defendant is also accused of violating Section 1692e(10) of the FDCPA by engaging in deceptive conduct in an attempt to collect on a debt.
- The plaintiff is also accusing the defendant of violating Section 1692f of the FDCPA through its “unjustified” use of the plaintiff’s credit report.
