Opinion ID: 78345
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The FCRA

Text: The FCRA endeavors to ensure fair and accurate credit reporting, promote efficiency in the banking system, and protect consumer privacy, Safeco Ins. Co. of America v. Burr, 551 U.S. 47, 127 S.Ct. 2201, 2205, 167 L.Ed.2d 1045 (2007), by, among other things, compelling merchants to adopt procedures to safeguard consumers' credit information. See 15 U.S.C. § 1681(b). In 2003, Congress passed the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA), Pub.L. No. 108-159, 117 Stat. 1952 (2003) (codified at 15 U.S.C. § 1681c(g)), amending the FCRA. FACTA, which is aimed at protecting consumers from identity theft, provides that no person that accepts credit cards or debit cards for the transaction of business shall print more than the last 5 digits of the card number or the expiration date upon any receipt provided to the cardholder at the point of the sale or transaction. 15 U.S.C. § 1681c(g)(1). [1] As part of its framework, the FCRA authorizes consumers to bring private suits for willful violations of its terms. [2] Originally, the FCRA provided actual and punitive damages for willful violations. 15 U.S.C. § 1681n(1)-(2) (1970). In 1996, Congress amended this section, adding that victims of willful violations could receive any actual damages sustained by the consumer as a result of the failure or [statutory] damages of not less than $100 and not more than $1,000. Pub L. No. 104-208, Div. A, Title II, Subtitle D, 2412(b), 110 Stat. 3009-446 (1996) (codified at 15 U.S.C. § 1681n(a)(1)(A)) (emphasis added). In addition, the FCRA still allows victims of willful violations to receive punitive damages. See 15 U.S.C. § 1681n(a)(2). The FCRA was further amended by the Credit and Debit Card Receipt Clarification Act of 2007 (Clarification Act), Pub.L. No. 110-241, 122 Stat. 1565 (2008) (codified at 15 U.S.C. § 1681n(d)), which was signed into law on June 3, 2008just a few days after the district court's decision in the instant case. The Clarification Act applies to transactions that took place between December 4, 2004, and June 3, 2008, exempting merchants from liability for willful violations of the FCRA in cases where the merchant printed credit card expiration dates on customer receipts, but otherwise complied with FACTA. Id. The Clarification Act applies retroactively to all cases pending as of the time of its enactment. Id. This means that to recover for willful FACTA violations that occurred prior to the enactment of the Clarification Act, a customer must prove that the merchant printed more than the last five digits of the customer's card number on an electronically-generated receipt. Simply proving that the expiration date was printed will not suffice.