Opinion ID: 2766683
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Collins’ Willful Violation Claim

Text: Under 15 U.S.C. § 1681n(a), “[a]ny person who willfully fails to comply with any requirement imposed under this subchapter with respect to any consumer is liable to that consumer” for actual, statutory, or punitive damages. See Harris v. Mexican Specialty Foods, Inc., 564 F.3d 1301, 1306 (11th Cir. 2009). The Supreme Court has held that “reckless disregard of a requirement of FCRA would qualify as a willful violation within the meaning of § 1681n(a).” Safeco, 551 U.S. at 71, 127 S. Ct. at 2216; see also Harris, 564 F.3d at 1310 (“A violation is ‘willful’ for the purposes of the FCRA if the defendant violates the terms of the Act with knowledge or reckless disregard for the law.”). “[A] company subject to FCRA does not act in reckless disregard of it unless the action is not only a violation under a reasonable reading of the statute’s terms, but shows that the company ran a risk of violating the law substantially greater than the risk associated with a reading that was merely careless.” Safeco, 551 U.S. at 69, 127 S. Ct. at 2215. The district court did not err in finding that while a jury could find Experian’s reinvestigation conduct negligent, Experian’s conduct did not rise to the level of running “a risk of violating the law substantially greater than the risk associated with a reading that was merely careless.” See id. Taking no steps other than contacting only Equable with an ACDV form regarding the disputed entry 12 Case: 14-11111 Date Filed: 01/05/2015 Page: 13 of 13 might have been negligent, but willfulness or recklessness is a higher standard that has not been met in this case. Therefore, we affirm the district court’s grant of summary judgment on Collins’ claim that Experian willfully violated § 1681i(a) when reinvestigating his disputed debt.