Opinion ID: 687345
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Violations of 15 U.S.C. Sec. 1681i(c)

Text: 15 U.S.C. Sec. 1681i(c) states: 30 (c) Notification of consumer dispute in subsequent consumer reports. Whenever a statement of dispute is filed, unless there is reasonable grounds to believe that it is frivolous or irrelevant, the consumer reporting agency shall, in any subsequent consumer report containing the information in question, clearly note that it is disputed by the consumer and provide either the consumer's statement or a clear and accurate codification or summary thereof. 31 The district court granted Trans Union's motion for summary judgment after adopting Trans Union's position: since, under the FCRA there must first be an intervening reinvestigation between the dispute of an item of information and the placement of a statement on file, Trans Union was not liable absent reinvestigation. 32 In order to interpret Sec. 1681i(c), it is necessary to look at the two preceeding subsections: 33 (a) Dispute; Reinvestigation. If the completeness or accuracy of any such item of information contained in his file is disputed by a consumer, and such dispute is directly conveyed to the consumer reporting agency ..., the consumer reporting agency shall ... reinvestigate ... that information.... If after such reinvestigation such information is found to be inaccurate or can no longer be verified, the consumer reporting agency shall promptly delete such information.... 34 (b) Statement of dispute. If the reinvestigation does not resolve the dispute, the consumer may file a brief statement setting forth the nature of the dispute. The consumer reporting agency may limit such statements to not more than one hundred words if it provides the consumer with assistance in writing a clear summary of the dispute. 35 Since a statement of dispute under Sec. 1681i(b) need only be filed if the reinvestigation provided for in Sec. 1681i(a) does not resolve the consumer's complaint, the district court was correct in concluding that reinvestigation is a predicate to the filing of a statement of dispute, and hence that statement's inclusion in any consumer report. 36 Accordingly, in order to prove Trans Union's liability under Sec. 1681i(c), Guimond must show that she disputed an item in her file and that any reinvestigation conducted by Trans Union did not resolve the dispute. These two elements are established by Guimond's uncontradicted statements in her affidavit--she informed Trans Union that her report contained inaccuracies and Trans Union failed to delete these inaccuracies. However, Guimond must also show that she filed a statement of dispute and that it was not included with subsequent copies of her consumer report. Nowhere has Guimond claimed that she filed a statement of dispute. Indeed, Guimond's complaint seems to state either that 1) Trans Union did not perform any reinvestigation, or 2) after discovering the disputed information was inaccurate, Trans Union did not remove the information from her file--a claim more properly brought under Sec. 1681i(a). As a result, she has not established Trans Union's liability under this section. See Mirocha v. TRW, Inc., 805 F.Supp. 663, 670 (S.D.Ind.1992) (no duty to include a statement of dispute unless such statement was filed by consumer with agency); see also Boothe, 768 F.Supp. at 438 (same). Thus, we affirm the district court's resolution of Appellant's claims under 15 U.S.C. Sec. 1681i(c). 37