Opinion ID: 214368
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: FCRA claim

Text: Huertas's FCRA claim asserts that AMP obtained his credit report from TransUnion, a credit reporting agency, without any FCRA-sanctioned purpose. (App. 12.) The FCRA imposes civil liability upon a person who willfully obtains a consumer report for a purpose that is not authorized by the FCRA. 15 U.S.C. §§ 1681b(f), 1681n(a). However, the statute expressly permits distribution of a consumer report to an entity that intends to use the information in connection with a credit transaction involving the consumer on whom the information is to be furnished and involving the extension of credit to, or review or collection of an account of, the consumer.  [7] Id. § 1681b(a)(3)(A) (emphasis added). Huertas sought credit from ACB, which he received, and accumulated credit card debt. It was that consumer transaction which ultimately resulted in AMP's accessing of Huertas's credit report to collect on his delinquent accounts. Section 1681b(a)(3)(A) authorizes the use of consumer information under such circumstances. See Phillips v. Grendahl 312 F.3d 357, 366 (8th Cir.2002), abrogated on other grounds, Safeco Ins. Co. of Am. v. Burr, 551 U.S. 47, 127 S.Ct. 2201, 167 L.Ed.2d 1045 (2007); see also Stergiopoulos v. First Midwest Bancorp, Inc., 427 F.3d 1043, 1046-47 (7th Cir.2005). In his brief, Huertas points out that the FCRA prohibits a consumer reporting agency from making a consumer report containing [a]ccounts placed for collection or charged to profit and loss which antedate the report by more than seven years, measured from 180 days after the account is placed in collection or charged off by the creditor. 15 U.S.C. § 1681c(a)(4), (c)(1). Even if we were to consider this argument, which was not raised before the District Court, it is TransUnion, the consumer reporting agency, and not AMP, that created the consumer report of which Huertas complains. Accordingly, even assuming that this provision of the FCRA was violated, Huertas cannot state a claim against AMP on that basis. See D'Angelo v. Wilmington Med. Ctr., Inc., 515 F.Supp. 1250, 1253 (D.Del. 1981) (collection agency that provided information to consumer reporting agency regarding a debt was not a consumer reporting agency under the FCRA). Furthermore, Huertas cannot base his claim on 15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(a)(1)(A), because no private right of action exists under that provision. See 15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(c), (d); Nelson v. Chase Manhattan Mortg. Corp., 282 F.3d 1057, 1059 (9th Cir.2002). Accordingly, we will affirm the District Court's dismissal of Huertas's FCRA claim against AMP.