Opinion ID: 204228
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: claim against experian

Text: Birmingham alleges that Experian violated § 1681e(b) and § 1681i(a)(1) of the FCRA. Section 1681e(b) states: Whenever a consumer reporting agency prepares a consumer report it shall follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy of the information concerning the individual about whom the report relates. 15 U.S.C. § 1681e(b). Under § 1681i(a)(1), if a consumer notifies a consumer reporting agency of a dispute concerning the completeness or accuracy of information in the consumer's file, the agency shall, free of charge, conduct a reasonable reinvestigation to determine whether the disputed information is inaccurate and record the current status of the disputed information, or delete the item from the file ... before the end of the 30-day period beginning on the date on which the agency receives the notice of the dispute from the consumer or reseller. Id. § 1681i(a). Section 1681o(a) provides that a consumer is entitled to actual damages for a negligent violation of the FCRA. See id. at § 1681o(a). Under § 1681n(a), however, the consumer need not prove actual damages if the violation is willful, but may recover punitive damages and statutory damages ranging from $100 to $1,000. See id. at 1681n(a). A willful violation is either an intentional violation or a violation committed by an agency in reckless disregard of its duties under the FCRA. See Safeco Ins. Co. of Am. v. Burr, 551 U.S. 47, 57-58, 127 S.Ct. 2201, 167 L.Ed.2d 1045 (2007). Recklessness is measured by an objective standard: action entailing an unjustifiably high risk of harm that is either known or so obvious that it should be known. Id. at 68, 127 S.Ct. 2201 (internal quotation marks omitted). [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. Id. at 69, 127 S.Ct. 2201. Birmingham's opening brief on appeal challenges the district court's ruling that he had not established actual damages. But he abandoned that challenge at oral argument. His counsel surprised the court by stating: We didn't raise the issue of actual damages with Experian. And when asked: And your damages claim, then, is essentially you had proof of willfulness, and therefore you're entitled to statutory damages regardless of whether you put on evidence of actual damages? he responded, Correct. Accordingly, the sole issue before us is whether Experian was entitled to summary judgment on the claim that it willfully violated the FCRA. We review de novo the district court's grant of summary judgment. Fredericks v. Jonsson, 609 F.3d 1096, 1098 (10th Cir. 2010). Summary judgment should be rendered if the pleadings, the discovery and disclosure materials on file, and any affidavits show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c)(2) (2009); cf. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a) (effective Dec. 1, 2010) (The court shall grant summary judgment...). [W]e must view the facts in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Fredericks, 609 F.3d at 1097. Birmingham has presented little evidence regarding what Experian knew and when it knew it. The record shows the following: In December 2003, Birmingham discovered that fraudulent charges had been made to one of his credit cards. He filed a statement of identity theft with the police department in Reno, Nevada (where he lived at the time), and sent a letter to the Las Vegas, Nevada, police department. He also reported the fraud to Experian by telephone and requested that it add a security alert to his file. Experian sent him a letter (incorrectly addressed to the name Raymond Burnham but listing the proper Reno address) dated December 1, 2003, stating that a fraud security alert had been added to his personal credit report, suggesting that he consider adding a fraud-victim statement that would remain on his credit file for seven years, and detailing the information needed to add such a statement to his file. Birmingham does not recall providing that information to Experian, and Experian has no record of receiving such information from him. On January 12, 2004, Birmingham reported to Verizon Wireless, with whom he maintained two mobile telephone accounts, that two fraudulent telephone accounts had been opened in his name and that fraudulent charges had appeared on one of his legitimate accounts, apparently as the consequence of the same identity theft. Although Verizon Wireless terminated the fraudulent accounts the next day, Birmingham alleges that it failed to credit him for the fraudulent charges incurred on the legitimate account. After Birmingham failed to make any payments on his legitimate accounts for several months, Verizon closed those two accounts and reported the unpaid charges to Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. Birmingham complained to Equifax and TransUnion; and both investigated his disagreement with Verizon and received verification of the information from Verizon. But there is a dispute of fact regarding when and how Birmingham complained to Experian, which conducted no investigation. In a sworn declaration Birmingham asserted that he had first disputed [with Experian] the Verizon Wireless charges in writing on January 21, 2005.... Aplt. App., Vol. III at 1065. In deposition testimony, however, he said that he had no recollection of sending anything in writing to Experian in January 2005. Instead, he stated that he disputed online, id., Vol. I at 438, with all three credit agencies, and that he did so approximately every six months; yet he had no records of doing so (he said that these online communications could not be printed out) and could not provide the date, week, or even month of any communication to Experian. The only document from Experian for the relevant time period was a letter dated January 21, 2005, produced by Experian in discovery; and it indicated that he had not contacted Experian. It stated that Experian had added an Initial Security Alert to [Birmingham's] credit file as requested on [his] behalf by one or more of the nationwide consumer credit reporting agencies. Id., Vol. II at 454 (emphasis added). The letter told him what information he would need to provide to place an extended fraud alert on his credit file and to block information on his file that he believed resulted from identity theft. The required information included appropriate proof of [his] identity (such as his social security number) and an identity-theft report, including a copy of a report you have filed with a federal, state, or local law enforcement agency. Id. at 455. Birmingham, however, never sent any credit-reporting agency a copy of the Reno police report or his letter to the Las Vegas police. A few months later, on July 20, 2005, Birmingham did send a letter to the three credit-reporting agencies. The letter provided his name, his current address in Utah, and a contact telephone number. It requested a free credit report and the removal from his credit file of derogatory information provided by Verizon. Experian responded a week later in a letter stating that it could not honor his request because it was unable to access [his] report using the identification information [he] provided. Id. at 459. The letter explained that for a person to access his own credit report, Experian requires the person's full name, including middle name and generation; current mailing address and two proofs of the address; social security number; date of birth; and complete addresses for the past two years, including apartment numbers and zip codes. The letter provided an internet address and phone number to contact if Birmingham already had a personal credit report, thought the information to be inaccurate, and wished to request an investigation. Experian had no record of a response. (Although Birmingham stated in his deposition that he believe[d] that [he] probably did respond to the letter, id. at 754, he had no specific recollection of doing so and does not press the point on appeal.) Experian's procedures for ensuring the accuracy of credit entries were described in affidavits from two employees: Kimberly Hughes, a Consumer Affairs Specialist Consultant, and Kathleen M. Centanni, a Compliance Manager. [1] Both stated that to prevent identity theft and fraud, Experian requires the consumer to provide his social security number and other specified identifying information before Experian takes any action regarding his file. If a consumer requests an investigation into an item listed on his report but fails to provide a social security number or provides an address that had never been previously reported to Experian by a credit grantor, Experian sends a letter explaining that further verification of the consumer's identity is required to initiate an investigation. Once sufficient information has been provided, Experian contacts the source of the disputed information and describes the dispute. The source must research the information reported and respond regarding the accuracy of the information. Depending on the answer, Experian leaves the item as is, deletes it, or changes it in a manner specified by the source. It also sends the consumer a disclosure stating the results of the investigation and instructs the consumer on additional steps that he may take. On this record, Experian was entitled to summary judgment on the willful-misconduct claim. Experian's standard procedures appear reasonable. More importantly, we have been pointed to no described practice that would be a reckless violation of the FCRA. And there is no evidence that Experian's specific actions with respect to Birmingham were reckless. He claims to have complained to Experian about Verizon in January and July 2005. But Experian's response in July was appropriate; it asked for additional identifying information to be sure it was being contacted by the consumer himself. As for January, Experian added a security alert in Birmingham's credit file after being contacted by another credit-reporting agency; and it sent Birmingham a letter informing him of what was needed to place an extended fraud alert in his file. It has no record of any complaint directly from Birmingham. Even if one believes Birmingham's vague assertion that he contacted Experian in January, the most one can reasonably infer from the absence of any record of that contact in Experian's files is that a clerical employee negligently failed to record the complaint. To infer that Experian acted recklessly in response to the complaint would require inappropriate speculation. A reasonable person reviewing the evidence before the district court could not find Experian to have committed a willful violation of the FCRA.