Ameriquest Mortgage Co. v. Office of the Attorney General

170 Wash. 2d 418
CourtWashington Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 4, 2010
DocketNo. 82690-1
StatusPublished
Cited by38 cases

This text of 170 Wash. 2d 418 (Ameriquest Mortgage Co. v. Office of the Attorney General) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Washington Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ameriquest Mortgage Co. v. Office of the Attorney General, 170 Wash. 2d 418 (Wash. 2010).

Opinion

Fairhuest, J.

¶1 This case concerns the application of certain federal privacy laws to a request for information brought under the State’s Public Records Act (PRA), chapter 42.56 RCW. The Washington State Office of the Attorney General (AGO) obtained loan files, e-mails, and other papers from Ameriquest Mortgage Company during its investigation of Ameriquest’s lending practices. The AGO also generated its own documents and received other information directly from consumers who filed complaints about Ameriquest. A member of the public, Melissa A. Huelsman, invoking the PRA, asked for records from the investigation, and the AGO wants to disclose certain information, including names, addresses, phone numbers, and interest rates. Ameriquest does not object to the AGO’s disclosing information it received from individual consumers. Ameriquest does object to the AGO’s disclosing information it received from Ameriquest. The disputed issue is whether, and to what extent, the federal Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA), 15 U.S.C. §§ 6801-6809, and the relevant Federal Trade Commission (FTC) rule, preempt the PRA or otherwise bar the AGO from disclosing information it received from Ameriquest.

I. STATEMENT OF THE CASE

A. Overview of the GLBA and the FTC rule

¶2 In the GLBA, Congress enacted the federal policy requiring financial institutions to “respect the privacy of its customers” and “protect the security and confidentiality of those customers’ nonpublic personal information.” 15 U.S.C. § 6801(a). Pursuant to the rule-making authority granted in the GLBA, § 6804, the FTC adopted Privacy of Consumer Financial Information, 16 C.F.R. § 313.1 Under these fed[425]*425eral privacy protections, a financial institution is not allowed to disclose a consumer’s nonpublic personal information to a nonaffiliated third party,2 unless the consumer receives a prior notice and an opportunity to opt out. 15 U.S.C. § 6802(a)-(b); 16 C.F.R. § 313.10(a)(1).3 The notice must describe the financial institution’s privacy policies and practices, including the kinds of protected information that the financial institution discloses to nonaffiliated third parties. 15 U.S.C. § 6803; 16 C.F.R. § 313.6. A separate opt-out notice must “clearly and conspicuously” describe the consumer’s right to opt out of the financial institution’s disclosures of protected information and must give the consumer a “reasonable means” to exercise that right. 15 U.S.C. § 6802(b)(1); 16 C.F.R. § 313.7(a)(1). If, after being given proper notice and a reasonable opportunity to opt out, the consumer does not opt out, then the financial institution may disclose nonpublic personal information to nonaffiliated third parties. 15 U.S.C. § 6802(a)-(b); 16 C.F.R. § 313.10(a)(1). The disclosure must be consistent with the policies described in the notice. See 15 U.S.C. § 6802(a)-(b); 16 C.F.R. § 313.10(a)(1).

¶3 Several exceptions to the financial institution’s notice and opt-out obligation are set forth in § 6802(e) and 16 C.F.R. § 313.14-.15. Some of the exceptions are relevant here. The financial institution does not have to give notice if the disclosure is done “with the consent or at the direction of the consumer,” § 6802(e)(2); 16 C.F.R. § 313.15(a)(1); or is necessary to, among other things, “comply with Federal, State, or [426]*426local laws, rules, and other applicable legal requirements,” § 6802(e)(8); 16 C.F.R. § 313.15(a)(7)(i); or “comply with a properly authorized civil, criminal, or regulatory investigation,” § 6802(e)(8); 16 C.F.R. § 313.15(a)(7)(h).

¶4 These federal restrictions also prohibit a nonaffiliated third party from reusing or redisclosing any protected information received from a financial institution. The receiving nonaffiliated third party may disclose nonpublic personal information to its affiliates and those of the financial institution. 15 U.S.C. § 6802(c); 16 C.F.R. § 313.11(c)(l)-(2), (d)(l)-(2). However, the receiving nonaffiliated third party may not reuse or redisclose the nonpublic personal information to another nonaffiliated third party unless an exception applies or the reuse or redisclosure would be lawful if done by the financial institution. 15 U.S.C. § 6802(c); 16 C.F.R. § 313.11(c)-(d).

B. Factual and procedural history

¶5 The AGO accumulated thousands of pages of documents when it investigated Ameriquest’s lending practices for violations of the Consumer Protection Act, chapter 19.86 RCW. Ameriquest delivered loan files, e-mails, internal customer complaint files, and other documents to the AGO. Individual customers of Ameriquest gave information to the AGO through its consumer complaint process. The AGO also developed its own documents as the investigation unfolded. None of these documents are included in the appellate record, but an Ameriquest employee, in a sworn declaration, summarized the contents of the loan files that Ameriquest gave to the AGO:

[T]he loan files produced by Ameriquest to the AGO would, at minimum, include a customer’s full legal name, social security number (possibly an actual copy of the social security card as well), driver’s license number (possibly a copy of the actual license as well), date of birth, credit (FICO) [Fair Isaac Corporation] score, credit report (which would identify mortgages and consumer credit information such as name of credit card [427]

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Bluebook (online)
170 Wash. 2d 418, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ameriquest-mortgage-co-v-office-of-the-attorney-general-wash-2010.