Biggs v. Experian Information Solutions, Inc.

209 F. Supp. 3d 1142, 2016 WL 5235043, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 130742
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedSeptember 22, 2016
DocketCase No. 5:16-cv-01507-EJD
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 209 F. Supp. 3d 1142 (Biggs v. Experian Information Solutions, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Biggs v. Experian Information Solutions, Inc., 209 F. Supp. 3d 1142, 2016 WL 5235043, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 130742 (N.D. Cal. 2016).

Opinion

ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO DISMISS

EDWARD J. DAVILA, United States District Judge

Plaintiff Victoria Biggs (“Plaintiff’) brings this action for alleged violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”), 15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(b), and the California Consumer Credit Reporting Agencies Act, California Civil Code § 1785.25(a) against several defendants, including Bank of America, N.A. Federal jurisdiction arises pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331. Presently before the court is Bank of America’s motion to dismiss Plaintiffs Complaint pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). Dkt. No. 15. Plaintiff opposes the motion.

This matter is suitable for decision without oral argument pursuant to Civil Local Rule 7-l(b), and the hearing scheduled for September 29, 2016, is VACATED. Having carefully considered the pleadings filed by the parties, the court finds, concludes and orders as follows:

1. On a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, the complaint is construed in the light most favorable to the non-moving party, and all material allegations in the complaint are taken to be true. Sanders v. Kennedy, 794 F.2d 478, 481 (9th Cir.1986). The alleged facts “must be enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level” such that the claim “is plausible on its face.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 556-57, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). “Threadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere eonclusory statements, do not suffice” to state a claim. Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 663, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009). Instead, the requisite threshold is reached when the complaint contains sufficient facts to allow the court to draw a reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the alleged misconduct. Id. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937.

2. Although the FCRA generally prohibits “[a] person” from furnishing information “relating to a consumer” to any consumer reporting agency (“CRA”) “if the person knows or consciously avoids knowing that the information is inaccurate,” a consumer cannot sue a furnisher based simply on the communication of inaccurate information. 15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(a); see Nelson v. Chase Manhattan Mortg. Corp., 282 F.3d 1057, 1059 (9th Cir.2002). Instead, a consumer has a private right of action against a furnisher if, after receiving notice that information is disputed, the furnisher fails to reasonably undertake one of the following duties: “conduct an investigation with respect to the disputed information,” “review all relevant information provided by the consumer reporting agency,” “report the results of the investigation to the consumer reporting agency,” and “if the investigation finds that the information is incomplete or inaccurate, report those results to all other consumer reporting [1144]*1144agencies to which the person furnished the information and that compile and maintain files on consumers on a nationwide basis.” 15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(b).

3. Consequently, “[t]o state a claim under the FCRA, a plaintiff must show that: (1) he found an inaccuracy in his credit report; (2) he notified a credit reporting agency; (3) the credit reporting agency notified the furnisher of the information about the dispute; and (4) the furnisher failed to investigate the inaccuracies or otherwise failed to comply with the requirements of 15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(b)(l)(A)-(E).” Corns v. Residential Credit Solutions, Inc., No.: 2:15-cv-1233-GMN-VCF, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 27864, at *4 (D.Nev. Mar. 3, 2016).

4. For the first element, a complaint’s allegations must dispute facts underlying a purported inaccuracy; the presentation of legal defenses to payment will not suffice. See Chiang v. Verizon New Eng. Inc., 595 F.3d 26, 38 (1st Cir.2010) (“[J]ust as in suits against CRAs [under § 1681i], a plaintiffs required showing [under § 1681s-2(b)] is factual inaccuracy, rather than the existence of disputed legal questions” because “[l]ike CRAs, furnish-ers are ‘neither qualified nor obligated to resolve’ matters that ‘turn[ ] on questions that can only be resolved by a court of law.’ ”); see also Carvalho v. Equifax Info. Servs., LLC, 615 F.3d 1217, 1230 (9th Cir.2010) (“Although the FCRA’s reinvestigation provision, 15 U.S.C. § 1681i, does not on its face require that an actual inaccuracy exist for a plaintiff to state a claim, many courts, including our own, have imposed such a requirement.”). “The inaccuracy requirement comports with the purpose of the FCRA, which is ‘to protect consumers from the transmission of inaccurate information about them.’” Carvalho, 615 F.3d at 1230 (quoting Gorman v. Wolpoff & Abramson, LLP, 584 F.3d 1147, 1157 (9th Cir.2009)). Notably, however, “a credit entry can be ‘incomplete or inaccurate’ within the meaning of the FCRA ‘because it is patently incorrect, or because it is misleading in such a way and to such an extent that it can be expected to adversely affect credit decisions.’ ” Gorman, 584 F.3d at 1163 (quoting Sepulvado v. CSC Credit Servs., Inc., 158 F.3d 890, 895 (5th Cir.1998)).

5. Here, Plaintiff alleges she filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy protection on December 10, 2014, and that a plan was confirmed on March 21, 2015. Compl., Dkt. No. 1, at ¶ 5. Plaintiff then ordered a “three bureau” credit report on July 11, 2015, and “noticed several tradelines all reporting misleading and inaccurate balance and past due information,” which she disputed with each of the CRAs. Id. at ¶¶ 7, 8. She believes the CRAs communicated her dispute to the furnishers of the purportedly inaccurate information. Id. at ¶ 9. As to Bank of America, Plaintiff alleges it was reporting her account as “having a balance and past due balance owed and did not properly reflect the amount that was to be paid on the account pursuant to the Court Ordered terms of Plaintiffs chapter 13 plan of financial reorganization.” Id. at ¶ 11.

6. Since there is no allegation or other qualifying evidence to show Plaintiff has received a bankruptcy discharge,1 Bank of America argues that Plaintiffs FCRA claim is deficient because it is not inaccurate for furnishers of credit information to report delinquencies or a balance owed during the pendency of a bankruptcy. As applied to the facts alleged by Plaintiff, [1145]*1145Bank of America is correct.

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209 F. Supp. 3d 1142, 2016 WL 5235043, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 130742, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/biggs-v-experian-information-solutions-inc-cand-2016.