Thelma Perry v. First National Bank, Doing Business as First National Credit Card

459 F.3d 816, 2006 U.S. App. LEXIS 21689, 2006 WL 2456774
CourtCourt of Appeals for the First Circuit
DecidedAugust 25, 2006
Docket05-3867
StatusPublished
Cited by59 cases

This text of 459 F.3d 816 (Thelma Perry v. First National Bank, Doing Business as First National Credit Card) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the First Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Thelma Perry v. First National Bank, Doing Business as First National Credit Card, 459 F.3d 816, 2006 U.S. App. LEXIS 21689, 2006 WL 2456774 (1st Cir. 2006).

Opinions

FLAUM, Chief Judge.

Plaintiff-Appellant Thelma Perry filed a class action suit against Defendant-Appellee First National Bank, d/b/a First National Credit Card (“First National”) under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA” or “Act”), 15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq. Perry alleged that the company violated 15 U.S.C. § 1681m(d) by failing to include a clear and conspicuous statement of certain disclosures required under the FCRA.

First National filed a motion for summary judgment. The district court granted First National’s motion, finding that amendments to FCRA had eliminated private rights of action to enforce § 1681m. The district court also granted First National’s motion to strike an expert report that Perry attempted to submit in support of her claim.

Perry sought to amend her complaint to allege that First National’s offer of credit was a sham, not a firm offer of credit, and that, pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 1681b(c)(l)(B)(i), First National was prohibited from accessing her consumer credit report. The district court denied Perry’s motion to amend, finding that the credit offer was a firm offer and that amending the complaint would be futile.

Perry appeals the grant of summary judgment for First National and the denial of her motion to amend. For the following reasons, we affirm.

I. Background

Perry received a credit solicitation mailing from First National, dated February 14, 2005, offering her a pre-approved Visa credit card with a $250 limit. The mailing contained a letter as well as a brochure setting forth the terms and conditions of the offer. One paragraph of the brochure, titled “Fair Credit Report Act Notice” (“Notice”) advised recipients in bold letters that “the credit bureau gave us your name and address and indicated that you met our minimum credit criteria,” and that “you can tell credit bureaus to stop using your credit information for this purpose.” The solicitation letter itself does not specifically refer to the Notice.

Perry did not authorize First National to access her consumer credit report. She alleges that First National accessed her consumer report and used a consumer reporting agency to target certain people, e.g., individuals with poor credit or individuals who recently obtained bankruptcy discharges, for sub-prime credit offers.

Perry alleged in her complaint that First National violated 15 U.S.C. § 1681m(d) by failing to include a “clear and conspicuous” statement of certain disclosures required by the FCRA. Perry tried to introduce the report of Timothy Shanahan (“Shanahan report”), a professor of education at the University of Illinois at Chicago, to support her argument that the Notice was not “clear and conspicuous.” [819]*819The Shanahan report included a “legibility analysis.”

The district court found that Perry did not have a statutory right to bring a private cause of action under § 1681m(d), due to a 2003 amendment to the FCRA that eliminated the right to bring such actions. The district court therefore granted summary judgment for First National. The district court also granted First National’s motion to strike Shanahan’s report, explaining that “[bjecause no private right of action exists under § 1681m, an evaluation of the Notice is not relevant to the instant case.”

Perry also argued that even if her claim under § 1681m(d) could not succeed, she should be allowed to amend her complaint to plead a violation of 15 U.S.C. § 1681b(c)(l)(B)(i). Section 1681b(c)(l)(B)(i) permits a consumer credit agency to furnish a consumer report even though the consumer has not initiated or authorized the release only if the credit or insurance provider is extending the consumer a “firm offer of credit.” Perry contends that the credit solicitation was not a firm offer of credit because it was for such a small amount of credit that it was virtually worthless. The district court disagreed and found that Perry could not state a claim under § 1681b(c)(1)(B)(i), because First National’s credit offer was a “firm offer of credit.” The district court denied Perry’s motion to amend, finding that although the minimum amount of credit that First National offered was small, the interest rate was clear, approval was guaranteed, and the credit card did not contain usage limitations.

II. Discussion

Our review of the district court’s decision on a motion for summary judgment is de novo. See, e.g., In re Copper Antitrust Litigation, 436 F.3d 782, 788 (7th Cir.2006). Summary judgment is appropriate when, taking all of the pleadings and evidence in the light most favorable to the non-moving party, “there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and ... the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c); see also Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322-23, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). “We review a denial of a motion to amend only for an abuse of discretion.” Butts v. Aurora Health Care, Inc., 387 F.3d 921, 925 (7th Cir.2004).

A. Private Right of Action To Enforce 15 U.S.C. § 1681m

Perry brought suit to enforce 15 U.S.C. § 1681m(d), relying on the private right of action provisions contained in 15 U.S.C. §§ 1681n and 1681o. The district court dismissed Perry’s claim, finding that an amendment to the FCRA had eliminated private rights of action under § 1681m.

Congress amended parts of 15 U.S.C. § 1681m on December 4, 2003, as part of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (“FACTA”), Pub.L. 108-159. The question here is whether the newly added § 1681m(h)(8) was designed to preclude private enforcement of the entirety of § 1681m, or just § lbSlmlh).1 15 U.S.C. § 1681m(h)(8) provides:

[820]*820(h) Duties of users in certain credit transactions
(8) Enforcement
(A) No civil actions
Sections 1681n and 1681o of this title shall not apply to any failure by any person to comply with

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Bluebook (online)
459 F.3d 816, 2006 U.S. App. LEXIS 21689, 2006 WL 2456774, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/thelma-perry-v-first-national-bank-doing-business-as-first-national-ca1-2006.