Wells v. Trans Union, LLC.

District Court, E.D. Virginia·Decided February 18, 2025·No. 3:24-cv-00061·Unknown

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA Richmond Division

NORMAN WELLS, ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) Civil Action No. 3:24CV61 (RCY) ) TRANS UNION, LLC, et al., ) Defendants. ) )

MEMORANDUM OPINION The case is before the Court on Defendant Experian Information Solutions’s (“Experian”) Motion to Compel Arbitration (“Motion to Compel”), ECF No. 37. The Motion has been fully briefed, and the Court dispenses with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before the Court, and oral argument would not aid in the decisional process. E.D. Va. Loc. Civ. R. 7(J). For the reasons stated below, the Court will grant the Motion to Compel. I. BACKGROUND1 This action was filed pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”). Compl., ECF No. 1. Plaintiff Norman Wells alleges that Defendant Experian violated Plaintiff’s rights by including “fraudulent and defamatory” information on Plaintiff’s consumer reports. Id. ¶ 49. In the instant motion, Experian asks the Court to compel the parties to engage in arbitration, rather than the present litigation, contending that it had an agreement with Plaintiff to arbitrate “all issues” relating to the matter at bar. Mot. Compel, ECF No. 37; Mem. Law Supp. Experian’s Mot. Compel

1 “[T]he applicable legal standard [in considering a motion to compel arbitration] is similar to that applied at summary judgment. Specifically, the pleadings and ‘all relevant, admissible evidence submitted by the parties’ are considered and ‘all reasonable inferences’ are drawn in favor of the non-moving party.” Meridian Imaging Sols., Inc. v. OMNI Bus. Sols. LLC, 250 F. Supp. 3d 13, 21 (E.D. Va. 2017); see also Grant-Fletcher v. Collecto, Inc., 2014 WL 1877410, at *3 (D. Md. May 9, 2014). (“Mem. Supp. Mot Compel), ECF No. 38. Relevant here, Plaintiff is a resident of Mississippi, Mem. Opp’n Mot. Compel (“Mem. Opp’n”) Ex. 4 at 1, ECF No. 45-4, and he similarly was so as of the date he entered into the agreement with Experian. Supp. Decl. Norman Wells ¶ 4, ECF No. 69-1. A. Plaintiff’s CreditWorks Account

Experian’s purported contract with Plaintiff stems from Plaintiff’s membership with Experian’s credit monitoring service “CreditWorks.” Mem. Supp. Mot. Compel Ex. A (“Smith Declaration”) ¶¶ 1–3,2 ECF No. 38-1. CreditWorks is offered by Experian through its affiliate, ConsumerInfo.com (“CIC”), which does business as Experian Consumer Services (“ECS”). Id. ¶ 1. Both Experian and CIC/ECS are wholly owned by Experian Holdings, Inc. Id. ¶ 2. Plaintiff enrolled in the CreditWorks service on August 6, 2017. Id. ¶ 3. At that time, in order to enroll, prospective members were required to complete two webforms: the first required the prospective member to enter personal information such as their name and phone number, and the second required the prospective member’s social security number, date of birth, and a selected

username and password. Id. ¶ 4. To submit the second form—and enroll in CreditWorks—the prospective member was required to click a “Submit Secure Order” button. Id. ¶ 4. Immediately above that button was the following warning (“Acceptance Statement”): “By clicking Submit Secure Order[,] I accept and agree to your Terms of Use Agreement [(“Agreement”)], as well as acknowledge receipt of your Privacy Policy and Ad Targeting Policy.” Id. Within the acceptance statement, the phrase “Terms of Use Agreement” was set out in blue letters, visually indicating that the phrase hyperlinked to the Agreement itself. Id. In other words, “[w]hen a consumer

2 For both the Smith Declaration and all other relevant filings, the Court applies the pagination assigned by CM/ECF. clicked on the ‘Terms of Use Agreement’ [phrase], an additional window would open within the consumer’s web browser containing the entire text of the [Agreement].” Id. To successfully enroll in CreditWorks on August 7, 2017, as Plaintiff undisputedly did, see Mem. Opp’n Ex. 4 at 2, Plaintiff had to select the “Submit Secure Order” button, thereby manifesting his assent to the linked Agreement. Smith Decl. ¶ 5. Plaintiff used the CreditWorks

service until he cancelled his membership on October 18, 2023. Id. B. Agreement Terms on August 7, 2017 On the date that Plaintiff enrolled in CreditWorks, the Agreement contained the following arbitration provision: ECS and you agree to arbitrate all disputes and claims arising out of this Agreement directly related to the Services or Websites, except any disputes or claims which under governing law are not subject to arbitration. This agreement to arbitrate is intended to be broadly interpreted and to make all disputes and claims between us directly relating to the provision of any Service and/or your use of any Website subject to arbitration to the fullest extent permitted by law. . . . This Agreement evidences a transaction in interstate commerce, and thus the Federal Arbitration Act governs the interpretation and enforcement of this arbitration provision.

Smith Decl. Ex. 3 at 7, ECF No. 38-1 at 12–42. However, the Agreement carves out FCRA claims from its arbitration provision: [F]or the avoidance of doubt, any dispute you may have with us arising out of the [FCRA] relating to the information contained in your consumer disclosure or report, including but not limited to claims for alleged inaccuracies, shall not be governed by this agreement to arbitrate.

Id. The Agreement also clarifies: All issues are for the arbitrator to decide, including the scope and enforceability of this arbitration provision as well as the [Agreement]’s other terms and conditions, and the arbitrator shall have exclusive authority to resolve any such dispute relating to the scope and enforceability of this arbitration provision or any other term of [the Agreement] including, but not limited to any claim that all or any part of this arbitration provision . . . is void or voidable. Id. at 8. Finally, the arbitration provision defined “ECS,” “you” and “us” to include, in relevant part, “our respective parent entities, subsidiaries, affiliates, agents, employees, predecessors in interest, [as well as] successors and assigns.” Id. at 17. II. RELEVANT PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Plaintiff Norman Wells filed this action against Trans Union, LLC, Equifax Information Solutions, LLC, Experian, and Capital One Financial Corporation on January 29, 2024. Compl., ECF No. 1. On May 22, 2024, Experian filed its Motion to Compel and Memorandum in Support. Mot. Compel; Mem. Supp. Mot. Compel, ECF No. 38; Smith Decl., ECF No. 38-1. After the Court granted Plaintiff extended time to file his Response, Order, ECF No. 42, Plaintiff filed his Memorandum in Opposition to Motion to Compel Arbitration (“Memorandum in Opposition”), ECF No. 45, on June 20, 2024. Experian filed its Reply in Support of Experian’s Motion to Compel Arbitration (“Reply”), ECF No. 49, on June 28, 2024. At that point, the Motion to Compel was fully briefed. However, from July 2, 2024, to September 9, 2024, Experian filed five Notices

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Wells v. Trans Union, LLC., (E.D. Va. 2025).

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