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FCRA Experience

Fair Credit Report Act (FCRA) Litigation

• Johnson v. Mid-Atlantic Fin. Co., Inc. (E.D. Va. 2006) (FCRA and ECOA class action) Johnson v. Mid-Atlantic Fin. Co., Inc. (E.D. Va. 2006) (FCRA and ECOA class action) Defended class action involving adverse action notices that were alleged to violate the Fair Credit Reporting Act and Equal Credit Opportunity Act.
• Pennington v. Midland Credit Management, Inc., Civil Action No. 1:10cv112 (ED VA, Alexandria) - case involved FCRA and FDCPA claims; Plaintiff claimed Midland violated section 1692(d) of the FDCPA by engaging in conduct the natural consequences of which was to harass, oppress and/or abuse her because: (1) Midland knew before it started to collect on this debt that it was outside of statute and not eligible for legal action; (2) Midland knew or should have known this trade line on plaintiff's credit report had been deleted by the credit reporting agencies due to fraud and identity theft; (3) plaintiff notified Midland during a February 2009 telephone conversation that this was not her account and that Midland cease calling her, yet Midland communicated with her a total of five times via telephone after the cease request.  Plaintiff also claimed Midland violated section 1692(g) by failing to send a validation notice within five (5) days of the initial contact with her, claiming the initial contact was a February 2009 telephone conversation. Lastly, Plaintiff claimed Midland violated section 1692(e)(2) during telephone conversations by creating a false impression of the character, amount or legal status of the debt. Case was settled after significant litigation.
• James Lindsey v. Capital One Financial Corp., Civil Action No. 3:05cv658, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.  This class action dealt with Capital One’s access to consumer files for purposes of its direct-mail marketing program.  Plaintiff claimed that Capital One lacked a permissible purpose under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.  After a detailed factual investigation, we were able to convince plaintiffs’ counsel that their assumed facts were incorrect.  The case settled on an individual basis for a four-figure number.  Alan Wingfield was lead counsel.
• Daughtry v. Knowledge Learning Corporation, et al., United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Civil Action No. 3:09-cv-00683 (Judge Robert E. Payne, Sr.).  Represented Knowledge Learning Corporation and Kindercare Learning Centers, Inc. in a class action alleging violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
• Sherelle Davis v. Citifinancial Auto Corporation, Civil Action No. 3:05cv704, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.  This putative class action under ECOA and FCRA alleged that improperly vague and deficient reasons for denial were used in an adverse action notice.  We were able to obtain an individual settlement in high five figures.  John Lynch was lead counsel for Citifinancial.
• Byerson v. Equifax Information Services, LLC, Civil Action No. 3:06cv582, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.  This lawsuit focused on the manner in which the national credit reporting agencies reported the credit limits associated with credit cards issued by Capital One, which chose not provide this information.  The lawsuit alleged that the national credit reporting agencies improperly elected not to leave the credit limit field in the consumer credit reports blank and chose to report the highest balance previously reached on the credit card as the card's credit limit in violation of the FCRA.  David Anthony acted as a local co-counsel in the class action, which was transferred to the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina following a successful motion to transfer.  See Byerson v. Equifax Info. Servs., LLC, 467 F. Supp. 2d 627 (E.D. Va. 2006).
• Mason v. Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc., Civil Action No. 3:06cv484, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.  This class action involved the use of debit cards to rent automobiles.  Plaintiff alleged that a national automobile renting company violated the FCRA and ECOA by providing car rentals on different terms depending upon whether the consumer used a debit card or credit card.  The lawsuit was dismissed – without the payment of money – prior to the national automobile renting company having to file responsive pleadings after extensive discussion with plaintiff’s counsel about the factual and legal issues the case and with no payment of money.  David Anthony was lead counsel.
• Martin v. United Auto Credit Corporation, Civil Action No. 3:05cv143, United States District Court, Eastern District of Virginia.  This class action dealt with the denial by a used automobile lender of 7,000+ loan applications and whether the adverse action notice sent by the used car lender complied with the FCRA and ECOA.  Plaintiff sought to have the Court certify a class for those individuals who were denied loan applications by the lender and provided the same adverse action notice.  This lawsuit settled on a class basis, and a class settlement was administered for the 7,000+ class members.  David Anthony was lead counsel.
• Vincent Towles v. BP Products North America, Inc., Civil Action No. 3:08cv434, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.  This pending putative class action alleges that BP failed to send preliminary notification and adverse action notices required by the FCRA to job applicants turned down based on criminal record background reports.  Alan Wingfield and John Lynch are lead counsel for BP.
• Joyce and Richard Yarish v. Downey Financial Corporation, Civil Action No. 3:08cv-00380, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.  This pending putative class action alleges that Downey failed to give notices of credit scores as required under the FCRA.  Alan Wingfield, David Anthony and John Lynch are lead counsel for Downey.
• Moore v. Midland Credit Management, Inc. General District Court for the City of Alexandria, Virginia (we represented Midland, filed by Matt Erausquin, we settled) - involved claims of using an fraudulent affidavit to obtain a judgment in GDC and that documents filed with the collection lawsuit referenced the total debt as principal and, additionally, misrepresented the amount of the interest component. Case was settled after litigation.
• Stith v. Midland Credit Management, Inc. General District Court for the City of Alexandria, Virginia  involved claims of using an fraudulent affidavit to obtain a judgment in GDC and that documents filed with the collection lawsuit in GDC referenced the total debt as principal and, additionally, misrepresented the amount of the interest component.
• Hundley v. Midland Credit Management, Inc., General District Court for the City of Alexandria, Virginia, and General District Court for the City of Fredericksburg, Virginia  involved claims of using an fraudulent affidavit to obtain a judgment in GDC and that documents filed with the collection lawsuit referenced the total debt as principal and, additionally, misrepresented the amount of the interest component. Settled favorably out of court.