Appeals Court Upholds Summary Judgment in Favor of Defendant in FCRA Dispute Case

The Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has upheld a lower court’s decision granting summary judgment in favor of a defendant that was accused of violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act by not adequately investigating a dispute of a debt.

A copy of the unpublished opinion in Hall v. LVNV Funding can be accessed by clicking here.

When notified by the credit reporting agencies that there was a dispute, the defendant conducted an investigation and reviewed its own business records, and then reported the verification back to the credit bureaus, as required under the FCRA.

The plaintiff tried to argue that the defendant was required under the FCRA to provide “documentary support” for the debt, but the Appeals Court noted that such a requirement does not exist under the law.

The Appeals Court reviewed the steps that furnishers must take when a dispute is made, such as:

• conducting an investigation with respect to the disputed information
• reviewing all relevant information provided by the credit reporting agency
• reporting the results of the investigation to the credit reporting agency
• modifying, deleting, or permanently blocking the reporting of any disputed item of information that is found to be inaccurate, incomplete, or unable to be verified

“In light of the competent evidence, the district court did not err in granting summary judgment in favor of LVNV on Hall’s claims under the FCRA,” the Appeals Court ruled.