Berry v. Experian Information Solutions, Inc.

Background

Patricia Ann Berry filed the case without a lawyer. Her original complaint named Experian Information Solutions, Inc., Equifax Information Services, LLC, Trans Union LLC, Merrick Bank Corporation, and Continental Finance Company, LLC. Several defendants were later dismissed. Trans Union remained a defendant, and it moved to dismiss Berry’s claims.

Berry alleged that credit reports she reviewed in December 2023 contained inaccurate payment history for a Merrick Bank account and incomplete payment history for a TBOM/Continental Finance account. She said she sent dispute letters to the reporting agencies in January 2024. According to Berry, Trans Union did not follow up with her, obtain relevant documents from the companies that supplied the information, or perform handwriting analysis. She alleged that these failures caused a lower credit score, denial of credit, stress, anxiety, headaches, sleeplessness, and other harm.

Claims and arguments

Berry asserted six grounds under Sections 1681e(b) and 1681i of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Trans Union argued that Berry had not identified the required inaccurate information, explained how the reporting could mislead a reasonable creditor, or established that the reporting was inaccurate.

Court’s analysis

The court applied the standard for a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). At that stage, the court accepts factual allegations as true and asks whether the complaint states a claim that is plausible based on its facts. Because Berry was representing herself, the court also read her complaint liberally and interpreted it to raise the strongest arguments reasonably suggested by its allegations.

For claims under Sections 1681e(b) and 1681i, the court identified inaccuracy as a threshold requirement. A plaintiff must identify the specific information that is inaccurate and explain why it is inaccurate. Berry alleged that the Merrick Bank payment history was inaccurate and the TBOM/Continental Finance payment history was incomplete. She also alleged that some account-level information was missing, including the actual payment amount and date of last activity.

The court concluded that Berry did not explain what the payment-history errors were for the TBOM/Continental Finance account, why the information was inaccurate, or how the information should have been reported. Because she did not plausibly allege an inaccuracy, the court held that it did not need to examine whether Trans Union used reasonable procedures to investigate or report the information.

Disposition

The court granted Trans Union’s motion to dismiss. It also granted Berry leave to amend because she had not previously been notified of the deficiencies and had not been given an opportunity to correct them. The court ordered her to file an amended complaint by March 1, 2025. It stated that, if she failed to amend by that date, the action would be dismissed with prejudice. The clerk was directed to terminate the motion on the docket.