Thompson v. Equifax

Background

Kenan Thompson sued Equifax under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, a federal law governing consumer credit reporting. Equifax moved to dismiss the complaint. The order states that the motion was granted with leave to amend.

Alleged inaccuracies

The court said Thompson adequately alleged that three bank accounts—two Navy Federal accounts and one Discover account—were reported as charged off even though they had been paid in full. He also adequately alleged that two Discover accounts were reported as authorized-user accounts even though they were his individual accounts. Thompson identified each account by its last four digits.

The court found that Thompson did not state a claim based on his credit-utilization data. Although he alleged that the information was inaccurate, he did not explain what the credit report said about his utilization or why the information was inaccurate or misleading.

Equifax’s procedures and reinvestigation

The order explains that credit-reporting agencies must follow reasonable procedures to achieve the maximum possible accuracy of consumer information. When a consumer disputes information, the agency must conduct a reasonable reinvestigation and record the information’s current status or delete the item within 30 days after receiving notice of the dispute.

Thompson alleged that he sent Equifax a dispute with supporting documents on May 13, 2024, and that Equifax did not correct or remove the information within 30 days. He alleged that he made five additional disputes on July 3, September 12, September 24, October 7, and October 20, 2024. The court held that these allegations alone did not show that Equifax’s accuracy and reinvestigation procedures were unreasonable because the complaint did not make clear what Thompson said in the disputes, what documents he provided, or whether Equifax responded.

Damages and willfulness

The court found that Thompson sufficiently alleged actual damages, including credit denials, emotional distress, harm to his creditworthiness, and mental distress.

The court also held that Thompson did not allege enough facts to support an inference that Equifax willfully violated the Act. In the court’s view, more detail was needed about the documents Thompson sent, whether Equifax responded, and whether it followed up on the disputes.

Disposition

The court granted Equifax’s motion to dismiss with leave to amend. It ordered that any amended complaint be filed within 14 days of the order. The order does not separately state a disposition for each individual claim.