Wilcox v. Trans Union, LLC

Background

Monique Wilcox sued Trans Union, LLC and American Heritage Credit Union under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, alleging that they reported inaccurate information concerning her account with American Heritage. Trans Union filed an answer. American Heritage instead moved to dismiss the complaint under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), which concerns whether a complaint states a legally sufficient claim.

American Heritage’s Arguments

American Heritage made two arguments. First, it argued that its duties under the Fair Credit Reporting Act were not triggered because Wilcox, rather than a credit-reporting agency, had informed it of the alleged reporting error. Second, it argued that it had satisfied its legal duties and submitted an affidavit from its Vice President of Consumer Lending describing the management of Wilcox’s account.

Court’s Analysis

The court agreed that the notice triggering American Heritage’s duties had to come from a credit-reporting agency rather than directly from the consumer. But the complaint alleged that Wilcox mailed a dispute letter to Trans Union and that American Heritage received a dispute notice from Trans Union. Because the court generally assumes pleaded facts are true when deciding a motion to dismiss, it rejected American Heritage’s contrary argument at this stage.

The court also declined to consider American Heritage’s affidavit. A court normally may not consider material outside the complaint on a Rule 12(b)(6) motion unless it converts the motion into one for summary judgment. Relying instead on the complaint, the court accepted Wilcox’s allegations that American Heritage did not conduct a complete, accurate, or reasonable investigation and verified inaccurate information.

Disposition

The court denied American Heritage’s motion to dismiss. It ordered American Heritage to file an answer within 21 days after the order and directed the Clerk of Court to close the motion at Docket Number 14.