Lewis v. Old Navy

Background

Regina Lewis, proceeding without a lawyer, brought claims under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) against Old Navy and Synchrony Bank. She alleged that she paid $100 toward an unspecified account on August 1, 2021, and another $159 the next day, but that the payments were not credited. She further alleged that, on October 19, 2021, the defendants reported an inaccurate account balance of $269. She described defamation as her injury and requested an order requiring the defendants to correct the information and pay $1,000 for each false report.

The court had previously allowed Lewis to proceed without paying filing fees. Because she was proceeding without payment of fees, the court reviewed the complaint under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B), which requires dismissal of claims that are frivolous, malicious, seek relief from an immune defendant, or fail to state a claim. The court also explained that self-represented complaints are read liberally but still must contain enough facts to make a claim legally plausible.

Court’s Analysis

The court treated Old Navy and Synchrony Bank as information providers for purposes of the order. Under FCRA § 1681s-2(a), an information provider may not supply inaccurate information to a consumer-reporting agency when it knows, or reasonably should know, that the information is inaccurate. But the court held that individuals cannot bring private lawsuits under that subsection because its enforcement is reserved to government agencies and officials.

The court also considered FCRA § 1681s-2(b), which creates a private claim concerning an information provider’s duty to investigate disputed information. To state such a claim, a consumer must allege that a credit-reporting agency notified the information provider of the dispute and that the provider failed to conduct a reasonable investigation or otherwise failed to comply with the statute. Lewis did not identify the recipient of the alleged inaccurate report and did not allege that a credit-reporting agency notified either defendant of a dispute. She also did not allege facts showing that either defendant failed to conduct a reasonable investigation. The court therefore found that she failed to state an FCRA claim against either defendant.

Ruling

Judge Laura Taylor Swain dismissed the complaint for failure to state a claim under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii). The court declined to grant Lewis leave to amend because it determined that the complaint’s defects could not be cured by amendment. It terminated all other pending matters. The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for purposes of an appeal. The clerk was directed to mail Lewis a copy of the order and record service on the docket.