Paul v. American Express

Background

Selwyn Paul filed this case without a lawyer and asked to proceed without prepaying court fees. He alleged that American Express violated several federal statutes, including provisions of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), and other credit-related laws. He requested $6,000 and an American Express Gold Card.

The court interpreted the allegations as raising FCRA and FDCPA claims. The opinion states that, for purposes of the order, the court assumed American Express was an entity that provided information to credit-reporting agencies.

FCRA claim

The court explained that a person generally cannot bring a private lawsuit under the FCRA provision barring a furnisher from reporting information it knows or reasonably believes is inaccurate. That provision is enforced by government officials rather than private individuals. The court therefore held that this claim must be dismissed.

The court also explained that the FCRA does allow a private claim when a furnisher receives notice from a credit-reporting agency that information is disputed and then fails to conduct a reasonable investigation. Paul did not allege that inaccurate American Express information appeared on his credit report, that he disputed the information, or what American Express did inadequately in investigating it. The court granted Paul leave to replead this claim by providing those facts.

FDCPA claim

The FDCPA regulates certain conduct by debt collectors when collecting consumer debts. The court found that Paul did not allege that he owed a debt to American Express or that American Express attempted to collect a debt from him. The court therefore found that the complaint did not state a viable FDCPA claim but granted Paul leave to replead it with facts about the debt and the collection conduct.

Attempted criminal charges

Based on some of the statutes Paul cited, the court understood him to be trying to bring federal criminal charges against American Express. The court held that a private person cannot initiate or direct a federal criminal prosecution because the decision to prosecute belongs to prosecutors. The court dismissed this part of the case for failure to state a claim.

Order and effect

Judge Laura Taylor Swain granted Paul 60 days to file an amended complaint. The amended complaint must replace, rather than supplement, the original complaint, so Paul must repeat any facts or claims he wants the court to consider. The court directed him to provide facts about the relevant people, events, dates, locations, injuries, and requested relief. If he does not timely amend and cannot show good cause, the complaint will be dismissed for failure to state a claim. The court also denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.