McCrae v. Transunion LLC

Background

Latoya McCrae sued Trans Union LLC in New York state court. Trans Union removed the case to federal court based on federal-question jurisdiction and moved to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), which allows dismissal when a complaint does not adequately state a legally valid claim.

The complaint alleged: “Failure to provide proper services for $25,000.00 with interest from 06/01/2022” and violations of provisions concerning fair debt collection and fraudulent practices on a consumer credit report. The court construed the allegations as raising claims under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

Court’s Analysis

For an FDCPA claim, the court explained that a plaintiff must allege that she was the subject of collection activity arising from a consumer debt, that the defendant was a debt collector covered by the FDCPA, and that the defendant committed an act or omission prohibited by that law. The court found that McCrae’s complaint did not provide nonconclusory facts addressing any of those requirements.

The court also rejected the FCRA claim. The FCRA requires a consumer-reporting agency to use reasonable procedures to ensure that information in a credit report is as accurate as possible. To state a claim based on inaccurate reporting, a plaintiff must identify the specific information that was inaccurate and explain why it was inaccurate. The court found that McCrae had not identified any specific inaccurate information in her credit report.

The court noted that McCrae included additional facts in her opposition brief, but explained that a party cannot amend a complaint through a brief opposing dismissal. The court also noted that McCrae had not submitted additional documents with that brief.

Disposition

The court granted Trans Union’s motion to dismiss the Complaint. It denied Trans Union’s request to dismiss the Complaint with prejudice and granted McCrae leave to file an amended complaint within 35 days of the opinion and order. The court found that leave to amend was appropriate because McCrae was representing herself, had not previously amended her complaint, amendment was not clearly futile, and any prejudice to Trans Union would be minimal.

If McCrae does not file an amended complaint by the deadline, the court stated that it will enter judgment in favor of Trans Union and close the case.