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Answer:
(D) A lawsuit filed by Mr. Doe in relation to ABC’s
acts will likely be allowed to withstand a motion to dismiss
based on Section 1681g(a). As discussed in Meyer v. National
Tenant Network, Inc. , 2014 U.S.
Dist. LEXIS 6797 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 17, 2014), it is plausible
that within a month of the report that the reporting agency
would still maintain the file materials and subsequent production
of some materials, but not all the materials, leaves the
question open as to why those materials were not provided
at the time of the first request. (While it is not required
that the information be maintained, best practices would
be to retain it for a period of time sufficient to allow
the applicant to dispute the information.)
Question:
ABC
consumer reporting agency provided XYZ a consumer r
eport regarding tenant applicant John Doe. XYZ declined
tenancy to Mr. Doe. There were reports of past criminal
acts of a sexual nature in the consumer report. Mr. Doe
contacts ABC to obtain a copy of his consumer report within
a month after furnishing the report to XYZ. No information
is provided to Mr. Doe because no information is currently
contained in his file maintained by ABC. Subsequent requests
were made and eventually some information is provided to
Mr. Doe, but it does not include information regarding the
past criminal acts . Is ABC’s response to Mr. Doe
adequate?
a.
Yes, because Section 1681g(a) only requires ABC to “clearly
and accurately disclose to the consumer all information
in the consumer’s file at the time
of the request.”
b.
It depends on whether or not ABC treats all consumer files
similarly and it would not have the information for any
consumer who requested the in formation within that same
period of time.
c.
No, ABC is required to maintain the information on Mr. Doe
for a reasonable period of time in order to allow him an
opportunity to contest the report.
d.
Mr. Doe will likely be able to bring a lawsuit against ABC
based on its response because it is hard to believe that
no information is available wi
thin one month, but then some becomes available later. Plus
the absence of the information reported about the criminal
charges is the
real issue for Mr. Doe and the failure to provide this information
will likely be considered a potential violation of Section
1681g(a).
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