"no private right of action under the FCRA"?

[creditdave]

I filed a suit against a CA (Midland Credit Management) and TransUnion for violations of the FCRA & the FDCPA last month. I received the answer from Midland's attorney's the other day and one of their responses caught my eye. It said that "There is no private right of action against the defendant Midland Credit Management under the FCRA". Am I reading this correctly that I do not have a right to sue them for their violations? Can someone cite a case for me in case they bring this up in court? Everything I have read on this site says that I can sue someone. Take a look at http://www.creditinfocenter.com/eBooks/PoorMansClassActionLawsuit.shtml

I even ran this by my brother who is an attorney and he agreed with them on this. I wish he didn't live so far away that he could be with me in court but I'll have to present my case on my own.

Here's what I have:

I have a copy of my credit report in May which shows the alleged debt. I have have copies on the letters and the certified return receipts proving that they received them in May.

I have a copy of my credit report in June (40 days post their receiving my letters) which still listed the debt showing the June as the latest date of activity and did not say it was disputed.

I have a copy of my letters that I sent out in early July stating that they are in violation of the FCRA and to remove the entry imediatly or I will sue.

There are three violation here: 1) they did not report the debt as disputed, 2) they re-aged the debt each month and 3) they continued to list the debt after they failed to validate it.

Outside of bringing copies of all my letters and return receipts as well as copies of my credit reports over that time what else should I bring?

Thanks for your input.

Dave.

[Xanathos]

The CA is right, sadly. They aren't in violation of the FCRA. They fall under the FDCPA, which they probably are in breach of.

[creditdave]

Midland bought the debt from the original creditor...they just sent me a copy of their purchase contract as validation of the debt, which it isn't. They also attached a copy of the last statement on the account before they bought it and so if they think they have validated it (which they stated they had in their answer) they are wrong.

If Midland now owns the debt and claims I owe them, doesn't that make them the creditor now? If they are listing something on my credit report doesn't that make the FCRA applicable?

I guess my real question is that according to them private persons can not bring suit as a result of a violation of the FCRA but according to the information I've read here you can sue them in small claims court and I'd like to know if that's true. If someone could point me to a case or the part of the FCRA that does allow that, I'd appreciate it. I'd like to be as prepared as possible in court.

Dave.

[Recovering Attorney]

There is a post in teh Resources section about the FACTA vs FCRA. Recent changes in federal law protect creditors under FCRA, but not entirely. You have to wade through and see if your allegation meets one of the sue-able violations left to us. If not, stick to the FDCPA.

[gdouglaslee]

A common mistake is alleging violations under 623(A). Only the FTC and AGs can enforce that sup-paragraph. Consumers can enforce violations of 623(. Consumers also have a right to enforcement of violations under 604 which is permissible purpose. Implementation of FACTA does not take effect until December 1, 2004 and no consumer rights are restricted however consumers cannot enforce the new provisions concerning ID theft violations. Another example that consumers cannot enforce is 623© which is a new provision under FACTA. When you send a DV letter, it also counts as a dispute with a furnisher which sets up FCRA violations. If there is no private right of enforcement of the FCRA someone sure needs to tell the federal judiciary because that would mean they have been misinterpreting the FCRA for nearly 30 years. These are the violaitons you write in your complaint against a CA or JDB for FCRA violations, assuming you have sent a DV letter. If not, then you have no claim under the FCRA unless it is for permissible purpose.

1. Plaintiff violated 15 USC 1681s-2((1)(A) by failing to conduct an investigation with respect to Defendant's disputed information

2. Plaintiff violated 15 USC 1681s-2((1)( by failing to review all relevant information provided by the consumer reporting agency pursuant to section 15 USC 1681i(a)(2)

3. Plaintiff violated 15 USC 1681s-2((1)© by failing to report the results of the investigation to the consumer reporting agency; and

4. Plaintiff violated 15 USC 1681s-2((1)(D) by failing to correct the inaccurate information and report those results to all other consumer reporting agencies to which the person furnished the information and that compile and maintain files on consumers on a nationwide basis.

5. Plaintiff violated 15 USC 16812-2((2) by failing to complete the required investigation before the expiration of the period under section 15 USC 1681i(a)(1)

6. 7. Plaintiff's actions were willful, wanton, reckless, intentional and/or malicious in it's attempt to maximize the damage to Defendant's credit scores and prevent Defendant from obtaining future credit.

[calawyer]

1. Plaintiff violated 15 USC 1681s-2((1)(A) by failing to conduct an investigation with respect to Defendant's disputed information

I think you meant to say "defendant" in each of these paragraphs.