Trailblazing

Our client, a national bank, was sued for violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act for allegedly wrongful reporting of a personal debt owed by the plaintiff to the bank. After several attempts to collect a debt, the bank reported the balance due on the plaintiff’s credit report. Later, one of the plaintiff’s businesses applied for credit to purchase machinery but was unsuccessful, due in part to our client’s credit reporting. The plaintiff sued, but prior to trial the bank moved in limine to exclude expert testimony on the plaintiff’s damages on the grounds that FCRA does not apply where a credit report is used for business or commercial purposes. The district court agreed and dismissed the lawsuit. The plaintiff appealed and the Ninth Circuit affirmed, making clear that FCRA does not apply to credit reports being used for business or commercial credit. Boydstun v. U.S. Bank National Association, 726 Fed Appx 601 (2018).