Jonathan Hatch v. College Ave Student Loans and Equifax Information Services, LLC

Summary

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois granted Equifax Information Services, LLC’s motion to dismiss claims under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The court held that determining whether the plaintiff’s student loan debt was discharged in bankruptcy required applying bankruptcy law to facts, a legal determination outside the proper role of a consumer reporting agency, and therefore did not constitute a cognizable FCRA inaccuracy. The court dismissed the FCRA claims with prejudice and ordered plaintiff’s counsel to show cause regarding potentially nonexistent case citations.

Holdings

1. A plaintiff cannot state a claim under 15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a) or § 1681e(b) without alleging a factual inaccuracy in the consumer report. An alleged inaccuracy that turns on applying bankruptcy law to determine whether a student loan was discharged is a legal determination outside the purview of a consumer reporting agency and is not cognizable under the FCRA.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Hatch stated a cognizable FCRA claim under 15 U.S.C. §§ 1681i(a) or 1681e(b) based on Equifax's reporting of the student-loan account as open and delinquent after Hatch's Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
2. Whether the alleged inaccuracy was actionable when determining the account's dischargeability required applying bankruptcy law, including the undue-hardship exception for student loans.

Disposition

dismissed