The consumer claimed the debt collector viewed his credit report without a permissible purpose, but the Washington District Court disagreed.
06/17/2024 12:30 P.M.
1.5 minute read
The U.S. District Court of Western Washington recently denied a pro se plaintiff’s claims under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act and two state debt collection laws related to whether a debt collector had a “permissible purpose” to access his credit report.
In the case, the consumer, Aaron Wilmot, said he noticed that Transworld Systems Inc. (TSI) had made an “unauthorized” inquiry against his report even though he had never initiated a credit transaction with TSI.
The consumer claimed TSI’s inquiry lacked a “permissible purpose” within the meaning of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and that as a result of its actions, he suffered “fear, anger and frustration over an invasion of his privacy.”
He filed suit against TSI for violations of the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, Washington Fair Credit Reporting Act and Washington Consumer Protection Act.
In response, TSI argued that Wilmot’s complaint should be dismissed for multiple reasons, chiefly because TSI is a debt collector and debt collection is a “permissible purpose” for accessing a consumer’s credit report under the FCRA.
However, “[r]ather than challenge TSI’s right to access his report, Mr. Wilmot argues his case from a public policy perspective,” according to the court. “He states that he is ‘questioning the criteria under which the Defendant should be permitted to access a consumer report.’”
The court responded that it is not in a position to “reassess existing case law” because Congress sets the FCRA’s “permissible purposes” for accessing a consumer credit report.
The court granted the defendant’s motion because the consumer acknowledged that TSI lawfully obtained his credit report and that he “effectively abandoned” his claim by failing to respond to the arguments in the motion.
Read the full case here (PDF).
For more information on the FCRA and permissible purpose, ACA International members can read these ACA SearchPoint documents:
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