Brooks v. Equifax Information Services LLC

Filing 37

ORDER denying 21 Motion for Partial Judgment on the Pleadings. Signed by Judge G Murray Snow on 1/3/18. (DXD)

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

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Glynis Brooks,
Plaintiff,

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ORDER

v.

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No. CV-17-00569-PHX-GMS

Equifax Information Services LLC,

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Defendant.

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Pending before the Court is Defendant’s Motion for Partial Judgment on the
Pleadings. (Doc. 21). For the reasons discussed below, the Court denies the motion.
BACKGROUND

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Plaintiff Glynis Brooks received a letter from Wells Fargo on August 31, 2015

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stating that her credit account “has been settled for less than the full balance” and “[n]o

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further liability remains with our company.” (Doc. 1 at 12). Nearly one year later,

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Defendant Equifax sent Ms. Brooks an “Equifax Credit Report” that listed her Wells

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Fargo account as having a delinquent, unpaid balance. (Doc. 1 at 15–16). On August 23,

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2016, Ms. Brooks requested that Equifax investigate and correct the mistake. (Doc. 1 at

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14). On September 20, 2016, Equifax responded to Ms. Brooks’ request and maintained

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that the credit report correctly listed the delinquent balance at Wells Fargo. (Doc. 1 at

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19–20).

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Ms. Brooks filed a lawsuit on January 26, 2017 in an Arizona Justice Court

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alleging that Equifax failed to comply with the Fair Credit Report Act, codified in 15

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U.S.C. § 1681 et seq. (Doc. 1 at 8). Equifax successfully removed to federal court.

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(Doc. 1 at 1–2). In compliance with a court order, the parties conferred to determine

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whether an amended complaint could cure a deficient pleading. They failed to reach a

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consensus, and Equifax filed this Motion for Partial Judgment on the Pleadings. (Doc.

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21).

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DISCUSSION
I.

Legal Standard

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Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(c), a court may properly grant a

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motion for judgment on the pleadings “when, taking all allegations in the pleading as

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true, the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Merchants Home

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Delivery Serv., Inc. v. Frank B. Hall & Co., 50 F.3d 1486, 1488 (9th Cir. 1995); Fajardo

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v. Cty. Of L.A., 179 F.3d 698, 699 (9th Cir. 1999). To survive a Rule 12(c) motion, a

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plaintiff must allege sufficient facts to state a claim that is plausible on its face. Ashcroft

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v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009). The court generally may not consider matters outside

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the pleadings without converting the motion into a motion for summary judgment. Fed.

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R. Civ. P. 12(d). However, the court may “consider documents on which the complaint

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necessar[ily] relies.” Rosa v. Cutter Pontiac Buick GMC of Waipahu, Inc., 120 Fed.

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Appx. 76, 77 (9th Cir. 2005) (finding that a sales contract and its addendum were

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documents upon which the complaint necessarily relied).

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II.

Analysis

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Federal law requires credit reporting agencies to follow reasonable procedures

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when preparing a consumer report. 15 U.S.C. § 1681e(b). To make a prima facie case

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under § 1681e(b), a plaintiff “must present evidence tending to show that a credit

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reporting agency prepared a report containing inaccurate information.” Guimond v.

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Trans Union Credit Information Co., 45 F.3d 1329, 1333 (9th Cir. 1995) (citation

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omitted). Even if a credit agency generates an inaccurate report, it can escape liability if

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it followed reasonable procedures. Id. Whether the credit agency followed reasonable

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procedures “will be jury questions in the overwhelming majority of cases.” Id.

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Concerning the question of whether a plaintiff must show that the credit agency

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distributed the credit report to a third party, the Ninth Circuit stated that “[n]o court has

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held that the prima facie case required that an inaccurate report was ever disseminated.”

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Trans Union Credit Information Co., 45 F.3d at 1333 n.3. See also Ottiano v. Credit

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Data Southwest, Inc., 54 Fed.Appx. 640 (9th Cir. 2003) (describing Trans Union Credit

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Information Co. holding as “neither the transmission of the report to third parties, nor a

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denial of credit, is a prerequisite to recovery under the FCRA”).1 Therefore, a plaintiff

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need not show that a credit agency disseminated a credit report to a third party to

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establish a prima facie case.

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Ms. Brooks’ pleading is based on two Equifax credit reports that erroneously

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consider her previously resolved debt to Wells Fargo. These reports “tend[] to show that

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a credit reporting agency prepared a report containing inaccurate information.” Trans

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Union Credit Information Co., 45 F.3d at 1333. These reports are sufficient for a prima

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facie case, and Mr. Brooks need not show that Equifax disseminated a credit report to a

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third party. The Court denies Defendant’s Motion for Partial Judgment on the Pleadings.

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IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that Defendant Equifax Information Service’s
Motion for Partial Judgment on the Pleadings, (Doc. 21), is DENIED.
Dated this 3rd day of January, 2018.

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Honorable G. Murray Snow
United States District Judge

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On at least two other occasions in Ninth Circuit district courts, Equifax has
unsuccessfully argued that the FCRA requires a plaintiff to show that the credit reporting
agency distributed a consumer report to a third party. See Cairns v. GMAC Mortg. Corp.,
2007 WL 735564 at *3 (D. Ariz. March 5, 2007) (“the Court concludes that despite
[Equifax’s] assertion otherwise, the fact that Plaintiffs did not present evidence that the
reports were given to third parties does not preclude Plaintiff from surviving summary
judgment”); Sanchez v. Department Stores Bank, 2017 WL 5138294 at *2 (S.D. Cal.
Nov. 6, 2017) (“In any event, under Ninth Circuit case law, transmission of a consumer
report to a third party is not a prerequisite to establishing liability under § 1681e(b)”).
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