Rennick et al v. Equifax Information Services, LLC

Filing 35

ORDER denying without prejudice 33 Motion for Disclosure of Third Party Documents. Signed by Magistrate Judge Amanda Arnold Sansone on 7/10/2018. (BEE)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TAMPA DIVISION
MICHELE MALVERTY, Individually,
and as successor in interest for
JAMES C. RENNICK, SR.,
Plaintiff,
v.

Case No.: 8:17-cv-1617-T-27AAS

EQUIFAX INFORMATION SERVICES,
LLC and EXPERIAN INFORMATION
SOLUTIONS, INC.
Defendants.
______________________________________/
ORDER
Michele Malverty and Equifax Information Services, LLC (“Equifax”) jointly
request an order authorizing the production of documents concerning a third party,
James Palmer. (Doc. 33). These documents consist of Mr. Palmer’s credit file records.
(Id.).
Ms. Malverty and Equifax provide 15 U.S.C. §1681b(a)(1) as the sole authority
for the court to issue an order allowing production of confidential third party
documents. 15 U.S.C. § 1681b(a)(1) provides in pertinent part that “any consumer
reporting agency [, such as Equifax,] may furnish a consumer report under the
following circumstances and no other: (1) In response to the order of a court having
jurisdiction to issue such an order....” The majority of circumstances in which a
consumer report may be furnished require either notice to or permission of the
consumer, or involve transactions or proceedings in which the consumer would know
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that his consumer report would be sought. See id. § 1681b(a)(1), (a)(2), (a)(3)(B)-(D),
(a)(3)(F)(i), (a)(4); see also Nunnally v. Equifax Info. Servs., LLC, 451 F.3d 768, 775
(11th Cir. 2006). Here, it does not appear that Ms. Malverty and Equifax have not
provided Mr. Palmer notice or the opportunity to object to the dissemination of his
credit file records. Nor have Ms. Malverty and Equifax provided any argument as to
why this information is relevant and proportional to the needs of this case. See Fed.
R. Civ. P. 26(b)(1); Local Rule 3.01(a), M.D. Fla. (motions must contain a
memorandum of legal authority in support of the request).
As such, Ms. Malverty and Equifax’s Joint Motion for an Order Authorizing
Production of Documents of Third Party James Palmer (Doc. 33) is DENIED
without prejudice.
ORDERED in Tampa, Florida on this 10th day of July, 2018.

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