Grill v. Credit One Bank, N.A. et al

Filing 20

ORDER Granting 18 Stipulation re 1 Complaint. Signed by Judge James C. Mahan on 4/13/17. (Copies have been distributed pursuant to the NEF - MR)

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Case 2:16-cv-02860-JCM-PAL Document 18 Filed 04/11/17 Page 1 of 5 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 KAZEROUNI LAW GROUP, APC 7854 West Sahara Avenue Las Vegas, Nevada 89117 11 Michael Kind, Esq. Nevada Bar No. 13903 KAZEROUNI LAW GROUP, APC 7854 W. Sahara Avenue Las Vegas, NV 89117 Phone: (800) 400-6808 x7 mkind@kazlg.com Sara Khosroabadi, Esq. NV Bar No. 13703 HYDE & SWIGART 7854 W. Sahara Avenue Las Vegas, NV 89117 Phone: (619) 233-7770 sara@westcoastlitigation.com Attorneys for Plaintiff Alan O. Grill 12 13 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF NEVADA 14 15 16 17 Alan O. Grill, Plaintiff, 18 19 20 21 22 23 Case No: 2:16-cv-02860-JCM-PAL Stipulation for Plaintiff to Amend the Complaint v. Credit One Bank, N.A., Texas Financial, LLC dba Royal Management, Experian Information Solutions, Inc., and Equifax Information Services, LLC, 24 Defendants. 25 26 27 28 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ STIP. TO AMEND COMPL. !1 Case No.: 2:16-cv-02860-JCM-PAL Case 2:16-cv-02860-JCM-PAL Document 18 Filed 04/11/17 Page 2 of 5 STIPULATION 1 2 Pursuant to Rule 15(a)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Plaintiff 3 Alan O. Grill (“Plaintiff”) and Defendant Experian Information Solutions, Inc. 4 (“Experian”) (jointly as the “Parties”), by and through their respective counsel, 5 hereby submit this stipulation for Plaintiff to file a First Amended Complaint, 6 attached hereto as Exhibit A, pursuant to Local Rule 15-1. 7 WHEREAS, Plaintiff filed his Complaint on December 9, 2016, ECF No. 1; 8 WHEREAS, on January 1, 2017, Experian filed its Answer to the Complaint, 9 10 KAZEROUNI LAW GROUP, APC 7854 West Sahara Avenue Las Vegas, Nevada 89117 11 12 13 ECF No. 6; WHEREAS, the deadline to amend pleadings is on April 11, 2017, ECF No. 8, p. 2, ¶ 2. WHEREAS, Defendant Texas Financial, LLC dba Royal Management has not appeared in this case. 14 WHEREAS, Plaintiff seeks to amend his Complaint to include the following 15 parties, aliases of Texas Financial, LLC dba Royal Management and necessary 16 parties to this case: 17 • R.B.S. Computer, Inc.; and 18 • Royal Management, LLC. 19 WHEREAS, in good faith and in order to avoid unnecessary motion practice, 20 Experian has agreed to allow Plaintiff to amend the Complaint but reserves all 21 rights as to any allegations in the Complaint. 22 23 WHEREAS, in stipulating to allow Plaintiff to amend the Complaint, Experian does not hereby admit any of the allegations in the Complaint. 24 WHEREAS, the Amended Complaint does not add any new claims or 25 allegations, but only adds aliases of Texas Financial, LLC dba Royal Management 26 and removes the party Equifax Information Services, LLC, previously dismissed in 27 this case. 28 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ STIP. TO AMEND COMPL. !2 Case No.: 2:16-cv-02860-JCM-PAL Case 2:16-cv-02860-JCM-PAL Document 18 Filed 04/11/17 Page 3 of 5 1 WHEREAS, the allegations against Experian have not changed such that 2 Plaintiff agrees that Experian’s served discovery responses are still applicable, and 3 Plaintiff will not require Experian to respond to a new set of discovery based on the 4 amended complaint. 5 WHEREAS, Plaintiff will respond to the pending discovery served by 6 Experian without requiring Experian to propound new discovery based on the 7 amended complaint and such responses shall be applicable despite Plaintiff filing an 8 amended complaint. NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the foregoing, and for good cause, 10 IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED AND AGREED, by and between the Parties as 11 KAZEROUNI LAW GROUP, APC 7854 West Sahara Avenue Las Vegas, Nevada 89117 9 follows: 12 (1) Plaintiff shall file and serve the Amended Complaint attached hereto as 13 Exhibit A promptly after this Court has entered an Order approving this 14 Stipulation. 15 /// 16 /// 17 /// 18 /// 19 /// 20 /// 21 /// 22 /// 23 /// 24 /// 25 /// 26 /// 27 /// 28 /// ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ STIP. TO AMEND COMPL. !3 Case No.: 2:16-cv-02860-JCM-PAL Case 2:16-cv-02860-JCM-PAL Document 18 Filed 04/11/17 Page 4 of 5 1 2 3 (2) Experian shall file its response to Plaintiff’s Amended Complaint within 14 days after being served with the Amended Complaint. DATED this 11th day of April 2017. 4 5 Respectfully Submitted, 6 7 8 9 10 KAZEROUNI LAW GROUP, APC 7854 West Sahara Avenue Las Vegas, Nevada 89117 11 12 13 14 15 16 KAZEROUNI LAW GROUP, APC By: /s/ Michael Kind Michael Kind, Esq. 7854 W. Sahara Avenue Las Vegas, NV 89117 Attorneys for Plaintiff MAUPIN NAYLOR BRASTER By: /s/ Jennifer L. Braster Jennifer L. Braster, Esq. 1050 Indigo Drive, Suite 200 Las Vegas, NV 89145 Attorneys for Experian Information Solution, Inc. IT IS SO ORDERED: 17 18 19 ____________________________________ 20 UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 21 April 13, 2017 DATED:____________________________ 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ STIP. TO AMEND COMPL. !4 Case No.: 2:16-cv-02860-JCM-PAL Case 2:16-cv-02860-JCM-PAL Document 18 Filed 04/11/17 Page 5 of 5 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 1 2 I HEREBY CERTIFY pursuant to Rule 5 of the Federal Rules of Civil 3 Procedure that on April 11, 2017, the foregoing Stipulation for Plaintiff to Amend 4 the Complaint along with Exhibit A was served via CM/ECF to all parties 5 appearing in this case. 6 7 KAZEROUNI LAW GROUP, APC 8 By: /s/ Michael Kind Michael Kind 7854 W. Sahara Avenue Las Vegas, NV 89117 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ STIP. TO AMEND COMPL. Case No.: 2:16-cv-02860-JCM-PAL Case 2:16-cv-02860-JCM-PAL Document 18-1 Filed 04/11/17 Page 1 of 15 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 EXHIBIT A 8 9 10 KAZEROUNI LAW GROUP, APC 7854 West Sahara Avenue Las Vegas, Nevada 89117 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Case 2:16-cv-02860-JCM-PAL Document 18-1 Filed 04/11/17 Page 2 of 15 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 KAZEROUNI LAW GROUP, APC 7854 W. Sahara Avenue Las Vegas, NV 89117 11 12 Michael Kind, Esq. (SBN: 13903) KAZEROUNI LAW GROUP, APC 7854 W. Sahara Avenue Las Vegas, NV 89117 Phone: (800) 400-6808 x7 FAX: (800) 520-5523 mkind@kazlg.com Sara Khosroabadi, Esq. (SBN 13703) HYDE & SWIGART 7854 W. Sahara Avenue Las Vegas, NV 89117 Phone: (619) 233-7770 Fax: (619) 297-1022 sara@westcoastlitigation.com Attorneys for Plaintiff Alan O. Grill 13 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF NEVADA 14 15 16 Alan O. Grill, 17 18 19 Case No.: 2:16-cv-02860-JCM-PAL Plaintiff, v. 23 Credit One Bank, N.A., Texas Financial, LLC dba Royal Management dba R.B.S. Computer, Inc. dba Royal Management, LLC and Experian Information Solutions, Inc., 24 AMENDED COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES PURSUANT TO THE FAIR CREDIT REPORTING ACT, 15 U.S.C. § 1681, ET SEQ. Defendants. 20 21 22 JURY TRIAL DEMANDED 25 26 27 28 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ AMENDED COMPLAINT !1 Case No.: 2:16-cv-02860-JCM-PAL Case 2:16-cv-02860-JCM-PAL Document 18-1 Filed 04/11/17 Page 3 of 15 INTRODUCTION 1 2 1. The United States Congress has found the banking system is dependent up-on fair and accurate credit reporting. Inaccurate credit reports directly impair the 4 efficiency of the banking system, and unfair credit reporting methods 5 undermine the public confidence, which is essential to the continued 6 functioning of the banking system. Congress enacted the Fair Credit Report- 7 ing Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq. (“FCRA”), to ensure fair and accurate re- 8 porting, promote efficiency in the banking system, and protect consumer 9 privacy. The FCRA seeks to ensure consumer reporting agencies exercise 10 their grave responsibilities with fairness, impartiality, and a respect for the 11 KAZEROUNI LAW GROUP, APC 7854 W. Sahara Avenue Las Vegas, NV 89117 3 consumer’s right to privacy because consumer reporting agencies have 12 assumed such a vital role in assembling and evaluating consumer credit and 13 other information on consumers. 14 sources that provide credit information to credit reporting agencies, called 15 “furnishers.” 16 2. The FCRA also imposes duties on the Alan O. Grill (“Plaintiff”), by Plaintiff’s attorneys, brings this action to 17 challenge the actions of Defendants Credit One Bank, N.A. (“Credit One”), 18 Texas Financial, LLC doing business as Royal Management doing business as 19 R.B.S. Computer, Inc. doing business as Royal Management, LLC (“RBS”), 20 Experian Information Solutions, Inc. (“Experian”) (jointly as “Defendants”), 21 with regard to erroneous reports of derogatory credit information to national 22 reporting agencies and Defendants’ failure to properly investigate Plaintiff’s 23 disputes. 24 3. Defendants failed to properly investigate Plaintiff’s disputes, damaging Plaintiff’s creditworthiness. 25 26 /// 27 /// 28 /// ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ AMENDED COMPLAINT !2 Case No.: 2:16-cv-02860-JCM-PAL Case 2:16-cv-02860-JCM-PAL Document 18-1 Filed 04/11/17 Page 4 of 15 JURISDICTION AND VENUE 1 2 4. This Court has federal question jurisdiction because this case arises out of 3 violation of federal law. 15 U.S.C. §1681 et seq.; 28 U.S.C. §1331; Smith v. 4 Community Citibank, Inc., 773 F.Supp.2d 941, 946 (D. Nev. 2011). 5 5. Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1681-1681(x) (“FCRA”). 6 7 This action arises out of Defendant’s violations of the Fair Credit Reporting 6. Venue is proper in the United States District Court for the District of Nevada pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b) because Plaintiff is a resident of Clark 9 County, the State of Nevada and because Defendants are subject to personal 10 jurisdiction in the County of Clark, State of Nevada as they conduct business 11 KAZEROUNI LAW GROUP, APC 7854 W. Sahara Avenue Las Vegas, NV 89117 8 there. Venue is also proper because the conduct giving rise to this action 12 occurred in Nevada. 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b)(2). PARTIES 13 14 7. Plaintiff is a natural person residing in the County of Clark, State of Nevada. 15 In addition, Plaintiff is a “consumer” as that term is defined by 15 U.S.C. § 16 1681a(c). 17 8. Defendant Credit One is a corporation doing business in the State of Nevada. 18 Defendant RBS is a corporation doing business in the State of Nevada. 19 Defendant Experian is a corporation doing business in the State of Nevada. 20 9. Defendants Credit One and RBS are furnishers of information as 21 contemplated by 15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(b) that regularly and in the ordinary 22 course of business furnish information to a consumer credit reporting agency. 23 10. Defendant Experian regularly assembles and/or evaluates consumer credit 24 information for the purpose of furnishing consumer reports to third parties 25 and uses interstate commerce to prepare and/or furnish the reports. Experian 26 is a “consumer reporting agency” as that term is defined by 15 U.S.C. 27 §1681a(f), doing business with its principal place of business in Georgia and 28 Ohio, respectively. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ AMENDED COMPLAINT !3 Case No.: 2:16-cv-02860-JCM-PAL Case 2:16-cv-02860-JCM-PAL Document 18-1 Filed 04/11/17 Page 5 of 15 1 11. Unless otherwise indicated, the use of Defendants’ names in this Complaint 2 includes all agents, employees, officers, members, directors, heirs, successors, 3 assigns, principals, trustees, sureties, subrogees, representatives, and insurers 4 of the named Defendant. GENERAL ALLEGATIONS 5 6 12. On or about September 25, 2015, Plaintiff filed for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, 7 pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 1301 et seq., in the United States Bankruptcy Court 8 for the District of Nevada. Plaintiff’s case was assigned Case Number 9 15-15515-led (the “Bankruptcy”). 10 13. The obligations (“Debt”) to each Defendant herein (as applicable) were KAZEROUNI LAW GROUP, APC 7854 W. Sahara Avenue Las Vegas, NV 89117 11 scheduled in the Bankruptcy and each respective creditor-Defendant, or its 12 predecessor in interest, received notice of the Bankruptcy. 13 14. dischargeable” pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 523 et seq. 14 15 None of the Defendants filed any proceedings to declare its Debt “non 15. None of the Defendants obtained relief from the “automatic stay” codified at 16 11 U.S.C. §362 et seq. while Plaintiff’s Bankruptcy was pending to pursue 17 Plaintiff on any personal liability. 18 16. On December 29, 2015, Plaintiff received a Bankruptcy discharge. 19 17. Accordingly, the Debts to Defendants were discharged through the Bankruptcy on December 29, 2015. 20 21 18. information as discussed herein after Plaintiff’s debts were discharged. 22 23 However, Defendants either reported or caused to be reported inaccurate 19. Defendants’ reporting post-Bankruptcy derogatory information was 24 inaccurate and misleading in that each Defendant continued reporting 25 information based on Defendants’ pre-bankruptcy contract terms with 26 Plaintiff, which were no longer enforceable upon the bankruptcy filing, 27 thereby rendering the disputed information “inaccurate.” 28 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ AMENDED COMPLAINT !4 Case No.: 2:16-cv-02860-JCM-PAL Case 2:16-cv-02860-JCM-PAL Document 18-1 Filed 04/11/17 Page 6 of 15 1 20. Additionally, Defendants’ inaccurate reporting did not comply with the 2 Consumer Data Industry Association’s Metro 2 reporting standards, which 3 provides guidance for credit reporting and FCRA compliance. 4 21. To help furnishers comply with their requirements under the FCRA, the 5 Consumer Data Industry Association (“CDIA”) publishes standard guidelines 6 for reporting data called the “Metro 2 Format.” 7 22. The Metro 2 Format guidelines for credit reporting are nearly identical for 8 reports made during the “Months Between Petition Filed and BK Resolution” 9 and after “Plan Completed” for Chapter 13 Debtors and furnishers who choose to report post-bankruptcy credit information to CRAs. 11 KAZEROUNI LAW GROUP, APC 7854 W. Sahara Avenue Las Vegas, NV 89117 10 Credit Reporting Resource Guide, page 6-20, 21. 12 23. See CDIA Notably, the payment history and account status guidelines are the same, 13 meaning that the “payment history” and “account status” should be reported 14 the same way both during and after a bankruptcy proceeding. Id. 15 24. is to delete the balance (or report a balance of $0). Id. 16 17 The only difference in reporting a pre-discharged debt and a discharged debt 25. Indeed, the guidelines direct furnishers to report an account status as it existed 18 at the time the bankruptcy petition was filed and not the account status as it 19 would have existed in the months following the filing of the petition if the 20 petition had not been filed. Id. 21 26. Courts rely on such guidance to determine furnisher liability. See, e.g., In re 22 Helmes, 336 B.R. 105, 107 (Bankr. E.D. Va. 2005) (finding that “industry 23 standards require that a debt discharged in bankruptcy be reported to a credit 24 reporting agency with the notation ‘Discharged in bankruptcy’ and with a zero 25 balance due”). 26 27. Defendants did not conform to the Metro 2 Format when reporting on 27 Plaintiff’s accounts after Plaintiff filed Bankruptcy, as further set forth below. 28 To this end, the adverse reporting on Plaintiff’s report departs from the credit ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ AMENDED COMPLAINT !5 Case No.: 2:16-cv-02860-JCM-PAL Case 2:16-cv-02860-JCM-PAL Document 18-1 Filed 04/11/17 Page 7 of 15 1 industry’s own reporting standards and was therefore inaccurate under the 2 CDIA’s standards as well. 3 — THE EXPERIAN CREDIT REPORT — 4 CREDIT ONE MISREPORTED CREDIT INFORMATION 5 RE: ACCOUNT NO. 4447* 6 28. On or about September 1, 2016, Plaintiff disputed Credit One’s inaccurate 7 reporting, including an inaccurate “high balance” pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 8 1681I(a)(2) by notifying Experian, in writing, of the incorrect and inaccurate 9 credit information furnished by Credit One. 10 29. Specifically, Plaintiff sent a letter, certified, return receipt, to Experian, KAZEROUNI LAW GROUP, APC 7854 W. Sahara Avenue Las Vegas, NV 89117 11 requesting the above inaccurate and incorrect derogatory information be 12 removed as follows: 13 This account was discharged in my Bankruptcy which was filed on 9/25/15 and discharged 12/29/2015, bearing docket No. 15-15515-led in the District for Nevada. The balance on this account should be “$0” and the status should be reporting as “current.” Specifically, you show this account with a “high balance as $662 when it should not be more than $300. 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 30. The letter further requested: Immediately delete this account and the disputed derogatory information from my credit report. The discharged debt should be reported with an account balance of $0 with a status of “current.” Further, there should be no post-bankruptcy activity reported on this account. The date of last activity on this account should pre-date my bankruptcy filing date, 9/25/2015, since a default on this account occurred no later than the Bankruptcy filing date. Any post-bankruptcy derogatory information should be immediately deleted from my report. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ AMENDED COMPLAINT !6 Case No.: 2:16-cv-02860-JCM-PAL Case 2:16-cv-02860-JCM-PAL Document 18-1 Filed 04/11/17 Page 8 of 15 1 If you do not immediately delete this from my credit report, please include a 100-word statement in my credit report of all of the disputed information contained in this letter regarding this account. 2 3 4 31. 5 dispute, but Experian and Credit One continued reporting inaccurate 6 7 information. 32. 8 9 33. KAZEROUNI LAW GROUP, APC 7854 W. Sahara Avenue Las Vegas, NV 89117 15 U.SC. § 1681i(a)(6). 34. 13 35. U.SC. § 1681s-2(b)(1)(B). 36. 18 September 2013, December 2013 and May 2014. This was inaccurate, since 21 Credit One could not have charged off the account more than once. 37. 23 Experian and Credit One, upon receipt of Plaintiff’s dispute, failed to conduct an investigation as required by 15 U.SC. § 1681s-2(b)(1)(A). 38. 25 Experian and Credit One failed to review all relevant information provided by Plaintiff in the dispute to Experian, as required by and in violation of 15 26 28 Specifically, Experian and Credit One reported that it “charged off” the account on multiple occasions, in May 2013, 20 27 Experian and Credit One continued to report inaccurate derogatory information on Plaintiff’s report. 19 24 Experian and Credit One failed to review all relevant information provided by Plaintiff in the dispute to Experian, as required by and in violation of 15 16 22 A reasonable investigation by these Defendants would have indicated that Plaintiff’s account had not been charged off more than once. 15 17 On or about September 24, 2016, Plaintiff received notification from Experian that Experian and Credit One received notice of Plaintiff’s dispute pursuant to 11 14 Experian and Credit One were required to conduct an investigation into this specific account on Plaintiff’s consumer report pursuant to 15 U.S.C. §1681i. 10 12 Upon receiving that letter, Experian timely notified Credit One of Plaintiff’s U.SC. § 1681s-2(b)(1)(B). 39. Due to the failure by Experian and Credit One to reasonably investigate, they further failed to correct and update Plaintiff’s information as required by 15 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ AMENDED COMPLAINT !7 Case No.: 2:16-cv-02860-JCM-PAL Case 2:16-cv-02860-JCM-PAL Document 18-1 Filed 04/11/17 Page 9 of 15 1 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(b)(1)(E), thereby causing continued reporting of inaccurate 2 information in violation of 15 U.S.C. § 1681-s(2)(b)(1)(C). 3 40. Plaintiff’s continued efforts to correct the erroneous and negative reporting of 4 the Debt by Experian and Credit One by communicating Plaintiff’s dispute 5 with Experian and Credit One were fruitless. 6 41. Experian and Credit One willfully continued to inaccurately and negatively 7 report the debt because they had knowledge of the actual error. Plaintiff is, 8 accordingly, eligible for statutory damages. 9 42. Also as a result of the continued inaccurate and negative reporting by Experian and Credit One, Plaintiff has suffered actual damages, including 11 KAZEROUNI LAW GROUP, APC 7854 W. Sahara Avenue Las Vegas, NV 89117 10 without limitation credit denials, out-of-pocket expenses in challenging the 12 Defendants’ wrongful representations, damage to his creditworthiness, and 13 emotional distress. 14 43. By inaccurately reporting account information relating to the debt after notice 15 and confirmation of their errors, Experian and Credit One failed to take the 16 appropriate measures as required under 15 U.S.C. §§ 1681-s(2)(b)(1)(D) and 17 (E). 18 RBS MISREPORTED CREDIT INFORMATION 19 RE: ACCOUNT NO. Y32X* 20 44. On or about September 1, 2016, Plaintiff disputed RBS’s inaccurate reporting, 21 including a multiple inaccurate “charge off” notations pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 22 1681I(a)(2) by notifying Experian, in writing, of the incorrect and inaccurate 23 credit information furnished by RBS. 24 45. Specifically, Plaintiff sent a letter, certified, return receipt, to Experian, 25 requesting the above inaccurate and incorrect derogatory information be 26 removed as follows: 27 28 This account was discharged in my Bankruptcy which was filed on 9/25/15 and discharged 12/29/2015, bearing docket No. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ AMENDED COMPLAINT !8 Case No.: 2:16-cv-02860-JCM-PAL Case 2:16-cv-02860-JCM-PAL Document 18-1 Filed 04/11/17 Page 10 of 15 15-15515-led in the District for Nevada. The balance on this account should be “$0” and the status should be reporting as “current." Specifically, you show this account as “charged off” over 9 times when it could only be charged off once (Charge Off as of Jan 2015 to Aug 2015, Mar 2014 to Nov 2014). 1 2 3 4 46. The letter further requested: 5 Immediately delete this account and the disputed derogatory information from my credit report. 6 7 The discharged debt should be reported with an account balance of $0 with a status of “current.” 8 9 Further, there should be no post-bankruptcy activity reported on this account. The date of last activity on this account should pre-date my bankruptcy filing date, 9/25/2015, since a default on this account occurred no later than the Bankruptcy filing date. 10 KAZEROUNI LAW GROUP, APC 7854 W. Sahara Avenue Las Vegas, NV 89117 11 12 13 Any post-bankruptcy derogatory information should be immediately deleted from my report. 14 15 If you do not immediately delete this from my credit report, please include a 100-word statement in my credit report of all of the disputed information contained in this letter regarding this account. 16 17 18 19 47. but Experian and RBS continued reporting inaccurate information. 20 21 48. 49. 15 U.SC. § 1681i(a)(6). 25 27 On or about September 24, 2016, Plaintiff received notification from Experian that Experian and Credit One received notice of Plaintiff’s dispute pursuant to 24 26 Experian and RBS were required to conduct an investigation into this specific account on Plaintiff’s consumer report pursuant to 15 U.S.C. §1681i. 22 23 Upon receiving that letter, Experian timely notified RBS of Plaintiff’s dispute, 50. A reasonable investigation by these Defendants would have indicated that Plaintiff’s account had not been charged off more than once. 28 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ AMENDED COMPLAINT !9 Case No.: 2:16-cv-02860-JCM-PAL Case 2:16-cv-02860-JCM-PAL Document 18-1 Filed 04/11/17 Page 11 of 15 1 51. Experian and RBS failed to review all relevant information provided by 2 Plaintiff in the dispute to Experian, as required by and in violation of 15 3 U.SC. § 1681s-2(b)(1)(B). 4 52. Experian and RBS continued to report the inaccurate derogatory information 5 on Plaintiff’s report. 6 “charged off” the account on multiple occasions, from March 2014 through 7 November 2014 and from January 2015 through August 2015. 8 inaccurate, since RBS could not have charged off the account more than once. 9 53. KAZEROUNI LAW GROUP, APC 7854 W. Sahara Avenue Las Vegas, NV 89117 This was Experian and RBS, upon receipt of Plaintiff’s dispute, failed to conduct an investigation as required by 15 U.SC. § 1681s-2(b)(1)(A). 10 11 Specifically, Experian and RBS re-reported that it 54. Experian and RBS failed to review all relevant information provided by 12 Plaintiff in the dispute to Experian, as required by and in violation of 15 13 U.SC. § 1681s-2(b)(1)(B). 14 55. Due to the failure by Experian and RBS to reasonably investigate, they further 15 failed to correct and update Plaintiff’s information as required by 15 U.S.C. § 16 1681s-2(b)(1)(E), thereby causing continued reporting of inaccurate 17 information in violation of 15 U.S.C. § 1681-s(2)(b)(1)(C). 18 56. Plaintiff’s continued efforts to correct the erroneous and negative reporting of 19 the Debt by Experian and RBS by communicating Plaintiff’s dispute with 20 Experian and RBS were fruitless. 21 57. Experian and RBS willfully continued to inaccurately and negatively report 22 the debt because they had knowledge of the actual error. 23 accordingly, eligible for statutory damages. 24 58. Plaintiff is, Also as a result of the continued inaccurate and negative reporting by 25 Experian and RBS, Plaintiff has suffered actual damages, including without 26 limitation credit denials, out-of-pocket expenses in challenging the 27 Defendants’ wrongful representations, damage to his creditworthiness, and 28 emotional distress. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ AMENDED COMPLAINT ! 10 Case No.: 2:16-cv-02860-JCM-PAL Case 2:16-cv-02860-JCM-PAL Document 18-1 Filed 04/11/17 Page 12 of 15 1 59. By inaccurately reporting account information relating to the debt after notice 2 and confirmation of their errors, Experian and RBS failed to take the 3 appropriate measures as required under 15 U.S.C. §§ 1681-s(2)(b)(1)(D) and 4 (E) EXPERIAN FAILED TO REASONABLY INVESTIGATE PLAINTIFF’S DISPUTE 5 6 7 RELATING TO THE 60. CREDIT CONTROL CORPORATION ACCOUNT On September 1, 2016, Plaintiff disputed Experian’s reported information 8 pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 1681I(a)(2) by notifying Experian, in writing, of 9 incorrect and inaccurate credit information on a August 17, 2016 Experian credit report. 10 KAZEROUNI LAW GROUP, APC 7854 W. Sahara Avenue Las Vegas, NV 89117 11 61. Specifically, Plaintiff sent a letter, certified, to Experian, requesting that 12 inaccurate and incorrect derogatory information reported by Credit Control 13 Corporation be removed from his credit report as follows: 14 This account was discharged in my Bankruptcy which was filed on 9/25/15 and discharged 12/29/2015, bearing docket No. 15-15515-led in the District for Nevada. The balance on this account should be “$0” and the status should be reporting as “current." Specifically, you show this account as in “collections” when it should be discharged in bankruptcy. Additionally, you show this account as “open” when it should be discharged in bankruptcy. 15 16 17 18 19 20 Additionally you show this same account three times. 21 22 62. pursuant to 15 U.S.C. §1681i. 23 24 Experian was required to conduct an investigation into the specific disputes 63. On or about September 24, 2016, Plaintiff received notification from Experian 25 that Experian received notice of Plaintiff’s dispute but that Experian refused 26 to investigate Plaintiff’s dispute in connection with Plaintiff’s dispute of the 27 Credit Control Corporation account. 28 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ AMENDED COMPLAINT !11 Case No.: 2:16-cv-02860-JCM-PAL Case 2:16-cv-02860-JCM-PAL Document 18-1 Filed 04/11/17 Page 13 of 15 1 64. Specifically, Experian responded to several other disputed items that were 2 “updated,” “processed” and “deleted.” However, Experian completely failed 3 to address Plaintiff’s dispute in related to Credit Control Corporation. 4 65. Experian thus failed to investigate, update or correct the Credit Control 5 Corporation account that was reported as “open” and in “collections,” which 6 was inaccurate because the debt was discharged in bankruptcy. 7 66. A reasonable investigation by Experian would have indicated that Plaintiff 8 sent the dispute letter and that Plaintiff’s had disputed inaccurate information 9 on his credit report. 10 67. Experian, upon receipt of Plaintiff’s dispute, failed to conduct an investigation KAZEROUNI LAW GROUP, APC 7854 W. Sahara Avenue Las Vegas, NV 89117 11 with respect to the disputed information as required by 15 U.SC. § 1681s-2(b) 12 (1)(A). 13 68. Experian failed to review all relevant information provided by Plaintiff in the 14 dispute to Experian, as required by and in violation of 15 U.SC. § 1681s-2(b) 15 (1)(B). 16 69. Due to Experian’s failure to reasonably investigate, it further failed to correct 17 and update Plaintiff’s information as required by 15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(b)(1) 18 (E), thereby causing continued reporting of inaccurate information in 19 violation of 15 U.S.C. § 1681-s(2)(b)(1)(C). 20 70. Experian’s continued inaccurate and negative reporting of the debt in light of 21 its knowledge of the actual error was willful. Plaintiff is, accordingly, eligible 22 for statutory damages. 23 71. Also as a result of Experian’s continued inaccurate and negative reporting, 24 Plaintiff has suffered actual damages, including without limitation credit 25 denials, out-of-pocket expenses in challenging the Defendants’ wrongful 26 representations, damage to his creditworthiness, and emotional distress. 27 28 72. By inaccurately reporting account information relating to the discharged debt after notice and confirmation of its errors, Experian failed to take the ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ AMENDED COMPLAINT ! 12 Case No.: 2:16-cv-02860-JCM-PAL Case 2:16-cv-02860-JCM-PAL Document 18-1 Filed 04/11/17 Page 14 of 15 1 appropriate measures as required under 15 U.S.C. §§ 1681-s(2)(b)(1)(D) and 2 (E). 3 FIRST CAUSE OF ACTION 4 VIOLATION OF THE FAIR CREDIT REPORTING ACT 5 15 U.S.C. § 1681, ET SEQ. 6 73. Complaint as though fully stated herein. 7 8 Plaintiff incorporates by reference all of the above paragraphs of this 74. The foregoing acts and omissions constitute numerous and multiple willful, reckless or negligent violations of the FCRA, including but not limited to 10 each and every one of the above-cited provisions of the FCRA, 15 U.S.C § 11 KAZEROUNI LAW GROUP, APC 7854 W. Sahara Avenue Las Vegas, NV 89117 9 1681, et Seq.. 12 75. As a result of each and every willful violation of the FCRA, Plaintiff is 13 entitled to actual damages as the Court may allow pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 14 1681n(a)(1); statutory damages pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 1681n(a)(1); punitive 15 damages as the Court may allow pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 1681n(a)(2); and 16 reasonable attorney’s fees and costs pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 1681n(a)(3) from 17 Defendants. 18 76. As a result of each and every negligent noncompliance of the FCRA, Plaintiff 19 is entitled to actual damages as the Court may allow pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 20 1681o(a)(1); and reasonable attorney’s fees and costs pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 21 1681o(a)(2) from Defendants. PRAYER FOR RELIEF 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Plaintiff respectfully requests the Court grant Plaintiff the following relief against Defendants: • An award of actual damages pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 1681n(a) (1); • An award of statutory damages pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 1681n(a)(1); ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ AMENDED COMPLAINT ! 13 Case No.: 2:16-cv-02860-JCM-PAL Case 2:16-cv-02860-JCM-PAL Document 18-1 Filed 04/11/17 Page 15 of 15 1 • An award of punitive damages as the Court may allow pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 1681n(a)(2); 2 3 • An award of costs of litigation and reasonable attorney’s fees, pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 1681n(a)(3), and 15 U.S.C. § 1681(o) (a)(1) against Defendants for each incident of negligent noncompliance of the FCRA; and 4 5 6 • Any other relief the Court may deem just and proper. 7 8 TRIAL BY JURY 9 10 KAZEROUNI LAW GROUP, APC 7854 W. Sahara Avenue Las Vegas, NV 89117 11 77. Pursuant to the seventh amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America, Plaintiff is entitled to, and demands, a trial by jury. 12 13 DATED this ___ day of April 2017. Respectfully submitted, 14 15 KAZEROUNI LAW GROUP, APC 16 By: /s/ Michael Kind Michael Kind, Esq. 7854 W. Sahara Avenue Las Vegas, NV 89117 Attorneys for Plaintiff 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ AMENDED COMPLAINT ! 14 Case No.: 2:16-cv-02860-JCM-PAL

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