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Business Credit Law and Regulations | ||||||||||||
US Supreme Court resolves conflictThe United States Supreme Court has resolved a conflict among the circuit courts to consider how long a consumer has to bring a claim under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The FCRA provides that a consumer has two years in which the claim arises to bring an action under FCRA. With the case TRW, Inc. v. Andrews, 00-1045, the U.S. Supreme Court has decided when the cause of action arises for the purposes of determining the two year limitation. The FCRAThe FCRA regulates the use of individual credit reports and credit information. Generally the collection of business, trade, and commercial credit reports are not covered by FCRA. The FCRA insures that credit reporting agencies, and the users of such reports, will respect a consumer's right to privacy by pulling consumer credit reports only after express written authorization from the consumer. Pulling Individual Credit ReportsThe Federal Trade Commission is a federal regulatory agency that enforces the provisions of the FCRA. The FTC has vacillated on whether a vendor extending commercial credit must obtain the consumer's consent prior to pulling a consumer credit report to be used for business purposes, or for a personal guarantee of business credit. To be safe, a vendor should obtain the consumer's consent prior to pulling a consumer credit report when extending credit for business purpose. Penalties For Violating FCRAThe private enforcement provisions of the FCRA permit a consumer to bring civil suit for willful noncompliance with the FCRA, with no ceiling on punitive damages. The consumer may sue for negligent noncompliance, for actual damages sustained. The consumer may also seek to recover the consumer's attorneys' fees. In addition, criminal penalties may also be assessed including fines and imprisonment against any person who knowingly and willfully obtains a consumer report under false pretenses. The Statute Of Limitations Under FCRAThe FCRA provides that a consumer has two years from the date the claim arises in which to bring an action under FCRA. But when does that time begin to run? When a vendor pulled the credit report without the consumer's authorization, or when a consumer learns that the report was pulled? The difference between the two may be considerable. U.S. Supreme Court's DecisionThe U.S. Supreme Court has decided whether the statute of limitations begins
to run when the wrongful credit disclosure is made or when the individual knows
or has reason to know of the act. In Andrews, the problem began when a business
copied personal information about an individual, and fraudulently used the
information about the individual. When the individual discovered the fraud,
she requested the credit reporting agency to delete the fraudulent transactions
from her report. The reporting agency complied, but the individual sued the
agency claiming they did not do enough to insure that the information it sold
was accurate. The lower court ruled that the claim against the reporting agency
was timely pursued. The U.S. Circuit Court for the 9th Circuit disagreed and
reversed the District Court holding that the individual could pursue claims
against the reporting agency. The credit agency appealed to the U.S. Supreme
Court. Reprinted by permission from Trade Vendor Quarterly Blakeley & Blakeley LLP Fall 01 |
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