A Ninth Circuit panel today exonerated a credit reporting agency that included false information in a consumer’s credit report.  The 2-1 court held that Experian made an adequate investigation after Jason Dennis notified it that he did not, in fact, suffer a civil judgment against him.  Experian’s contractor looked only at the civil court’s "Register" and didn’t try to get the judgment itself, which didn’t actually exist.  The majority nonetheless concluded that Mr. Dennis had no claim under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.  Dennis v. BEH-1, LLC, No. 04-56230 (9th Cir. May 7, 2007) (per curiam).

The dissenting judge believed that Experian had to do more than have its contractor look at the Superior Court’s Register and should instead have also located the judgment itself.

Barry Barnett

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