Background
The plaintiff sued a credit bureau under the Fair Credit Reporting Act after the bureau mistakenly reported his twin brother’s speeding ticket in a background check. The bureau had searched the North Dakota Courts website, which listed both brothers under a single case jacket. The plaintiff argued the bureau failed to follow reasonable procedures, but the district court granted summary judgment, finding the bureau acted reasonably and that the plaintiff suffered no damages.
The court’s reasoning
The court reviewed the summary judgment de novo and determined the credit bureau followed reasonable procedures. The bureau reasonably relied on the official North Dakota Courts website, which is a reputable source, even though it grouped the brothers together. The court noted that the Fair Credit Reporting Act is not a strict liability statute and does not require agencies to investigate beyond the face of court records absent evidence of systemic problems. The court also rejected arguments that the bureau should have had specific procedures for twins or that facial inaccuracies required further investigation, as the records did not show the employees saw conflicting driver’s license numbers.
The FCRA is not a strict liability statute.
Rydholm v. Equifax Info. Serv. LLC, 44 F.4th 1105, 1108 (8th Cir. 2022)
What it means going forward
The ruling reinforces that credit reporting agencies are not liable for errors in official court records unless they have notice of systemic issues with those records. It clarifies that agencies are not required to perform additional background research to verify information found in public court databases.