Pintos

I. Background

Police officers found a sport utility vehicle belonging to Maria Pintos parked on the street in San Bruno, California on May 29, 2002. The vehicle’s registration was expired. At police direction, the vehicle was towed, and the towing com- 12952 PINTOS v. PACIFIC CREDITORS ASS’N pany, P&S Towing, obtained a lien on the vehicle for the cost of towing and impound. P&S later sold the vehicle when Pin- tos failed to reclaim it or pay the outstanding charges. Since the vehicle’s sale price did not cover the amount owed, P&S asserted a deficiency claim against Pintos and later transferred the claim to PCA, a collection agency.

PCA sought and obtained a credit report on Pintos from Experian on December 5, 2002, in connection with its effort to collect on the debt assigned by P&S. Pintos subsequently filed a complaint against PCA and Experian under the FCRA. She alleged that PCA violated the FCRA by obtaining her credit report without any FCRA-sanctioned purpose and that Experian was liable for providing the report to PCA.

PCA and Experian filed separate motions for summary judgment. Both argued that, under 15 U.S.C. § 1681b(a)(3)(A), PCA had a permissible…