Jason Dennis v. Beh-1, Llc, a Limited Liability Company in the State of California, and Experian Information Solutions, Inc., an Ohio Corporation

485 F.3d 443 Jason DENNIS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. BEH-1, LLC, a limited liability company in the State of California, Defendant, and Experian Information Solutions, Inc., an Ohio corporation, Defendant-Appellee. No. 04-56230. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted August 17, 2006. Filed May 7, 2007. Louis P. Dell, Esq., Law Office of Louis P. Dell, Los Angeles, CA, for the plaintiff-appellant. Alexander Frid, Jones Day, Los Angeles, California; Meir Feder, Jones Day, New York, NY, for the defendant-appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California Manuel L. Real, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CV-03-07064-R. Before ALEX KOZINSKI, DIARMUID F. O'SCANNLAIN and JAY S. BYBEE, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM. 1 We address whether a credit reporting agency is liable under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), Pub.L. No. 90-321, 84 Stat. 1128 (codified at 15 U.S.C. § 1681 ), when it relies on inaccurate information contained in public records. We also consider the appropriate scope of a reinvestigation of a disputed report under 15 U.S.C. § 1681i. Facts 2 In October of 2002, plaintiff Jason Dennis was…

We address whether a credit reporting agency is liable under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), Pub.L. No. 90-321, 84 Stat. 1128 (codified at 15 U.S.C. § 1681 ), when it relies on inaccurate information contained in public records. We also consider the appropriate scope of a *445 reinvestigation of a disputed report under 15 U.S.C. § 1681L

Facts

In October of 2002, plaintiff Jason Dennis was served with an unlawful detainer complaint by his landlord, BEH-1, LLC. BEH-1 eventually agreed to drop the suit, in exchange for $1,959, to be paid in installments; the parties stipulated that no judgment would be entered. A written stipulation was filed with the Los Angeles Superior Court, and someone' — presumably a clerk — made the following entry on the court’s Register of Civil Actions: “11/25/02 Court Trial Concluded — Judgment Entered.”

Dennis subsequently received a credit report from defendant Experian Information Solutions, Inc., which indicated that a “Civil Claim judgment”’had been entered against Dennis in the amount of $1,959. Dennis called Experian and advised it that he had settled the matter out of court and that a judgment was never entered against him.

Experian…

dissenting in part:

I agree that it was reasonable for Expe-rian to rely on the Register entry in compiling its initial report on Dennis’s credit history. But once Dennis disputed the accuracy of that record, Experian was obligated to do more. When a consumer disputes an item on his credit report, the reporting agency must “conduct a reason *448 able reinvestigation to determine whether the disputed information is inaccurate.” 15 U.S.C. § 1681i. As the Federal Trade Commission has commented, a “reasonable reinvestigation” at this stage requires the agency to “explain to the source [of the information] that the original statement has been disputed, state the consumer’s position, and then ask whether the source would confirm the information, qualify it, or accept the consumer’s explanation.” See Commentary on the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 55 Fed.Reg. 18,804, 18,823-24 (May 4,1990).

The “source” here was the Superior Court and the “information” in question was the purported judgment against Dennis. Confirming the accuracy of the information would have required Experian to find a document in the court file that backed up the Register notation and the trial minutes, thereby…