stevenson v. trw, Inc., 987 F. 2d 288, 219-92 (5th Cir. 1993); for those considering legal action, check out this HEY CHRISTI: THIS IS YOUR US DISTRICT!!! http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/91/91-07142-cv0.htm Special notes: 30k mental anguish for actual damages (3 credit denials).... lists other cases and awards: C. Mental Anguish check out this ammunition Section 1681o authorizes a consumer to recover actual damages sustained from the consumer reporting agency's negligent violation of a requirement under FCRA. Actual damages include humiliation or mental distress, even if the consumer has suffered no out-of-pocket losses. Fischl v. General Motors Acceptance Corp., 708 F.2d 143, 151 (5th Cir.1983). Of course, such damages must be warranted by the evidence. Pinner v. Schmidt, 805 F.2d 1258, 1265 (5th Cir.1986), cert. denied, 483 U.S. 1022, 107 S.Ct. 3267, 97 L.Ed.2d 766 (1987). After reviewing the record, we hold that the district court did not err in finding that Stevenson had suffered mental anguish from TRW's violations of FCRA. TRW maintains that most of Stevenson's distress was the result of the many calls he received from creditors of the fraudulently obtained accounts. TRW correctly questions the relevance of these creditors' calls to violations of FCRA. Nearly all of these calls occurred before Stevenson filed his written dispute and TRW began its reinvestigation. Only after that did the FCRA violations occur. Stevenson's distress because of creditors' calls arose before TRW's FCRA violations. The record reveals evidence, however, that Stevenson suffered mental anguish over his lengthy dealings with TRW after he disputed his credit report. First, Stevenson testified that it was a "terrific shock" to him to discover his bad credit rating after maintaining a good credit reputation since 1932. Second, Stevenson was denied credit three times during TRW's reinvestigation: by Bloomingdale's, by Bank One, and by Gabbert's Furniture Company. Stevenson testified that he had to go "hat in hand" to the president of Bank One, who was a business associate and friend, to explain his problems with TRW. As a result, he obtained credit at Bank One. Third, Stevenson had to explain his credit woes to the president of the First City Bank in Colleyville when he opened an account there. With a new president at First City Bank, Stevenson had to explain his situation again. Despite the fact that he was ultimately able to obtain credit, Stevenson testified to experiencing "considerable embarrassment" from having to detail to business associates and creditors his problems with TRW. Finally, Stevenson spent a considerable amount of time since he first disputed his credit report trying to resolve his problems with TRW. We have upheld awards of actual damages on the basis of similar evidence of mental distress. In Pinner, 805 F.2d at 1265, the consumer was awarded $25,000 for mental distress because of the humiliation and embarrassment resulting from three credit denials and from lengthy dealings with the credit bureau. The court did, however, order a remittitur from the original jury award of $100,000 mental distress damages. Another consumer received $10,000 because of humiliation and embarrassment suffered from three denials of credit and from the fact that the credit bureau took several months to correct the credit report's inaccuracies. Thompson v. San Antonio Retail Merchants Ass'n, 682 F.2d 509, 513-14 (5th Cir.1982). Other courts have made or upheld similar awards. In Collins v. Retail Credit Co., 410 F.Supp. 924, 936 (E.D.Mich.1976), the court awarded a consumer $21,750 for embarrassment and humiliation. In Morris v. Credit Bureau of Cincinnati, Inc., 563 F.Supp. 962, 969 (S.D.Ohio 1983), the consumer was awarded $10,000 for anguish and embarrassment even though, after he was denied credit, he explained the inaccuracies on his credit report and subsequently obtained credit. In Bryant v. TRW, Inc., 487 F.Supp. 1234, 1242-43 (E.D.Mich.1980), the district court awarded a consumer $8,000 for anguish resulting from denials of a mortgage due to inaccurate credit reports. The Sixth Circuit affirmed. 689 F.2d 72 (6th Cir.1982). Finally, in Millstone v. O'Hanlon Reports, Inc., 528 F.2d 829, 834-35 (8th Cir.1976), the Eighth Circuit upheld an award of $2,500 for mental anguish after an insurer cancelled the consumer's policy because of an inaccurate credit report. The district court was presented with evidence of mental distress arising from the large numbers of inaccuracies in Stevenson's credit report and from TRW's lengthy reinvestigation. Of particular significance is the tardy deletion of incorrect entries and the reappearance in the credit report of an earlier-deleted, improper entry. We find no clear error in the district court's award of mental anguish damages in the amount of $30,000.
Re: www.consumerlaw.org Wow, Marie. i wish I could afford them. Too bad we can't have a creditnet convention to study these!
Re: www.consumerlaw.org Christi will be using this to her advantage Filing on Equifax when the courthouse re-opens at 1:00 from lunch, I'm on my break now.
Re: www.consumerlaw.org yep. I thought you'd like it Make sure to be a bit surprised how large the awards seems to be... make sure to quote the names and amounts (but not the dates) when talking with the cras... things may have changed a bit post 1997 ammendments... but the part about the responsibility being squarely on them is still on target and the fact that you can quote any cases means you're not the average consumer with not a clue... I still think mentioning, in passing, that Wenger v TU case always makes them shudder a bit. 200k in damages upheld and paid. haha
Re: www.consumerlaw.org Marie, Good work. I've seen you mention Wenger v. TU. I have searched many places and could not find it. Do you know what website carries it?
Re: www.consumerlaw.org Wenger is unavailable. another great reference case, though, is Cushman v TU http://vls.law.vill.edu/locator/3d/Jun1997/97a1610p.txt Several very important issues (and a few juicy quotes for future letters): We also agree with the cogent observation by the Fifth Circuit that the plain language of the statute places the burden of reinvestigation on the consumer reporting agency. See Stevenson, 987 F.2d at 293. The FCRA evinces Congress's intent that consumer reporting agencies, having the opportunity to reap profits through the collection and dissemination of credit information, bear "grave responsibilities," 15 U.S.C. § 1681(a)(4), to ensure the accuracy of that information. The "grave responsibilit[y]"imposed by § 1681i(a) must consist of something more than merely parroting information received from other sources. Therefore, a "reinvestigation" that merely shifts the burden back to the consumer and the credit grantor cannot fulfill the obligations contemplated by the statute. We hold that in order to fulfill its obligation under § 1681i(a) "a credit reporting agency may be required, in certain circumstances, to verify the accuracy of its initial source of information." Henson, 29 F.3d at 287. We further hold that "[w]hether the credit reporting agency has a duty to go beyond the original source will depend" on a number of factors. Id. One of these is "whether the consumer has alerted the reporting agency to the possibility that the source may be unreliable or the reporting agency itself knows or should know that the source is unreliable." Id. A second factor is "the cost of verifying the accuracy of the source versus the possible harm inaccurately reportedinformation may cause the consumer." Id. Whatever considerations exist, it is for "the trier of fact [to] weigh the[se] factors in deciding whether [the defendant] violated the provisions of section 1681i." A reasonable jury weighing this evidence in light of the factors identified in Henson and endorsed by us today could have rendered a verdict for Cushman. The jury could have concluded that after TUC was alerted to the accusation that the accounts were obtained fraudulently, and then confronted with the credit grantors' reiteration of the inaccurate information, TUC should have known that the credit grantors were "unreliable" to the extent that they had not been informed of the fraud. See Henson, 29 F.3d at 286; see also Pinner, 805 F.2d at 1262 (where consumer informed consumer reporting agency of his personal dispute with manager of credit grantor, it was unreasonable under § 1681i(a) for consumer reporting agency to rely solely on manager for information); cf. Bryant v. TRW, Inc., 689 F.2d 72, 79 (6th Cir. 1982) (similar efforts insufficient under § 1681e(b)). Similarly, the jury could have concluded that seventy-five cents per investigation was too little to spend when weighed against Cushman's damages. See Henson, 29 F.3d at 287.
Re: www.consumerlaw.org suppressed due to settlement agreement... I think. Guess TU didn't want us copying her actual complaint. The lawyers may know how to get a copy... but I don't.
