Soler v. Trans Union, LLC

Soler v. Trans Union, LLC

Opinion

Order DENYING Defendant Trans Union LLC's Motion to Dismiss (Dkt. 17)

Defendant Trans Union LLC moves to dismiss Plaintiff Cynthia Soler's Complaint. Dkt. 17 (Mot.). Soler opposes. Dkt. 18 (Opp'n). The Court deems this matter appropriate for decision without oral argument. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 78; Local Rule 7-15. For the reasons stated below, the motion is DENIED.

I. BACKGROUND

Soler, a California consumer, had two accounts with Nelnet Servicing LLC (Accounts). Dkt. 1 (Compl. ¶¶ 12, 21). Nelnet is a company that provided Soler's credit information to Trans Union, a consumer reporting agency. Id. ¶¶ 14, 16, 17, 22. With that information, Trans Union generated a consumer credit report for Soler (Credit Report), which is at the center of this dispute.

On about December 8, 2015, Soler's Accounts were fully satisfied with a $0 balance. Id. ¶ 21. Despite her $0 balance, the Trans Union report from September 15, 2018 falsely reported her "pay status" as "120 Days Past Due Date." Id. ¶ 23. On August 17, 2018, Soler mailed a dispute letter to Trans Union as required under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).  [*2]  Id. ¶ 24. Trans Union sent Soler's dispute to Nelnet via an Automated Customer Dispute Verification. Id. ¶ 25. Nelnet verified Soler's Accounts as accurate and instructed Trans Union to continue to report the credit information, even though it was (in Soler's view) inaccurate. Id. ¶ 26. As of July 23, 2020, Soler's Credit Report reported the same information she disputed on August 17, 2018. Id. ¶ 27. Based on this, Soler alleges Trans Union did not follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy and has been reporting false and inaccurate information. Id. ¶ 28.

Based on these allegations, Soler sued Nelnet and Trans Union for negligent and willful FCRA violations. Soler claims Trans Union's reporting negatively reflects on her and her credit repayment history, the reporting lowers her credit score, and current and potential creditors have seen the reporting. Id. ¶¶ 34-35, 42. As a result, Soler alleges she suffered actual damages and physical, emotional, mental pain, and anguish. Id. ¶¶ 36, 40. Nelnet filed an answer to Soler's Complaint. Dkt. 15. Trans Union moves to dismiss Soler's Complaint under Rule 12(b)(6).

Full case includes Shepard's, Headnotes, Legal Analytics from Lex Machina, and more.