Section 1681e(b) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires credit reporting agencies to “follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy of the information” reported. In 2021, a district court held that a plaintiff cannot bring a claim for violating that provision when “the accuracy at issue requires a legal determination as to the validity of the debt the agency reported.” Rather, it held, a reporting agency could be held liable only “when the information reported does not match the information furnished,” narrowing the statute to cases involving transcription errors.
Today, in Sessa v. TransUnion, a unanimous panel of the Second Circuit reversed. The court held there was no bright-line factual versus legal standard; rather, the only question is whether the information in dispute is “objectively and readily verifiable.”
