United States District Court, E.D. Michigan, Southern Division
ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANTS' MOTIONS FOR JUDGMENT
ON THE PLEADINGS [#30; #35]
DENISE
PAGE HOOD Chief Judge
I.
BACKGROUND
A.
Procedural Background
On
September 26, 2018, Plaintiff Valarie Hamilton
(“Hamilton”) commenced this action in the
47th District Court in Oakland County, Michigan
alleging Negligent and Willful Violations of the Fair Credit
Reporting Act (“FCRA”), 15 U.S.C. § 1681
(Counts 1-10) against Defendants Equifax Information
Services, LLC (“Equifax”), Trans Union, LLC
(“Trans Union”), Synchrony Bank
(“Synchrony”), Michigan First Credit Union
(“Michigan First”), and Capital One Bank (USA),
N.A (“Capital One”). (Doc # 2-2) Trans Union
removed this action to federal court on November 5, 2018.
(Doc # 1) Equifax was dismissed from this case on December
10, 2018. (Doc # 18) Capital One was dismissed from this case
on February 11, 2019. (Doc # 34) Synchrony Bank was dismissed
from this case on February 26, 2019. (Doc # 37) Trans Union
and Michigan First are the only remaining defendants in this
action.
On
January 16, 2019, Trans Union filed a Motion for Judgment on
the Pleadings. (Doc # 30) Hamilton filed her Response on
February 6, 2019. (Doc # 33) Trans Union filed its Reply on
February 20, 2019. (Doc # 36)
On
February 18, 2019, Michigan First filed a Motion for Judgment
on the Pleadings. (Doc # 35) Hamilton filed her Response on
March 11, 2019. (Doc # 40) Michigan First filed its Reply on
March 15, 2019. (Doc # 42)
These
two Motions are currently before the Court.
B.
Factual Background
On
August 30, 2017, Hamilton filed Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in
Bankruptcy Court in the Eastern District of Michigan. (Doc #
2-2, Pg ID 13) On December 5, 2017, the Bankruptcy Court
issued Hamilton an Order of Discharge. (Id.) On May
23, 2018, Hamilton received her Trans Union credit disclosure
and noticed that the Synchrony and Michigan First trade lines
inaccurately failed to include the correct notation
indicating her bankruptcy discharge. (Id.) According
to Hamilton, the Synchrony and Michigan First Trade lines
should be reported as closed and with the notation of
“bankruptcy discharge.” (Id.) Hamilton
claims that the lack of this notation will cause creditors to
falsely believe that those two accounts are active when they
are closed. (Id.)
On or
about July 7, 2018, Hamilton submitted a letter to Trans
Union disputing the incorrect trade lines. (Id.)
Hamilton asked Trans Union to correctly note her bankruptcy
discharge. (Id.) Hamilton was led to believe that
Trans Union forwarded her dispute to Synchrony and Michigan
First. (Id.)
After
not receiving any information from Trans Union, Hamilton
obtained additional credit disclosures from Trans Union on
August 22, 2018. (Id. at 14-15.) Upon obtaining
these credit disclosures, Hamilton realized that no changes
were made since she initially gained access to her credit
disclosures on May 23, 2018. (Id. at 15.)
Hamilton
contends that as a direct and proximate result of Defendants
Trans Union and Michigan First's (collectively,
“Defendants”) negligent and/or willful failure to
comply with the FCRA, she has suffered credit and emotional
damages. (Id.) Hamilton also claims that she has
experienced undue stress and anxiety due to Defendants'
failure to correct the alleged errors. (Id.)
II.
STANDARDS OF REVIEW
A.
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