Requesting Too Much Assistance from the Alleged Victim in Identity Theft Investigations

On February 28, 2022, the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed a district court’s decision to enter summary judgment for a debt collector for alleged violations of the FDCPA and FCRA. Woods v. LVNV Funding, LLC and Resurgent Capital Services, L.P., No. 21-1981 (7th Cir. 2022). Focusing strictly on the FCRA claim, the plaintiff in Woods asserted that the debt collector violated section 1681s-2(b)(1)(A) by failing to conduct a reasonable investigation into his fraud claims.

In this case, once the debt collector received the account and began attempting to collect the debt, it started receiving disputes from the plaintiff. The debt collector responded to the disputes by requesting additional information and documentation regarding the alleged identity theft. Rather than providing information or documentation in support of the dispute to the debt collector, the plaintiff contacted the creditor, who subsequently determined that the debt belonged to the plaintiff.

The plaintiff filed a report with the local police department, alleging that he was the victim of identity theft, and submitting the correspondence from the creditor. The local police spoke with the plaintiff and prepared a report based on the information provided from the plaintiff. The police report included a statement that the creditor “had completed an investigation and . . . determined that it was in fact him.”