$101,000 Verdict in Portland Credit Reporting Trial

A federal jury awarded a consumer in Portland, Oregon $101,000 for damages related to a Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) claim. The background:

Despite repeated attempts by Sponer and his lawyer to get his bank to delete the $29,000 debt that his credit report showed he owed for the car loan, Wells Fargo didn’t do it for 14 months. They finally followed through after Sponer sued the bank

The delay came despite a detective confirming to the bank the identity theft, the thief’s guilty plea and sentencing, the bank’s receipt of a police report and Sponer’s credit card statements that showed he was out of the country when the car was purchased.

In closing arguments:

“A consumer should not have to sue a bank like Wells Fargo to get it to do what the law requires,’’ Sponer’s lawyer, Robert S. Sola, said during his closing argument. “They ignored all the information in their own record.’’

And Wells Fargo argued:

Attorney Daniel C. Peterson, representing Wells Fargo, acknowledged for the first time during his closing argument Friday that the bank was negligent in not deleting the car loan account earlier and validating it as a fraud.

He also said the bank made a mistake when a January 2017 letter Sponer sent to Wells Fargo, which contained the police report on the identity theft and a fraud affidavit, was received but never transferred to its fraud department.

Overall, a good result that will hopefully lead to positive changes within the credit reporting industry.