In Gillespie v. Equifax Information Services, L.L.P., No. 06-1952 (May 3, 2007), the Seventh Circuit recently ruled that the Fair Credit Reporting Act’s fundamental requirement that “[e]very consumer reporting agency shall, upon request . . . clearly and accurately disclose to the consumer [a]ll information in the consumer’s file at the time of the request.” 15 U.S.C. § 1681g(a)(1) requires both accuracy and clarity - not merely technical accuracy. In Gillespie, the plaintiffs requested their credit reports, which, among other things, listed the “date of last activity” on certain collection accounts. The problem, however, was that the report could lack clarity as to when delinquency had occurred. Having clarity on this point could be important to the consumer because, under FCRA, a consumer report may not include “accounts placed for collection or charged to profit and loss which antedate the report by more than seven years.” 15 U.S.C. § 1681c(a)(4). Here’s the Seventh Circuit’s key holding:

We conclude that the consumer reporting agency must do more than simply make an accurate disclosure of the information in the consumer’s credit file. The disclosure must be made in a manner sufficient to allow the consumer to compare the disclosed information from the credit file against the consumer’s personal information in order to allow the consumer to determine the accuracy of the information set forth in her credit file. In writing § 1681g(a)(1), Congress requires disclosure that is both “clearly and accurately” made. An accurate disclosure of unclear information defeats the consumer’s ability to review the credit file, eliminating a consumer protection procedure established by Congress under the FCRA.

Source of post can be found here.