Fischl v. General Motors Acceptance Corp.

Terry Fischl (plaintiff) was a 27-year-old single homeowner with two sales jobs and a monthly income of $4,000. Fischl had high credit ratings on credit accounts with several retailers, and all his accounts were in good standing. Fischl applied for a $12,000 car loan from General Motors Acceptance Corp. (General Motors) (defendant) to purchase a car. General Motors obtained a credit report on Fischl from a local credit-reporting agency. The report erroneously listed one of his current jobs as a former job and described a credit account that was in good standing as a credit inquiry. General Motors denied Fischl’s loan application after relying on the credit report. Fischl received a letter informing him that his loan application had been denied. The letter stated that Fischl’s credit references were insufficient but did not explain that General Motors had relied on a credit report from the credit-reporting agency. Fischl later learned that General Motors had obtained the credit report. Fischl filed a lawsuit against General Motors in federal district court, alleging that General Motors had violated the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and the Fair Credit Reporting Act by failing to explain its specific reasons for denying him credit and for not disclosing that it had relied on a credit report from a credit-reporting agency. The district court entered judgment for General Motors, holding that General Motors had satisfied all statutory requirements by telling Fischl that his credit references were insufficient. Fischl appealed.