Gorman v. Wolpoff & Abramson, LLP

Gorman (plaintiff) tried to buy a satellite television system using his MBNA America Bank (defendant) credit card. Gorman was unsatisfied with the system, so he lodged a challenge with MBNA to dispute the charge. Over the next several months, Gorman and MBNA went back and forth with the dispute. Eventually, MBNA reported Gorman’s account to credit reporting agencies as charged off. This negative information kept Gorman from getting good credit. Gorman informed the three major credit reporting agencies that their credit reports included inaccurate information. TransUnion sent MBNA a notice that said, “Claims company will change. Verify all account information.” In response, MBNA checked its records and saw that it had not agreed to any modifications in Gorman’s account information. Experian sent a notice that said, “Consumer claims account take-over fraudulent charges made on account. Verify Signature provide complete ID.” In that case, MBNA checked to see whether the information in Gorman’s account regarding name and other identification was correct and checked to see whether Gorman had ever alleged fraud on his account. Transunion sent another notice that stated, “Disputes present/previous Account Status History. Verify according” and “verify signature.” In response, MBNA again checked the identifying information and checked that no fraud claim had ever been submitted. A final notice from Experian stated, “Promised goods/services not delivered. I timely disputed the charges under the TIL Act.” In response, MBNA verified the basic account information it had because MBNA had never resolved the billing dispute in Gorman’s favor despite his numerous complaints. Gorman sued MBNA for violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act, arguing that MBNA’s investigations into the notices were unreasonable. The district court granted summary judgment in MBNA’s favor. Gorman appealed.