Abdallah v. Lexisnexis Risk Sols. FL Inc.

ABRAHAM ABDALLAH, Plaintiff, v. LEXISNEXIS RISK SOLUTIONS FL INC., CHEX SYSTEMS, INC., Defendants.

19-CV-3609 (RRM) (VMS)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

March 30, 2021

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

ROSLYNN R. MAUSKOPF, United States District Judge.

Plaintiff Abraham Abdallah brings this action against defendants LexisNexis Risk Solutions FL, Inc. ("LexisNexis") and Chex Systems, Inc. ("Chex"), alleging failure to investigate or cure erroneous consumer credit reports, in violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act ("FCRA"), 15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq.; New York Fair Credit Reporting Act ("NYFCRA"), N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law § 380 et seq.; and N.Y. Gen Bus. Law § 349. (Am. Compl. (Doc. No. 21).) Both defendants separately move to dismiss pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). (Notice of Motion (Doc. Nos. 29, 30).) For the reasons stated below, LexisNexis's motion is granted in part and denied in part and Chex's motion is granted in part and denied in part.

BACKGROUND

The following facts are drawn from Abdallah's Amended Complaint and are assumed to be true for the purpose of this Memorandum and Order. LexisNexis provides reports for financial institutions through its Accurint program, a reporting service that provides, among other things, information about a consumer's bankruptcy history; income and property ownership; criminal history; purported personal associations and work history; and co-habitant, neighbor, and neighborhood data. (Am. Compl. ¶ 29.)

Sometime in 2014, Abdallah applied for and was denied a mortgage based on information contained in an Accurint report. (Id. ¶ 30.) Abdallah obtained a copy of the Accurint report, which he discovered was filled with inaccurate and false information. (Id. ¶ 31.) He then contacted LexisNexis by phone in an attempt to address this problem. (Id.) In a follow-up letter sent from LexisNexis to Abdallah on June 10, 2014, LexisNexis told Abdallah that the erroneous information in his Accurint report had come from all three credit bureaus, meaning Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. (Id.) LexisNexis advised Abdallah to contact those companies directly. (Id.) When he did so, Abdallah learned that the reports from those three credit bureaus did not, in fact, contain the inaccuracies found in the Accurint report. (Id.)

On July 8, 2014, Abdallah wrote to LexisNexis to dispute the contents of his Accurint report. (Id. ¶ 32.) He notified LexisNexis that the Accurint report was filled with misspelled and incorrect names, social security numbers, and addresses. He complained that three different mortgage companies had used the information in the report to deny his application despite his excellent credit. (Id.) Abdallah specifically asked LexisNexis to delete all of the incorrect information, misspelled and incorrect names, and incorrect addresses and phone numbers. (Id.) In an attempt to help LexisNexis rectify the errors, Abdallah enclosed with his letter an annotated copy of the Accurint report, noting everything that was incorrect and which he demanded be removed. (Id. ¶ 33.) He also confirmed that he did not use any other names but his own, Abraham A. Abdallah, and used only his own social security number and address, which he provided. (Id.) He also furnished LexisNexis with summary pages of reports prepared by Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, showing that the false Accurint information did not originate with them. (Id.)

On July 24, 2014, LexisNexis responded, again stating that the incorrect information in the 2014 Accurint report was attributable to the three credit bureaus. (Id. ¶ 34.) LexisNexis also stated in its response that it is not a Consumer Reporting Agency and is not governed by the Fair Credit Reporting Act; consequently, it could not and would not correct or change the erroneous information in Abdallah's Accurint report. (Id.)

After "numerous banks" relied upon the Accurint report when refusing to open accounts for Abdallah, he again contacted LexisNexis by letter on January 5, 2015. (Id. ¶ 36.) Abdallah wrote to LexisNexis to request a copy of his current Accurint report and to dispute the inaccurate identifying information contained therein. (Id.) He provided LexisNexis with the proper spelling of his name and his correct address and insisted that LexisNexis delete all the other incorrect addresses and remove all the names on the report other than his own. (Id.)

On or about February 3, 2015, Lexis Nexis responded to Abdallah's letter by denying that it is a Consumer Reporting Agency and asserting that federal law does not require LexisNexis to correct inaccurate information. (Id. ¶ 37.) As part of its response, LexisNexis also provided Abdallah with a copy of his Accurint report dated February 3, 2015. (Id. ¶ 38.)

This Accurint Report contained numerous inaccuracies. For example, in a section titled "names associated with subject" containing twenty-three different names, birthdays and social security numbers, twenty were erroneous. In a section titled "others associated with subject SSN" containing seven different listed names, birthdates, and social security numbers, five were inaccurate and misidentified Abdallah for his brother Ahamad or other unknown individuals. A section titled "address summary" contained twenty-seven different addresses, but Abdallah had never resided at twenty-five of them. Similarly, a section titled "previous and non-verified addresses" contained twenty-four addresses and P.O. Boxes, eighteen of which Abdallah hadnever used. A section titled "possible associates" contained eighteen different individuals with whom Abdallah was allegedly associated, seventeen of whom Abdallah did not know or associate with. (Id. ¶ 38.)

In a subsequent letter dated February 2, 2016, Abdallah again wrote to LexisNexis disputing the inaccurate information contained in the Accurint report. (Id. ¶ 39.) In this letter, he stated that he was having problems opening bank accounts with financial institutions because of the Accurint report. (Id.) He again enclosed a letter highlighting the incorrect information included in the report, as well as a copy of his driver's license and social security card, with a demand for the immediate removal of the incorrect information he had identified. (Id. ¶ 40.)

On or about March 21, 2016, LexisNexis responded to Abdallah by reiterating that LexisNexis is not a Consumer Reporting Agency and it would not verify or correct inaccurate information. (Id. ¶ 41.) LexisNexis also provided Abdallah with a new copy of his Accurint report, dated March 21, 2016. This report contained new and different inaccuracies. For example, a section titled "names associated with subject" containing eighteen different listed names, birthdates, and social security numbers, fourteen of which were inaccurate. Among the names listed was "ABRAHAM ABDALLADELETETRADE." In a section titled "others associated with subject SSN" containing nine different names, birthdates, and social security numbers, eight names were inaccurate. Among the names listed was his brother's: Ahamad. In a section titled "address summary" containing twenty-five addresses and P.O. Box listings and alleged dates when Abdallah lived there or used them, twenty of the addresses were inaccurate. Similarly, a section titled "active addresses" listed no home address, even though Abdallah lives in a home in Brooklyn, and twenty of the twenty-five different addresses and P.O. Boxes listed in a section titled "previous and non-verified addresses" were inaccurate. (Id. ¶ 42.) This lastsection listed as one of his previous addresses a jail cell in the Riker's Island adolescent unit which had housed a different individual, Abrihim A. Abdallah, in the 1980s; Abdallah has no criminal record. (Id.)

On or about April 1, 2016, LexisNexis sent Abdallah another letter responding to Abdallah's continued effort to dispute the contents of his Accurint reports, again stating that it is not a Consumer Reporting Agency and it would not verify or correct inaccurate information. (Id. ¶ 43.) LexisNexis claimed in that letter that its erroneous address information was reported to LexisNexis by the credit bureaus, voter registration records, and utility records, and directed Abdallah to contact those sources in order to correct the Accurint report. (Id. ¶ 44.)

In June and July of 2016, Citibank closed nine accounts held by Abdallah and his wife, Munna Ahmad. (Id. ¶ 45.) Abdallah alleges, on information and belief, that the bank closed the accounts based on an Accurint report prepared by LexisNexis. (Id.) In September of 2016, Bank of America closed three accounts held by Abdallah. Again, Abdallah alleges, on information and belief, that Bank of America closed these accounts based on an Accurint report prepared by LexisNexis. (Id. ¶ 46.)

On October 19, 2017, Bethpage Federal Credit Union refused to allow Abdallah to open a Business Savings Account, a decision which Abdallah alleges, on information and belief, was based on an erroneous credit report provided by Chex. (Id. ¶¶ 59-60.) On or about October 24, 2017, Abdallah filed a dispute with Chex by fax according to the policies and procedures stated on the Chex website, asserting that he had recently been denied a bank account because his date of birth was wrong on his Chex report. (Id. ¶ 60.) Abdallah provided Chex with a copy of his driver's license and his social security card and asked that Chex correct his date of birth. (Id.)

On November 11, 2017, Abdallah one more time wrote to LexisNexis to dispute the inaccurate information in his Accurint report. (Id. ¶ 47.) He wrote that he was having difficulty opening a checking account at local banks based on the erroneous report. He again provided his social security number, date of birth, and address, and asked that any other information that did not belong to him be removed from his Accurint report. (Id.)

On or about January 2, 2018, LexisNexis responded by once again claiming that LexisNexis is not a ...