Fair Credit Reporting Act Suits Have Soared Over Last Decade

A recent study complied by Lex Machina shows that the number of federal suits containing claims under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) has climbed from 2009 to 2018.  FCRA cases hit the 3,000 mark in 2016 and stayed far above that every year since, the report says. The volume of FCRA cases topped out at 3,665 in 2017, about two-and-a-half times the 1,403 such cases filed in 2009, according to Lex Machina's numbers. Law360, who published the report, turned to Matthew Simpson, partner in the firm’s Atlanta office, on why the number is on the rise. He said: “A heightened expectation of privacy in recent years over background report data as well as factors that have long made FCRA claims attractive to the plaintiffs bar, including that the statute calls for defendants to cover lawsuit costs and attorney fees, have contributed to the increase in FCRA lawsuits.”

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