| Volume 143 Number 90 |
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The People’s Lawyer’s Tip of the Day
If someone you don’t know sends you a check and asks for money back, that’s a scam. But what if you’re a small business owner and someone “overpays” you and asks you to refund the balance? That’s still a scam — a fake check scam, to be exact. Click here for more.
Comcast announces plan to bring free internet to community centers
Comcast has announced that it will roll out 1,000 free Wi-Fi “Lift Zones” in community centers across the U.S. in an effort to make sure low-income students have access to the internet.
The free Wi-Fi zones will initially be established in Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Miami, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, Trenton, Minnesota's Twin Cities, and Washington, D.C. Click here for more.
Your Money
If you're looking for extra income or another way to make money, there are numerous websites and apps that can help you do that. Here are 21 ideas that can help you make some extra cash. Click here for more.
For the Lawyers
Omitting a favorable credit item does create a misleading credit report. The Fifth Circuit affirmed a district court’s dismissal of a plaintiff’s FCRA claims against two consumer reporting agencies (CRAs), holding that omitting a favorable credit item does not render a credit report misleading. The plaintiff filed a lawsuit after the CRAs stopped reporting a favorable item—a timely paid credit card account—and refused to restore it, alleging that the refusal to include the item on his consumer report violated section 1681e(b), which requires CRAs to follow “reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy” of consumer information. As a result, the plaintiff claimed his creditworthiness was harmed, which caused him to be denied a credit card and rejected for a mortgage. The district court dismissed the suit. The 5th Circuit found that the omission of a single credit item does not render a report ”inaccurate” or “misleading.” According to the court, a “credit report does not become inaccurate whenever there is an omission, but only when an omission renders the report misleading in such a way and to such an extent that it can be expected to adversely affect credit decisions.” As such, “[b]usinesses relying on credit reports have no reason to believe that a credit report reflects all relevant information on a consumer.” The Fifth Circuit further held that the plaintiff failed to state a claim for violations of section 1681i(a), which requires agencies to conduct an investigation if consumers dispute “the completeness or accuracy of any item of information contained in a consumer’s file.” The court held that because the plaintiff “disputed the completeness of his credit report, not of an item in that report,” the statute did not require an investigation. Hammer v. Equifax Info. Servs., Click here for more.