Reported / Citable
Background
Donavyn Kelly sued TransUnion under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, alleging that it continued to report delinquent child-support obligations even though he supplied documentation indicating he was current and had a credit. Kelly disputed the reporting several times, including through Consumer Financial Protection Bureau complaints that transmitted his materials to TransUnion.
According to the complaint, Texas’s child-support office told Kelly that its interface showed he was current or in compliance, while also seeking Indiana documentation to update his case. TransUnion nevertheless repeatedly verified the reported delinquency based on information from the Texas Office of the Attorney General, including after a March 2026 dispute. Kelly also sought a default judgment, but TransUnion filed its dismissal motion before its deadline to respond.
The Court’s Holding
Magistrate Judge Andrew M. Edison recommended denying both motions. The recommendation concludes that default was unavailable because TransUnion timely filed its Rule 12(b)(6) motion on the day its response was due, before Kelly filed his default-judgment motion.
The magistrate judge further concluded that Kelly plausibly alleged claims under FCRA §§ 1681i and 1681e(b). Although § 1681s-1 requires consumer reporting agencies to include information about overdue support received from government agencies, the recommendation adopted the Sixth Circuit’s reasoning in Berry v. Experian Information Solutions, Inc.: that reporting obligation does not categorically bar liability for an unreasonable reinvestigation or inaccurate reporting. Given the alleged notice that the Texas agency’s information was wrong, simply asking that agency to verify the balance could be unreasonable.
Key Takeaways
- A credit reporting agency’s duty to report overdue support information does not necessarily immunize it from FCRA accuracy and reinvestigation claims.
- A consumer plausibly alleges an unreasonable reinvestigation when the agency merely confirms disputed information with the source alleged to be inaccurate.
- A timely filed dispositive motion defeats a request for default judgment.
Why It Matters
The recommendation treats the FCRA’s child-support reporting mandate and its accuracy protections as complementary, not mutually exclusive. If adopted by the district judge, it permits Kelly’s claims to proceed based on allegations that TransUnion had contrary documentation yet continued to rely solely on the Texas reporting agency.
Because this is a memorandum and recommendation, the parties may file objections within 14 days, and the district court has not yet entered a final ruling on the motions.