Judge Schroeder’s September 30, 2025 portrait of the property report as a CRA in Joyce v. First American Mortgage Solutions, LLC (No. 1:23-cv-1069) denied the defendant’s motion for judgment on the pleadings, allowing a Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) claim to proceed where a “Property Report” combined another consumer’s judgments with the plaintiff’s file and was then used by a lender to deny him a loan.
In this sequel to Keller v. Experian I, 2024 WL 1349607 (M.D.N.C. Mar. 30, 2024), Judge Thomas Schroeder once again dismissed Eric Keller’s Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) suit against Experian—this time for lack of Article III standing rather than for failure to state a claim.
When a repossession turns into a shouting match—or worse, when the debtor is still inside the car—any lawyer who’s ever seen the phrase “without breach of the peace” in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 25-9-609 should immediately start thinking “state-court claim and delivery,” not “self-help.”
In this case, a veteran found his home purchase delayed because Experian could not generate his credit report—an error caused by Experian’s system refusing to recognize his legal last name, “K.” As a result, he was forced into a higher-rate variable mortgage and an extra month of rent. He sued under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
Three North Carolina homeowners brought a putative class action against Selene Finance, alleging that Selene’s standardized “default and intent to accelerate” letters violated the FDCPA, the North Carolina Debt Collection Act, and the North Carolina Collection Agencies Act. They also asserted negligent misrepresentation under state law. Selene moved to dismiss.
