by Ross I. Molho and Iman Elkram - Clingen Callow & McLean, LLC
The United States Supreme Court recently held there must be a “concrete” harm before one can sue under the Fair Credit Reporting Act FCRA. TransUnion LLC v. Ramirez. This is good news for employers because background checks are implicated by FCRA, and denials of employment as a result of background checks are also governed by FCRA.
by Collin Dorsey - KWWL.com
The lawsuit filed against the City of Waterloo by the Iowa Association of Business and Industry alleges Waterloo is violating state law with the controversial "ban the box" ordinance.
The lawsuit cited a section of Iowa code that was championed by the Iowa ABI and was passed in 2017. It reads a city cannot pass any ordinance exceeding or conflicting with federal or state laws relating to hiring practices.
Read more: https://kwwl.com/2020/01/06/waterloo-facing-suit-over-ban-the-box/
by Mackenna Moralez - Supply & Demand Chain Executive
After a woman in Boca Raton, Florida was murdered in her home by a delivery driver, a proposed bill would require background checks on delivery personnel.
In August, Evelyn Udell Smith of Boca Raton, Florida died after Jorge Luis Dupre Lachazo reportedly beat her death after delivering packages for Best Buy. Lachazo was employed by J.B. Hunt.
According to the South Florida SunSentinel, delivery men showed up to deliver and install a new washer and dryer to Udell's home. Lachazo's delivery partner, David Gonzalez stepped outside to return some missed calls while Lachazo stayed inside to reportedly show Udell how to use her new appliances when the murder allegedly took place.
by Caitlin Andrews - BDN
AUGUSTA, Maine (BDN) -- An association representing three of the nation’s largest credit reporting agencies sued the state of Maine in federal court last week over two new consumer protection laws that affect credit ratings and deal with medical debt and economic abuse.
The Consumer Data Industry Association, whose membership includes credit reporting agencies Experian, Equifax and TransUnion, said in a complaint filed Sept. 26 in U.S. District Court that two laws that went into effect a week earlier violate the Fair Credit Reporting Act and will “undermine the accuracy, integrity and reliability” of consumer report information.
One of the laws prevents reporting agencies from reporting medical debt on a consumer report until the debt is 180 days old and instructs agencies to treat medical debt the same as a credit transaction if the consumer is paying the debt off regularly.
The other instructs reporting agencies to investigate if a person claims their debt is the result of economic abuse. This can include instances where access to money or bank accounts is obstructed, resources like food or shelter are withheld or an abuser creates fraudulent debt in a victim’s name, according to the law’s text. If abuse is found, the agencies have to remove any references to debt generated as a result of the abuse from the victim’s credit report.
