Dowell v. Wells Fargo Bank, Na

• Decision Date: 28 February 2008
• Docket Number: No. 07-1529.,07-1529.
• Citation: 517 F.3d 1024
• Parties: Richard DOWELL; Julie Dowell, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. WELLS FARGO BANK, NA; Trans Union, L.L.C., Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

517 F.3d 1024

Richard DOWELL; Julie Dowell, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. WELLS FARGO BANK, NA; Trans Union, L.L.C., Defendants-Appellees.

No. 07-1529.

United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.

Submitted: December 12, 2007.

Filed: February 28, 2008.

Theodore F. Sporer, argued, Des Moines, IA, for Appellant.

Richard A. Malm, argued, Des Moines, IA, for Appellee Wells Fargo Bank.

Christopher T. Lane, argued, Indianapolis, IN (Robert J. Schuckit and Wade D. Fulford, Indianapolis, IN, and Patrick B. White, Des Moines, IA, on the brief), for Appellee Trans Union.

Before BYE, ARNOLD, and MELLOY, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM.

Plaintiff debtors brought claims against a lender and a credit reporting agency under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act ("the Act"), 15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq., the Iowa Debt Collection Practices Act, Iowa Code § 537.7101 et seq., and Iowa's common law of defamation. The district court¹ granted summary judgment in favor of the defendants, and we affirm.

Plaintiff Richard Dowell, a physician, had several private and federal student loans through Defendant Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. He consolidated only the private loans with Wells Fargo. Due to confusion on the part of Richard Dowell and his wife, Plaintiff Julie Dowell, as to which loans remained unconsolidated, Richard Dowell failed to make the necessary payments on all outstanding loans. Eventually, Wells Fargo and Richard Dowell reached an agreement and established a new payment plan. After entering into this agreement, he again failed to make the necessary payments.

Wells Fargo subsequently reported to credit reporting agencies, including Defendant Trans Union, that some of the loans were written-off. Wells Fargo transferred those loans to a separate Wells Fargo entity for asset recovery. The asset recovery entity separately reported the loans to credit bureaus and listed the loans as problem loans. This resulted in the appearance of a heightened number of outstanding bad loans. In addition, Wells Fargo changed the account numbers on some of the loans during the time period relevant to this case, as required to eliminate the use of social security numbers as account numbers. This change led to a temporary overstatement of the number of loans from Wells Fargo to the couple.

On numerous occasions, Julie Dowell complained to the defendants about the reporting of the debts. However, she did not accurately identify the accounts or account balances when she reported the perceived errors. The defendants, nevertheless, investigated the matter, provided explanations to Julie Dowell regarding the reports and her complaints, and took limited corrective action. Further, Trans Union gave the plaintiffs the opportunity to place comments on the report. The plaintiffs did not take advantage of this option. Eventually, the plaintiffs brought the present action, alleging negligent and willful violations of the Act and alleging the related state law claims.

The district court granted summary judgment on the federal claims based on the plaintiffs' failure to create a triable question of fact as to the existence of damages and based on the conclusion that the defendants could not be held liable for alleged violations that occurred prior to the receipt of complaints from the plaintiffs. The district court granted summary judgment on the Iowa Debt Collection Practices Act claims based on the plaintiffs' failure to create a triable question of fact as to whether defendant Wells Fargo conducted any of its allegedly nefarious actions for the purpose of collecting the underlying debt. The...