The Maryland Consumer Law Blog
Plain-English analysis of the Supreme Court, Fourth Circuit, and Maryland decisions that shape FCRA credit-report, background-check, and consumer protection cases.
Why Is My Trial Payment Being Reported as Delinquent?
You made every trial modification payment on time and your Maryland credit report still says you're late. Why servicers do it — and when it breaks federal law.
Spokeo v. Robins: What "Concrete Harm" Means for Your Credit Report Case
The Supreme Court's Spokeo decision sets the ground rules for who can sue under the FCRA. Here's what it means for Maryland consumers with credit report errors.
TransUnion v. Ramirez: "No Concrete Harm, No Standing" — and Why Dissemination Is Everything
The Supreme Court's 2021 TransUnion decision on false terrorist-list alerts reshaped FCRA class actions and made third-party dissemination the key to standing.
Safeco v. Burr: The "Willfulness" Standard That Unlocks Punitive Damages
Statutory and punitive damages under the FCRA turn on willfulness. The Supreme Court's Safeco decision defines it — and reckless disregard counts.
The Standalone Disclosure Rule: The Background-Check Form Employers Keep Getting Wrong
Before pulling a background check, an employer must give a disclosure that "consists solely of the disclosure." Extra fine print — like a liability waiver — violates the FCRA.
Rejected Over a Background Check? The Pre-Adverse Action Notice Is Your Most Important Right
Before an employer denies you a job based on a background check, it must send you the report and a chance to respond. Skipping that step violates the FCRA.
Henderson v. Public Data: The Fourth Circuit Says Data Brokers Can't Hide Behind Section 230
In a landmark 2022 decision, the Fourth Circuit held that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act does not immunize background-report websites from FCRA claims.
Matched by Name Alone: The CoreLogic Litigation and the Persistent Problem of Bad Criminal-Record Matching
Bulk criminal-record databases matched by name alone keep attributing strangers' records to innocent consumers. The CoreLogic cases in our circuit show how the FCRA fights back.
Johnson v. MBNA: The Fourth Circuit Case That Makes Furnishers Actually Investigate
When you dispute a debt through a credit bureau, the bank must conduct a real investigation — not a rubber stamp. Johnson v. MBNA is the Fourth Circuit's foundational furnisher case.
Saunders v. BB&T: $80,000 in Punitive Damages on a $1,000 Verdict — Affirmed
The Fourth Circuit held that a furnisher who reports a disputed debt without noting the dispute can be liable for a willful FCRA violation — and upheld an 80-to-1 punitive award.
Sloane v. Equifax: How Identity-Theft Victims Prove Emotional-Distress Damages
The Fourth Circuit affirmed $106,000 in economic damages and allowed $150,000 for emotional distress where Equifax spent 21 months failing to fix an identity-theft victim's file.
Dalton v. Capital Associated Industries: A Misdemeanor Reported as a Felony — and the Accuracy Standard It Produced
The Fourth Circuit's Dalton decision defines inaccuracy under the FCRA: a report violates the statute if it is patently incorrect or materially misleading.
Dreher v. Experian: The Fourth Circuit's Warning About Technicality-Only FCRA Claims
The Fourth Circuit threw out an $11.7 million class judgment because listing the wrong source name on a credit file disclosure caused no real-world harm. Here's the lesson.
Robinson v. Equifax: $200,000 Affirmed for a Consumer Whose File Was Systematically Polluted
The Fourth Circuit affirmed a $200,000 actual-damages verdict for an identity-theft victim whose Equifax file stayed contaminated through years of disputes.
Daugherty v. Ocwen: When $6,128 in Harm Supports $600,000 in Punishment
The Fourth Circuit remitted a $2.5 million punitive award to $600,000 — still roughly 98 times compensatory damages — in a willful credit-reporting case against a mortgage servicer.
Roberts v. Carter-Young (4th Cir. 2025): Furnishers Can't Dodge Disputes by Calling Them "Legal"
The Fourth Circuit's 2025 decision holds that both legal and factual inaccuracies can support a furnisher claim under §1681s-2(b) — if the dispute is objectively and readily verifiable.
Fernandez v. RentGrow: A Maryland Tenant-Screening Case Redefines Who Can Sue
In a 2024 appeal from the District of Maryland, the Fourth Circuit held that a misleading OFAC flag on a tenant-screening report isn't a concrete injury unless someone actually read and understood it.
Long v. Pendrick: A District of Maryland Blueprint for Mixed-Identity Debt Collection Cases
A Maryland federal court let FCRA, FDCPA, and state-law claims proceed where a debt buyer and its collector chased the wrong Crystal Long — and reported her to the bureaus.
Maryland's Own Credit Reporting Law: The State-Law Layer Most Consumers Don't Know About
Beyond the federal FCRA, Maryland's Commercial Law Title 14, Subtitle 12 adds registration requirements for bureaus, free security freezes, a medical-debt reporting ban, and its own damages remedy.
Suing Over a Credit Report Error in the District of Maryland: What to Expect
A practical guide to bringing an FCRA case in Maryland federal court — where cases are filed, what the timeline looks like, and why fee-shifting changes the economics.
Continuous Vetting Is Checking Your Credit Every Month. Here's Your Legal Playbook When It Finds an Error.
Under Trusted Workforce 2.0, clearance holders' credit is monitored continuously. When the monthly check surfaces a credit-bureau error, federal employees in Maryland, DC, and Virginia have FCRA remedies.