On August 6, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California granted a credit reporting agency’s motion to dismiss with leave to amend in a case brought by the CFPB. The court found that CFPB’s claims for discrete violations occurring between January 2018 and October 2021 were time-barred, as the lawsuit was filed more than three years after the CFPB discovered the alleged conduct via its supervisory examination of the credit reporting agency. The court noted that the tolling agreement cited by the CFPB applied only to the parent of the credit reporting agency, not the subsidiary defendant, and thus did not extend the statute of limitations.

However, the court permitted the CFPB to amend its complaint and assert that both parties intended the tolling agreement to cover the defendant, but a mutual mistake led to its omission. The court determined that had these allegations been properly included, the complaint would have likely survived dismissal. The court ordered the CFPB must file any amended complaint by August 22, or the case will be dismissed with prejudice.

Visit our resource center, CFPB Pause: Where From Here?, to stay on top of the latest and what it may mean for the federal and state regulatory and enforcement landscape.