On January 26, in a lawsuit alleging a consumer reporting agency’s failure to reinvestigate consumer disputes and maintain reasonable policies and practices concerning the accuracy of consumer credit information, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California ruled in favor of the CFPB to strike an affirmative defense asserted by the defendant consumer reporting agency. The court granted in part and denied in part the Bureau’s request without leave to amend.

The CFPB had moved the court to strike five of the six affirmative defenses. The court only struck the defendant’s affirmative defense which relied on the doctrine of laches, citing the CFPA’s statute of limitations as controlling and referencing “clear” U.S. Supreme Court guidance that precludes overriding Congress’s determination on timeliness. The scheduled January 30 hearing was vacated, and the court emphasized that the applicable statute of limitations governs such cases, rejecting arguments based on older circuit precedent.