Sibley and Bumgardner Cases: Say "No"

[David A. Szwak]

In its ruling, the court noted that the civil enforcement provisions of the FCRA were substantially similar to the enforcement provisions under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ("FDCPA"). Id. The court then relied on numerous cases decided under the FDCPA where courts, including the Eleventh Circuit, ruled that a plaintiff has no right to injunctive relief under the FDCPA. Id. at 284-85 (citing, e.g., Sibley v. Fulton DeKalb Collection Serv., 677 F.2d 830, 834 (11th Cir.1982)).

The Southern District of Florida also stated that, as a second reason for denying injunctive relief, Congress expressly granted the power to enforce the FCRA to the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC"). Id. 887 F.Supp. at 285 (citing 15 U.S.C. § 1681s(a)). The court reasoned that Congress's commitment of the authority to enforce the FCRA to the FTC provides a strong indication that Congress intended to preclude private injunctive relief. Id. at 285. This decision is consistent with the Western District of Pennsylvania's decision in Kekich, 64 F.R.D. at 668.

15 U.S.C. § 1681s(a) states: "Compliance with the requirements imposed under this subchapter shall be enforced under the Federal Trade Commission Act by the Federal Trade Commission[.]"

In an unpublished decision in Wenger, the Central District of California expressly declined to follow the ruling in Mangio, and it found the comparison to the FDCPA to be unpersuasive. Wenger, No. 95-6445, pp. 1-2. The court quoted the Supreme Court in Califano v. Yamasaki, 442 U.S. 682, 705, 99 S.Ct. 2545, 61 L.Ed.2d 176 (1979): "[A]bsent the clearest command to the contrary from Congress, federal courts retain their equitable power to issue injunctions in suits over which they have jurisdiction." Id., p. 2. The court also stated that the Ninth Circuit's decision in Greenway supported a grant of injunctive relief.

In Greenway, the District of Arizona granted injunctive relief under the FCRA, but it does not appear that the jurisdictional issue was raised. Although the Ninth Circuit affirmed the decision and expressly adopted the "careful reasoning" of the district judge, the issue of injunctive relief had not been raised on appeal. See Greenway, 524 F.2d at 1146.

While the FCRA does not expressly prohibit injunctive relief, Congress's failure to include injunctive relief as a potential remedy, combined with Congress's express delegation of enforcement of the FCRA to the FTC, clearly indicates that Congress did not intend injunctive relief as a remedy. The Court finds the FDCPA cases to be persuasive, as the courts in those cases found that they had no authority to provide equitable relief, even though such a restriction was not expressly stated in the statute.


Bumgardner v. Lite Cellular, Inc.
996 F.Supp. 525
E.D.Va.,1998.