Cole Crumples: Value Not A Factor In Most Firm Offer Cases

A "firm offer of credit" does not have to cross a value threshold or have all material terms spelled out like an offer at common law to justify a lender's access to a customer's credit file. As bankers know too well, the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) allows a company to access a consumer's credit information only if the consumer initiates the transaction or if it uses the information to make a firm offer of credit or insurance. Just what constitutes a firm offer of credit has spawned a lot of litigation. Last week, in Murray v. New Cingular Wireless Services, Inc., the Seventh Circuit provided some much-needed guidance and (we would say) relief. It joins the First Circuit, which provided some clarity last month in Sullivan v. Greenwood Credit Union. Since Cole v. U.S. Capital (Cole) was decided in 2004, plaintiffs' counsel have argued, with some success, that offers of credit must not only be "firm"