Wright v. Experian Information Solutions, Inc.
Gary A. WRIGHT, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. EXPERIAN INFORMATION SOLUTIONS, INC.; Trans Union LLC, Defendants-Appellees
Attorneys
Peter R. Bornstein, Law Offices of Peter Bornstein, Greenwood Village, CO, appearing for Plaintiff-Appellant., Nathaniel P. Garrett (Meghan E. Sweeney, with him on the brief), Jones Day, San Francisco, CA, appearing for Appellee Experian Information Solutions, Inc., Martin E. Thornthwaite (Paul L. Myers, with him on the brief), Strasburger & Price, LLP, Frisco, TX, appearing for Ap-pellee Trans Union LLC.
Full Opinion (html_with_citations)
On May 27, 2009, the Internal Revenuq Service (âIRSâ) filed a noticĂŠ of federal tax lien (âNFTLâ) with the Pitkin County Recorder (the âRecorderâ) in Colorado listing as name of taxpayer:
Attorneys Title Insurance Agency of
Wright Gary A Member
On May 8, 2009, Mr. Wright had sent a check to the IRS for the unpaid employment taxes underlying the lien.
The Recorder listed the lien on its indexing website as against Gary A. Wright in his personal capacity. Credit reporting agencies (âCRAsâ) Experian Information Services, Inc. (âExperianâ) and Trans Union LLC (âTrans Unionâ) received this information- about the lien from their' contractor, LexisNexis, and included it in their reports of Mr. Wrightâs credit history.
In 2011, Mr. Wright learned about the lien appearing in his credit reports. He
Mr. Wright brought suit in the district court under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (âFCRAâ) and Colorado Consumer Credit Reporting Act (âCCCRAâ), claiming the credit reports were inaccurate, the CRAs acted unreasonably in reporting the lien and responding to his letters, and the foregoing caused him to suffer damages.
The district court granted summary judgment to the CRAs, concluding they used reasonable procedures to prepare Mr. Wrightâs credit report and to reinvestigate in response to Mr. Wrightâs letters.
Exercising jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, we affirm.
I. BACKGROUND
A. Factual History
1. The IRS Issued an NFTL Naming Mr. Wright and ATA, and Pitkin County Recorded It
On April 9, 2007, the IRS assessed $726.83 for ATAâs nonpayment of its 2004 employment taxes. On May 27, 2009, the IRS filed the following NFTL with the Recorder:
Aplt. App. at 504.
ATA is a Colorado limited liability corporation that provides title insurance for real estate transactions. Mr. Wright is the manager, attorney, and registered agent for ATA.
The IRS apparently informed Mr. Wright of the NFTL because on September. 10, 2009, Mr. Wright sent a letter and an application to the IRS to .withdraw the NFTL. In this letter, Mr. Wright stated he paid the taxes in full by a check dated May 8, 2009, before the NFTL was filed. On December 15, 2010, the IRS released the hen, but it did not withdraw it. A withdrawal would have required the IRS to erase the NFTL, âas if the withdrawn notice had not been filed,â and notify the CRAs of the erasure. 26 U.S.C. § 6323Q); see also 26 C.F.R. § 301.6323(j)-1. A release does not require either. See id.; 15 U.S.C. § 1681c(a)(3); 26 C.F.R. § 301.6325-1.
2. The CRAs Reported the Tax Lien, Mr. Wright Discovered the Report in 2011 and Disputed it in 2012, and the CRAs Reinvestigated and Revised the Report
On August, 26, 2009, LexisNexis, a contractor employed by CRAs Experian and Trans Union, collected the tax lien information from the Recorderâs website and reported it to the CRAs. The CRAs included the lien in their reports of Mr. Wrightâs credit history.
In 2011, when Mr. Wright tried to refinance his home mortgage, he first became aware that his credit reports included reference to the tax lien. In July 2012, Mr. Wright sent a letter to the CRAs disputing their reports of the lien. He asserted the lien had been paid in full and the CRAs incorrectly attributed the hen to him in his personal capacity and should have attributed it only to ATA. Mr. Wright included with this letter the following documentation: a copy of the NFTL, his September 10, 2009 letter and application to the IRS for withdrawal of the lien, and the IRSâs release of the lien.
Experian sent a description of Mr. Wrightâs dispute to LexisNexis. LexisNex-is responded that the NFTL listed Mr. Wright as one of the taxpayers and updated the lien to âsatisfied/releasedâ based on the documentation Mr. Wright provided. Aplee. Supp. App. at 161. Trans Union sent the letter to a different contractor, Intelenet, which determined Mr. Wrightâs credit report should be updated to reflect a âPaid Federal Tax Lien.â Aplt. App. at 323. Neither CRA removed the lien from its report, but they changed their reports to show the lien had been released. They also sent Mr. Wright summaries of the results of their investigations. The summaries stated that if Mr. Wright disagreed with the results, he could add a statement to his credit report disputing its accuracy or contact the furnisher of the information, apparently the IRS.
In September 2012, Mr. Wright sent a second letter to the CRAs requesting them to remove the lien from his reports. He attached the same documentation as before. Experian did not perform a second investigation. It determined, based on LexisNexisâs earlier investigation, that the lien against Mr. Wright was accurately
Trans Union requested LexisNexis to review the documentation. When Lexis-Nexis reported the same result that In-telenet reached, Trans Union sent a summary of the investigation to Mr. Wright.
B. Procedural History
In December 2012, Mr. Wright sued the CRAs in federal district court, alleging negligent and willful violations of the FCRA and CCCRA. Mr. Wright alleged the NFTL showed the IRS imposed the tax lien only against ATA. He asserted claims against the CRAs under 15 U.S.C. § 1681e(b) and Colo.Rev.Stat. § 12-14.3-103.5 for failing to follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy in preparing the credit report that showed the lien was imposed against him. [Aplt. App. at 16.] He also asserted a claim under 15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a)(1) and Colo.Rev.Stat. § 12-14.3-106 for failing .to reasonably reinvestigate his dispute.
The district court granted summary judgment to the CRAs, finding it âwas reasonable to interpret the NFTL as extending to Plaintiffâ and that the IRS âcan issue [a tax lien] against both a business entity and its member.â Aplt. App. at 1397-98. The court held the CRAsâ initial reporting of the lien and their reinvestigation into the dispute were both reasonable because âno additional procedure implemented by Defendants would have allowed them to more accurately determine the scope of the NFTL.... â Aplt. App. at 1397.
II. DISCUSSION
Mr. Wright appeals, contending the district court should not have granted summary judgment to the CRAs because he raised genuine issues of material fact about the accuracy of the tax lien information on the reports and the reasonableness of the CRAsâ procedures in reporting and reinvestigating this information. We affirm the district courtâs determination that Mr. Wright could not establish the CRAs employed unreasonable procedures in reporting and reinvestigating the tax lien information.
A. Standard of Review
âWe review a district courtâs decision to grant summary judgment de novo, apply
B. Reasonable Procedures under 15 U.S.C. § 1681e(b) and Colo.Rev.Stat. § 12-14.3-103.5
Mr. Wrightâs first claim is that the CRAs failed to use reasonable procedures in reporting the tax lien information in the first instance. Based on the legal requirements of the FCRA and CCCRA, we con-' elude the district court properly granted summary judgment on this issue.
1. Legal Background
The FCRA and the CCCRA require CRAs to employ reasonable procedures in preparing credit reports.
When CRAs initially report information, 15 U.S.C. § 1681e(b) requires:
Whenever a consumer reporting agency prepares a consumer report it shall follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy of the information concerning the individual about whom the report relates.
Colo.Rev.Stat. § 12-14.3-103.5 similarly requires:
Whenever a consumer reporting agency prepares a consumer report, the agency shall follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy of the information concerning the consumer about whom the report relates....
To prevail on a claim under these provisions, a plaintiff must âestablish that: (1) [the CRA] failed to follow reasonable procedures to assure the accuracy of its reports; (2) the report in question was, in fact, inaccurate; (3) [the plaintiff] suffered injury; and (4) [the CRAâs] failure caused his injury.â Eller v. Trans Union, LLC, 739 F.3d 467, 473 (10th Cir.2013), cert. denied, â U.S. -, 134 S.Ct. 2158, 188 L.Ed.2d 1126 (2014); see also Cassara v. DAC Servs., Inc., 276 F.3d 1210, 1217 (10th Cir.2002). We resolve this appeal based on Mr. Wrightâs inability to prove the first element of his claim.
The FCRA does not define âreasonable procedures,â and the Tenth Circuit has not yet addressed this term. Other circuits applying § 1681e(b) have recognized the âreasonableness of the proceduresâ is a fact-dependent inquiry, âand whether the agency followed them will be jury questions in the overwhelming majority of cases.â Guimond v. Trans Union Credit Info. Co., 45 F.3d 1329, 1333 (9th Cir.1995); see also Cahlin v. Gen. Motors Acceptance Corp., 936 F.2d 1151, 1156 (11th Cir.1991). But in cases where CRAs clearly employ reasonable procedures, the issue may be decided on summary judgment. See Crabill v. Trans Union, L.L.C., 259 F.3d 662, 664 (7th Cir.2001) (stating summary judgment may be appropriate under § 1681e(b) when âthe reasonableness or unreasonableness of the procedures is beyond questionâ).
Courts have held CRAs must look beyond information furnished to them when it is inconsistent with the CRAsâ own records, contains a facial inaccuracy, or comes from an unreliable source. See Cortez v. Trans Union, LLC, 617 F.3d 688, 708-11 (3d Cir.2010); Stewart v. Credit Bureau, Inc., 734 F.2d 47, 51-53 (D.C.Cir.1984); Dennis v. BEH-1, LLC, 520 F.3d 1066, 1069 (9th Cir.2008); Cushman v.
2. The CRAs Used Reasonable Procedures
As noted above, the CRAs relied on LexisNexis to collect information from the Recorderâs office. LexisNexis employs a collector to retrieve information from the Recorderâs office and send it to the CRAs. LexisNexis certifies its collectors on document recognition, certifies them on the process and procedures for collecting public record information, and audits them to assure understanding and compliance with collection requirements. LexisNexis and the CRAs check the information they collect for accuracy.
Mr. Wright contends summary judgment should not have been granted to the CRAs because he raised a genuine issue of material fact as to whether the CRAs followed reasonable procedures in reporting the tax lien under § 1681e(b). He asserts reasonable procedures would have required the CRAs to employ individuals trained in American tax law to examine the NFTL and determine whether it applied to him. He offers no authority to support this position.
The information LexisNexis collected from the Pitkin County Recorderâs website and sent to the CRAs was not inaccurate on its face, inconsistent with information the CRAs already had on file, or obtained from a source that was known to be unreliable. See Cortez, 617 F.3d at 713; Stewart, 734 F.2d at 51-53; Dennis, 520 F.3d at 1069; Cushman, 115 F.3d at 224-26. The cases that have addressed reasonable procedures show the CRAs acted reasonably here.
In Cortez, a jury determined a CRA failed to follow reasonable procedures in erroneously reporting a consumerâs name that appeared on the Treasury Departmentâs Office of Foreign Assets Control List (âOFAC Listâ). 617 F.3d at 705. The district court denied the CRAâs motion for judgment as a matter of law. Id. The Third Circuit affirmed, determining there was sufficient evidence for a jury to find the CRAâs procedures were unreasonable. 617 F.3d at 710. The CRAâs records showed the consumer was born in 1944 and her middle name was âJean.â Id. at 710. The actual person on the OFAC List had the same first name as the consumer, but her middle name was âQuinte-ro,â her last name was spelled âCortes,â and she was born in 1971. Id. The court upheld the juryâs verdict because these differences supported a determination that the CRA âdid not exercise sufficient careâ in carrying out its responsibilities under § 1681e(b). Id. Unlike the evidence in Cortez, Mr. Wright has providedâ no evidence to show the tax lien information taken from the Recorderâs website was inconsistent with the information the CRAs had on file about him.
In Dennis, the Ninth Circuit reversed summary judgment for the CRA because the CRA reported an unlawful detainer judgment had been entered against the consumer. 520 F.3d at 1069. The court docket in the unlawful detainer action actually stated the parties had stipulated to dismissal of the case and that the case was dismissed without prejudice. Id. at 1068. Unlike the consumer in Dennis, Mr. Wright has failed to establish any inaccuracy that was apparent from the face of the Recorderâs website. He has not shown the CRAs knew or should have known that
The pertinent case law also shows that the costs to the CRAs of employing individuals trained in American tax law to examine every NFTL outweighs the potential of harm to consumers like Mr. Wright. See Childress, 790 F.3d at 747; Henson, 29 F.3d at 285. In Childress, the Seventh Circuit upheld a district courtâs summary judgment determination that it was reasonable under § 1681e(b) for a CRA to report a bankruptcy petition without later reporting the petition had been withdrawn. 790 F.3d at 747. The court noted that bankruptcy courts are often unclear in reporting withdrawals and that it would be unreasonable to require CRAs to independently verify whether a bankruptcy petition had been dismissed or withdrawn because this would require âa live human being, with at least a little legal training, to review every bankruptcy dismissal and classify it as either voluntary or involuntary.â Id,
In Henson, the Seventh Circuit affirmed dismissal on the ground that it was reasonable under § 1681e(b) for a CRA to report a state court judgment even though the state court had erroneously noted a money judgment against the plaintiff on the Judgment Docket. 29 F.3d at 285. The court held, âas a matter of law, a credit reporting agency is not liable under the FCRA for reporting inaccurate information obtained from a courtâs Judgment Docket, absent prior notice from the consumer that the information may be inaccurate.â Id. To hold otherwise would require CRAs âto go beyond the face of numerous court records to determine whether they correctly report the outcome of the underlying actionâ and âsubstantially increase the cost of their services.â Id.
The plaintiff-consumers in Childress and Henson argued for procedures similar to those Mr. Wright espouses â requiring CRAs to employ individuals trained in American tax law to examine every NFTL filed in a county recorderâs office. No court has required a CRA to go this far to meet the reasonable procedures requirement of § 1681e(b).
The CRAsâ reliance on LexisNexis to report the tax lien on Mr. Wrightâs credit report was reasonable. We affirm the district courtâs determination that the CRAs employed reasonable procedures under § 1681e(b) and Colo.Rev.Stat. § 12-14.3-103.5 in reporting Mr. Wrightâs tax lien.
C. Reasonable Reinvestigation under 15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a)(l)(A)
Mr. Wrightâs second claim is that the CRAs failed to use reasonable procedures in reinvestigating the tax lien information after he disputed his credit report. Based on the FCRAâs requirements for reinvestigation, we conclude the district court properly granted summary judgment on this issue.
1. Legal Background
15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a)(l)(A) requires the following from CRAsâ reinvestigation of consumer disputes:
[I]f the completeness or accuracy of any item of information contained in a consumerâs file at a consumer reporting agency is disputed by the consumer and the consumer notifies the agency directly, or indirectly through a reseller, of such dispute, the agency shall, free of charge, conduct a reasonable reinvestigation to determine whether the' disputed information is inaccurate and record the current status of the disputed information, or delete the item from the file*1242 ... before the end of the 30-day period beginning on the date on which the agency receives the notice of the dispute from the consumer or reseller.
Colo.Rev.Stat. § 12-14.3-106 similarly requires:
If the completeness or accuracy of any item of information contained in the consumerâs file is disputed by the consumer and the consumer notifies the consumer reporting agency directly of such dispute, the agency shall reinvestigate the item free of charge and record the current status of the disputed information on or before thirty business days after the date the agency receives notice conveyed by the consumer.
To prevail on a § 1681i(a) claim or its nearly identical CCCRA counterpart, plaintiffs must prove essentially the same elements as those for a § 1681e(b) claimâ unreasonable procedures in reinvestigating a report, inaccuracy of the report, injury, and causation â in addition to proving they informed the CRA about the inaccuracy. See Cushman, 115 F.3d at 225; Cortez, 617 F.3d at 712-13. As with Mr. Wrightâs first claim, we resolve the reinvestigation appeal based on his inability to prove the first element of the claim.
Although § 1681i(a) does not define the term âreasonable reinvestigation,â courts have consistently held a reasonable reinvestigation requires more than âmaking only a cursory investigation into the reliability of information that is reported to potential creditors.â Cortez, 617 F.3d at 713. Thus, â[a] credit reporting agency that has been notified of potentially inaccurate information in a consumerâs credit report is in a very different position than one who has no such notice.â Henson, 29 F.3d at 286. âIn short, when one goes from the § 1681e(b) investigation to the § 1681i(a) re investigation, the likelihood that the cost-benefit analysis will shift in favor of the consumer increases markedly.â Cushman, 115 F.3d at 225.
A reasonable reinvestigation, however, does not require CRAs to resolve legal disputes about the validity of the underlying debts they report. See Carval-ho v. Equifax Info. Servs., LLC, 629 F.3d 876, 892 (9th Cir.2010) (âWe agree that reinvestigation claims are not the proper vehicle for collaterally attacking the legal validity of consumer debts.â); DeAndrade v. Trans Union LLC, 523 F.3d 61, 68 (1st Cir.2008) (holding a reasonable reinvestigation does not entail resolving âlegal issue[s] that a credit agency ... is neither qualified nor obligated to resolve under the FCRAâ).
2. The CRAsâ Reinvestigation Was Reasonable
After Mr. Wright disputed the tax lien information, Trans Union sent Mr. Wrightâs dispute letter and documentation, which included the NFTL and the IRSâs release of the NFTL, to Intelenet. Expe-lĂan sent a description of Mr. Wrightâs dispute to LexisNexis. LexisNexis and Intelenet considered the information sent to them and reported to the CRAs that the lien was properly recorded against Mr. Wright and had been released but not withdrawn.' The CRAs updated their credit reports to reflect that the lien had been released and provided summaries of their reinvestigations to Mr. Wright.
Mr. Wright contends that this reinvestigation was unreasonable. He argues (a) entries on the NFTL showed the tax lien did not apply to him, which would have been apparent to the CRAs if they had employed individuals trained in American tax law to examine the NFTL; (b) the CRAs should have contacted the IRS to inquire whether the tax lien applied to him; and (c) the CRAs should have determined whether the tax lien applied to him.
a. Entries on the Face of the NFTL
Mr. Wright argues that entries on the NFTL â ATAâs address, ATAâs taxpayer identification number, and information that the lien was imposed for employment taxes â show it applied only to ATA. He contends the CRAs would have reached this conclusion had they employed individuals trained in American tax law to examine the NFTL. He provides no support to show this is so. The CRAs point to tax expert evidence that the NFTL could and did apply to Mr. Wright. The CRAs also provide authority that the IRS may impose a tax lien against a limited liability company and its single member in certain circumstances.
Even if the IRS did not intend to impose a tax lien against Mr. Wright, the NFTL nonetheless reflects on its face that it did because the IRS placed. his name on it. Mr. Wright has not shown that hiring tax experts at the CRAs to examine NFTLs on their face would have produced a different result here. Indeed, the only tax expert evidence in the record supports the CRAs.
b. Contact the IRS
Mr. Wright next contends a reasonable reinvestigation of his dispute would require the CRAs to contact the IRS. The only authority Mr. Wright cites is a district court case, later vacated, about a consumer who provided a release to the CRAs to contact the IRS after the consumer disputed the credit report. Soghomonian v. United States, 278 F.Supp.2d 1151, 1158 (E.D.Cal.2003), vacated in 2005 WL 1972594 (E.D.Cal. June 20, 2005). This case is inapposite because Mr. Wright provided no release to the CRAs.
Further, federal law appears to prohibit the IRS from providing the CRAs with Mr. Wrightâs tax information. See 26 U.S.C. § 6103; Church of Scientology v. IRS, 484 U.S. 9, 16, 108 S.Ct. 271, 98 L.Ed.2d 228 (1987) (holding the IRS could not release confidential information, even where identifying taxpayer information was redacted, because â[o]ne of the major purposes in revising § 6103 was to tighten
C. Validity of the NFTL
Mr. Wright argues the CRAs should have determined the validity of the NFTL. The FCRA and relevant case law do not impose such a duty on the CRAs. See Carvalho, 629 F.3d at 892; DeAndrade, 523 F.3d at 68.
The FCRA expects consumers to dispute the validity of a debt with the furnish-er of the information or append a note to their credit report to show the claim is disputed. See 15 U.S.C. §§ 1681i(a)(6)(B)(iii), (iv); (b)-(c) (stating that, upon reinvestigation, CRAs must provide consumers two notices, one stating that a.consumer may request any reasonably available contact information from'the furnisher of the information and the other stating âthat the consumer has the right to add a statement to the consumerâs file disputing the accuracy or completeness of the informationâ); Carvalho, 629 F.3d at 892 (construing 15 U.S.C. § 1681i and determining âa consumer who disputes the legal validity of an obligation should do so directly at the furnisher levelâ). The CRAs informed Mr. Wright of these two avenues of relief, and Mr. Wright pursued neither.
In Carvalho, a consumer thought her insurer should have paid her medical bill. 629 F.3d at 882. When the medical bill appeared on her credit report, she requested it be removed. Id. The CRAs reinvestigated the bill, found it was still unpaid, and refused to remove it. Id. at 882-83. The Ninth Circuit upheld a district courtâs summary judgment determination that a reasonable reinvestigation would not have discovered the purported inaccuracy. Id. at 892. The court said,
In DeAndrade, the plaintiff-consumer had financed the purchase of windows for his home. 523 F.3d at 63. He later discovered the bank had mortgaged his home by, he claimed, forging his and his wifeâs signatures. Id. He refused to make payments on the mortgage. Id. at 64. The bank notified the CRAs of the unpaid mortgage, which the CRAs reported on the consumerâs credit report. Id. The consumer then requested a reinvestigation. Id. The First Circuit, construing 15 U.S.C. § 1681i, upheld the district courtâs determination that the reinvestigation was reasonable because the bank produced documentation of the mortgage and the question of whether the consumer âwas entitled to stop making those payments is a question for a court to resolve ... not a job imposed upon consumer reporting agencies by the FCRA.â Id. at 68.
Like the consumers in Carvalho and DeAndrade, Mr. Wrightâs argument would require the CRAs to do morĂŠ than a reasonable reinvestigation requires. As part of their reinvestigation, the CRAs examined the NFTL and determined it applied to Mr. Wright because his name was listed. Mr. Wright-insists the CRAs must go further and determine the validity of the tax lien. As the foregoing cases demonstrate, that question is a matter he should take up with the IRS.
We affirm the district courtâs determination that the CRAsâ reinvestigation of Mr. Wrightâs dispute was reasonable under § 1681i(a) and Colo.Rev.Stat. § 12-14.3-106.
III. CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, we affirm.
. During the litigation, the CRAs learned that Mr. Wright was not a "memberâ of ATA, but they did not have this information, including from Mr. Wright, before the tax lien was initially reported or during their reinvestiga
. By treating the lien as released rather than withdrawn after Mr. Wright paid the taxes,' the IRS appeared to consider the lien as properly imposed notwithstanding that Mr. Wright paid the taxes by check dated May 8, 2009 and the NFTL was dated May 15, 2009.
. Mr. Wright's complaint included FCRA claims under § 1681e(b) and § 1681i(a)(1) and their CCCRA counterparts, Colo.Rev.Stat. §§ 12-14.3-103.5 and 12-14.3-106. In district court, the CRAs moved for. summary judgment on all of these claims. In response, Mr. Wright did not cite to either CCCRA provision, seeming to treat the CCCRA claims as co-extensive with the FCRA claims. When it granted summary judgment to the CRAs, the district court noted Mr. Wrightâs CCCRA claim under Colo.Rev.Stat. § 12-14.3-103.5, which is corollary to the § 1681e(b) reasonable procedures claim, but stated in a footnote, "It does not appear that Plaintiff raises a parallel state-law claim regarding Defendants' reinvestigation, but such a claim would fail for the same reasons that the FCRA reinvestigation claim fails.â Aplt. App. at 1393. On appeal, neither Mr. Wright nor the CRAs cite the specific provisions of the CCCRA, but Mr. Wright does state that the district court "dismissed the CCCRA [reinvestigation] claim, noting that the elements under the state law claim paralleled those under the federal statute.â Aplt. Br. at 24 n.2. Because the parties treat the FCRA claims and CCCRA claims as essentially the same and regard the district courtâs opinion as disposing of all of Mr. Wrightâs FCRA and CCCRA claims, we address Mr. Wrightâs FCRA and CCCRA claims here.
. The CRAs cite authority stating the IRS may impose tax liens against a member of a limited liability company if âthe LLC and its sole member ⢠are a single taxpayer or entity.â Med. Practice Sols., LLC v. Commâr, 132 T.C. 125, 127 (2009); see also Littriello v. United States, 484 F.3d 372, 378 (6th Cir.2007) (noting that because plaintiffs companies were disregarded entities, "he is ... liable individually for the employment taxes due and owing from those businessesâ). The CRAs also cite provisions from the IRS Manual stating the IRS can hold the owner of an LLC liable for employment taxes imposed prior to January 1, 2009. Aplt. App. at 420, 425 (IRS Manual §§ 5.1.21.3.1, 5.1.21.5.1(2)). The taxes at issue here were for the 2004 tax year. Thus, if the IRS understood Mr. Wright was the single member of ATA, and assuming all other necessary conditions were satisfied, it would have been possible for the IRS to impose a lien against Mr. Wright for ATAâs failure to pay taxes.
. In his Reply Brief, Mr. Wright states that he is not a member of ATA and that the NFTL is inaccurate in stating he is. The implication is that the NFTL could not apply to him and that the CRAsâ authority stating the IRS can impose liens against limited liability companies and their single-member owners is inap-posite. Because Mr. Wright did not state in his letters to the CRAs that he was not a member of ATA, he cannot contend the CRAs needed to investigate information they did not have.
. In his opening brief, Mr. Wright cites to § 1681i(a)(5), which requires:
If, after any reinvestigation ... of any information disputed by a consumer, an item of the information is found to be inaccurate or incomplete or cannot be verified, the consumer reporting agency shall. â â
(i) promptly delete that item of information from the file of' the consumer, or modify that item of information, as appropriate, based on the results of the reinvestigation; and
(ii) promptly notify the furnisher of that information that the information has been modified or deleted from the file of the consumer.
We decline to decide whether the IRSâs apparent inability to provide the CRAs information requires the CRAs to delete the tax lien information under § 168 li(a)(5) for three reasons. First, Mr. Wright failed to cite to § 1681i(a)(5) or raise this argument in district court. See Ecclesiastes 9:10-11-12, Inc. v. LMC Holding Co., 497 F.3d 1135, 1141 (10th Cir.2007) ("An issue is preserved for appeal if a party alerts the district court to the issue and seeks a ruling.â).
Second, the district court did not address this argument, so we would potentially be reversing on an alternative ground not raised or ruled on in district court. The rule that an issue not raised to the district court is forfeited "is particularly apt when dealing with an appeal from a grant of summary judgment, because the material facts are not in dispute and the trial judge considers only opposing legal theories.â Tele-Commc'ns, Inc. v. Commâr of Internal Revenue, 104 F.3d 1229, 1232 (10th Cir.1997). if this court were to consider new.arguments on appeal to reverse the district court, we would "undermine[] important judicial values. In order to preserve the integrity of the appellate structure, we should not be considered a âsecond-shotâ forum, a forum where secondary, back-up theories may be mounted for the first time.â Id. at 1233.
Third, although Mr. Wright cites to § 1681i(a)(5) in his opening brief and quotes its language, neither he nor the CRAs develop any argument based on this statute in their briefing. Without a developed argument from Mr. Wright or a response from the CRAs, whose failure to respond is excusable given Mr. Wright's undeveloped argument, we decline to exercise our discretion to reach this issue.