Abas Dowlad v. Mark Begor et al.

8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON 9 AT TACOMA ABAS DOWLAD, CASE NO. 2:25-cv-02600-DGE Plaintiff, ORDER DISMISSING v. COMPLAINT 13 MARK BEGOR et al., 14 Defendant.

16 This matter comes before the Court on sua sponte review pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §1915(a).

17 || Plaintiff, who is proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis (IFP), has submitted a complaint || against Equifax and Mark Begor, who Plaintiff alleges is CEO of Equifax.! (Dkt. No. 5.)

19 || Plaintiff claims that Defendants violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”), 15 U.S.C. || § 1681 et seq. (Id. at 5.)

3 ' Plaintiff has filed nearly identical claims against two other credit reporting agencies and their CEOs. See Dowlad v. Cartwright, No. 2:25-cv-02590-DGE; Dowlad v. Cassin, 2:25-cv-02564- DGE.

1 Petitioner alleges that Defendants “reported a balance on Plaintiff’s credit report || reflecting fraudulent charges,” which “were not incurred by Plaintiff.” (/d.) Defendants || allegedly “included this inaccurate information in Plaintiffs credit report, which was accessed || by potential lenders and creditors.” (/d.) As a result, “Plaintiffs creditworthiness was harmed, || and Plaintiff was denied credit or offered credit on unfavorable terms.” (/d.) Plaintiff alleges he || submitted a written dispute to Defendants regarding the inaccurate information, but Defendants ignored the dispute and failed “to conduct a meaningful investigation or update the information.”

8 Plaintiff seeks over $70,000 in damages, which he contends reflects the “financial loss, || denial of credit opportunities, increased interest rates, loss of time, and emotional distress caused || by Defendant[s’] violations.” (/d.)

11 Any complaint filed by a person proceeding IFP pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a) is || subject to a mandatory and swa sponte review and dismissal by the Court to the extent it is || frivolous, malicious, fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or seeks monetary || relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B); Calhoun v. || Stahl, 254 F.3d 845, 845 (9th Cir. 2001) (“[T]he provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B) are not || limited to prisoners.”); Lopez v. Smith, 203 F.3d 1122, 1126-1127 (9th Cir. 2000) (en banc).

17 standard for determining whether [a] Plaintiff has failed to state a claim upon which relief || can be granted under § 1915(e)(2)(B)(i1) is the same as the Federal Rule of Civil Procedure || 12(b)(6) standard for failure to state a claim.” Watison v. Carter, 668 F.3d 1108, 1112 (9th Cir. |} 2012); see also Wilhelm v. Rotman, 680 F.3d 1113, 1121 (9th Cir. 2012) (noting that screening || pursuant to § 1915 “incorporates the familiar standard applied in the context of failure to state a || claim under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6)’).

1 Here, Plaintiff fails to identify which section(s) of the FCRA Defendants allegedly || violated, how they were violated, or when they were violated. Without knowing the specific || violations alleged, the Court is unable to determine whether Plaintiff has pled sufficient facts to 4 aclaim. Furthermore, under the FCRA, generally a credit reporting agency 1s liable to a || consumer for either the negligent or willful failure to comply with any requirement under the || FCRA with respect to that consumer. Moran v. Screening Pros, LLC, 25 F.4th 722, 725 (9th Cir. || 2022) (citing 15 U.S.C. §§ 1681n(a), 16810(a)). Notwithstanding, Plaintiff filed suit against || Begor as CEO of Equifax, but Plaintiff does not allege on what basis and to what extent Begor || would be liable for any FCRA violation.

10 Accordingly, the Court DISMISSES Plaintiff’s complaint under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2) ||(B)Gi). However, Plaintiff is granted leave to amend his complaint to attempt to cure the || deficiencies identified herein related to his FCRA claim. Any amended complaint shall be filed || no later than February 23, 2026.

14 The Clerk is directed to calendar this event.

15 Dated this 22nd day of January, 2026.

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DavidG.Estudillo 18 United States District Judge