Last week, the Federal Trade Commission joined the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in filing an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

The agencies urging reversal of a district court decision that said they say overlooked the Fair Credit Reporting Act’s requirement to delete information disputed by a consumer that cannot be verified by a furnisher of that information.

According to a news release highlighting Suluki versus Credit One Bank, the court case involves a consumer who allegedly disputed with the credit reporting agencies (CRAs) information on her credit report that she said resulted from multiple credit card accounts that her mother opened in her name without her permission or knowledge.

The suit indicated the CRAs sent the dispute to the credit card companies for investigation.

After Credit One refused to remove the information and purportedly verified the consumer as the accountholder, officials said the plaintiff sued the company under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which requires that, upon being notified of a dispute by a CRA, furnishers investigate whether the disputed information can be verified.

If such an investigation is inconclusive, the FCRA requires the furnisher to delete from the data that the furnisher submits to CRAs the information that cannot be verified, according to the FTC-CFPB brief.

“The consumer appealed after the district court granted Credit One’s request for summary judgment and held that she could not show harm from any failure by Credit One to conduct a reasonable investigation,” officials said.

In their brief, the FTC and CFPB disputed the district court’s interpretation of the FCRA.

They noted that under the FCRA, if a furnisher of credit information cannot determine whether the disputed consumer information is accurate, it must tell the CRAs that the information could not be verified and must delete it from the data that it reports to the CRAs.

“Inaccurate information on a consumer report can hamper people’s ability to get housing, employment and credit,” officials said.

The FTC and CFPB maintain that the lower court’s decision could impact consumers’ rights under the FCRA to dispute the completeness or accuracy of information and have it removed if a furnisher cannot verify that it is accurate.

The FTC voted 3-0 to join the CFPB amicus brief.