DECISION & ORDER On February 27, 2016, the plaintiff, Daniel T. Warren, filed a complaint in New York State Supreme Court, Erie County, alleging that a loan issued by the defendant, Mariner Finance, LLC (“Mariner”),1 was usurious and therefore void. Docket Item 1-2. Warren also alleged violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) and New York General Business Law (“GBL”) §349. Docket Item 1-2. On March 15, 2016, Mariner removed Warren’s complaint to this Court under 28 U.S.C. §1331. Docket Item 1.2 On April 4, 2016, Warren amended his complaint. Docket Item 11. On April 22, 2016, Mariner moved to dismiss for failure to state a claim. Docket Item 19. On May 25, 2016, Warren responded, Docket Item 25, and on June 14, 2016, Mariner replied, Docket Item 27. On June 20, 2016, Warren moved for partial summary judgment. Docket Item 28. On August 9, 2016, Mariner responded, Docket Item 30, and on August 16, 2016, Warren replied, Docket Item 31. For the reasons that follow, this Court grants in part and denies in part Mariner’s motion to dismiss. More specifically, the Court grants Mariner’s motion with respect to Warren’s usury claim but will allow Warren to amend his complaint with respect to his claims under the FCRA and GBL §349 within 45 days of the days of this decision and order. The Court denies Warren’s motion for partial summary judgment as moot.3 BACKGROUND A liberal reading of the complaint tells the following story. On July 10, 2014, Warren received a check in the mail in the amount of $2,539.00 from Mariner, a licensed lender under New York Banking Law (“BNK”) Article IX. Docket Item 11 (amended complaint)
11-12. The “check was unaccompanied by any other documents.” Id. 12. The correspondence on the back of the check informed Warren “that in order to accept the unsecured loan…primarily for personal, family, or household purposes from…Mariner[,] all [Warren] had to do was cash the check.” Id. The terms of the loan required repayment at an annual interest rate of 24.99 percent. Id. 14. These terms were printed in a font smaller than eight point. Id. 52. Warren cashed the check and therefore accepted the loan. Id. 12. In October 2014, Warren repaid $1,000.00. Id. 13. But Mariner “failed to apply the amount in excess of the monthly payment to the princip[al] of the loan.” Id. On February 1, 2016, Warren “noticed that this purported unsecured debt was appearing on [his] credit report as maintained by…Equifax and TransUnion.” Id. 18. Warren “promptly disputed this item with…Equifax and TransUnion on the grounds that [he] was/is not liable for it.” Id. The next day, Warren faxed a letter to Mariner, disputing his liability for the debt, stating that he considered the debt to be “legally void,” and advising that he would not make any further repayments. Id. 19. On February 23 and 27, 2016, Warren received the results of Equifax’s and TransUnion’s investigations, respectively. Id.
