Case 5:19-cv-02114-LHK Document 54-2 Filed 09/04/20 Page 1 of 17 1 2 3 4 5 POTTER HANDY LLP Mark D. Potter (SBN 166317) mark@potterhandy.com James M. Treglio (SBN 228077) jimt@potterhandy.com 8033 Linda Vista Road, Suite 200 San Diego, CA 92111 Phone: (858) 375-7385 Fax: (888) 422-5191 6 Counsel for Plaintiff BRIAN MILLER 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9 10 11 BRIAN MILLER, an individual, on behalf of himself and all persons similarly situated, Plaintiff, 12 13 v. 14 RP On-Site, LLC, a Delaware Limited Liability Company with its principal place of business in California, 15 16 Defendants. 17 18 ) Case No: 5:19-cv-02114 ) ) DECLARATION OF BRIAN MILLER ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) 19 20 21 22 I, Brian Miller, hereby declare and state as follows: 1. I have personal knowledge of the facts contained in this declaration, and if called as a witness, could and would testify as to their accuracy. 23 2. I am a resident of the State of Arizona. 24 3. In my past, I got into trouble with the law on several occasions, and unfortunately, and 25 was convicted of felony violations of Arizona law. These convictions occurred in 1996, 2000, and 26 2004. As a result of my last conviction, I served time in prison from 2005 to 2007. 27 28 4. Since leaving prison in 2007, I made up my mind to clean up my life. I have not had any trouble with the law, and have applied to the Maricopa County Court to restore my civil rights, -1Declaration of Brian Miller 5:19-cv-02114 Case 5:19-cv-02114-LHK Document 54-2 Filed 09/04/20 Page 2 of 17 1 which was granted in each case. As far as I am aware, all of my convictions have been set aside as a 2 matter of Arizona law, and have been since 2015. 3 5. It was my understanding that after having my convictions set aside and expunged, all 4 of my rights have been restored and I no longer carry any disabilities from my prior troubles with the 5 law. 6 7 6. for Indigo Lots (“Indigo”) in my home state of Arizona. 8 9 On or about November 5, 2018, my family and I applied for an apartment rental at F 7. As part of my application, I was required to undergo a tenant screening report conducted by RP On-Site, LLC (“RP On-Site”). 10 8. As part of my application, Indigo required me to pay a non-refundable $100 deposit. 11 9. I requested RP On-Site to send me a copy of my consumer report. 12 10. On or about November 7, 2018, we were asked by the manager at Indigo Lofts to come 13 to her office to further discuss the application. We were excited to do so, as the apartments at Indigo 14 were nicer than the place we were living. When we arrived, the manager asked me to step outside for 15 a moment, which was strange. After a while, my wife came out of the office and told me what had 16 happened - RP On-Site submitted my consumer report to Indigo (“Report”). My wife further told me 17 that the manager at Indigo Lofts showed her the Report, and that the Report said that I had a number 18 of felonies. As I had spent time and money to clear my record, I was shocked to hear this. 19 20 21 11. Using the online platform, I was able to access the Report on or about November 7, 12. The Report contained information on my past and present addresses, my Social 2018. 22 Security Number, date of birth, age, height, and weight. A true and correct copy of my Report is 23 attached hereto at Exhibit 3. 24 13. The Report erroneously contained information regarding my convictions which had 25 been previously set aside by the order of Arizona Courts. These convictions were reported as “felony 26 convictions” without any indication that these were set aside or expunged. 27 28 -2Declaration of Brian Miller 5:19-cv-02114 Case 5:19-cv-02114-LHK Document 54-2 Filed 09/04/20 Page 3 of 17 1 14. Further, the Report erroneously stated that between 2004 and 2007, I had been 2 convicted of 26 felonies for, among other things, assault, tampering with evidence, staff obstruction, 3 stalking, and conspiracy, when in fact, these “felony convictions” were disciplinary infractions that 4 occurred when I was in the custody of the Arizona Department of Corrections. For instance, one item 5 “sexual harassment” was listed as a felony conviction on the Report, but was related to a time when I 6 told a correction’s officer to kiss my posterior, and was written up for it. None of these “felony 7 convictions” were adjudicated in any court and I was never convicted of any crime as a result of these 8 disciplinary infractions. 9 15. The Report indicated that the source of its information was the Arizona Department of 10 Corrections but does not indicate a case number or dates for the filing of charges related to these 11 “felony convictions,” or when the plea of guilt was made, when a verdict was entered, or the date 12 when the case was disposed because these administrative actions were never adjudicated by any court 13 and were never intended to be adjudicated as they were not criminal charges. 14 16. The conviction for robbery cited on page 1 of the Report failed to mention that the 15 conviction was set aside by order of the Maricopa County Court in accordance with A.R.S. § 13-907 16 on December 12, 1996. 17 18 17. The felony conviction from April 12, 2000 cited on page 4 of the Report failed to state that the conviction had been set aside by order of the Maricopa County Court. 19 18. The conviction from an incident in March 2004 cited on page 4 of the Report failed to 20 state that the conviction had been set aside by order of the Maricopa County Court on December 8, 21 2015. 22 19. The information regarding the convictions and administrative charges were all derived 23 from the records of the State of Arizona, either from the Maricopa County Court or the Arizona 24 Department of Corrections, both of which have correct information – that the convictions reported by 25 RP On-Site had all been set aside, and that the charges stated by RP On-Site as “felony convictions” 26 by the Arizona Department of Corrections were disciplinary infractions. 27 28 -3Declaration of Brian Miller 5:19-cv-02114 Case 5:19-cv-02114-LHK Document 54-2 Filed 09/04/20 Page 4 of 17 1 20. Had RP On-Site taken adequate measures to review and report the information, it 2 would have been readily identifiable that the adverse information regarding my criminal history 3 predated the Report by more than seven years, or more specifically by 11 to 14 years. 4 21. Shortly after receiving the Report, I submitted an online complaint to RP On-Site to 5 dispute the inaccurate information in the Report stating that my prior felony convictions had been 6 expunged in accordance with Arizona law and that the 26 “felony convictions” were in fact 7 administrative actions and were not convictions of any kind. 8 22. On or about January 9, 2019, RP On-Site completed its reinvestigation of my dispute. 9 23. On or about January 9, 2019, I received an e-mail entitled “Renter Relations Dispute 10 #101503: We Have Made Our Determination” informing me that RP On-Site had rejected my 11 complaints. 12 24. Further, because of the incident with my wife and the manager at Indigo Lofts, I knew 13 that my application to rent would be denied. The errors in the report made it seem like I was a lifelong 14 criminal with over 29 convictions, when in fact, I had paid my debt to society. 15 16 25. My family and I had to find another apartment rental after my application for apartment rental was denied by Indigo. 17 26. As result of the erroneous Report, I lost the $100 deposit that I paid Indigo. 18 27. As result of the erroneous Report, I incurred out-of-pocket expenses. 19 28. As result of the erroneous Report, I suffered embarrassment and loss of reputation. 20 29. Shortly thereafter, I felt concerned that other persons might have also had erroneous 21 information in their consumer reports prepared by RP On-Site and had their housing applications 22 denied similar to what happened to me. I felt it was not right for anyone to go through that experience. 23 30. So, I began looking for an attorney to assist me. I found my attorney, Jim Treglio, 24 through the internet. After speaking with him at length, and reviewing his qualifications online, I 25 determined that Mr. Treglio was experienced and competent in the prosecution of complex class 26 action litigation involving the FCRA violations. 27 28 -4Declaration of Brian Miller 5:19-cv-02114 Case 5:19-cv-02114-LHK Document 54-2 Filed 09/04/20 Page 5 of 17 1 31. I have been informed of my duties as a class representative and have been performing 2 them. I have found experienced and competent legal counsel. I have participated in assisting my 3 counsel in discovery and in this litigation. I have read the complaint in this action, and generally 4 understood it. 5 6 32. To date, I am unaware of any conflict I may have with any member of the Class as defined in my complaint. If necessary, I am prepared to testify at trial. 7 8 I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California and the United 9 States of America, that the foregoing is true and correct. This declaration was executed on September 10 3, 2020, in Florence, Arizona. 11 12 13 __________________________ 14 Brian Miller 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 -5Declaration of Brian Miller 5:19-cv-02114 Case 5:19-cv-02114-LHK Document 54-2 Filed 09/04/20 Page 6 of 17 Case 5:19-cv-02114-LHK Document 54-2 Filed 09/04/20 Page 7 of 17 Exhibit 3 Case 5:19-cv-02114-LHK Document 54-2 Filed 09/04/20 Page 8 of 17 Case 5:19-cv-02114-LHK Document 54-2 Filed 09/04/20 Page 9 of 17 Case 5:19-cv-02114-LHK Document 54-2 Filed 09/04/20 Page 10 of 17 Case 5:19-cv-02114-LHK Document 54-2 Filed 09/04/20 Page 11 of 17 Case 5:19-cv-02114-LHK Document 54-2 Filed 09/04/20 Page 12 of 17 Case 5:19-cv-02114-LHK Document 54-2 Filed 09/04/20 Page 13 of 17 Case 5:19-cv-02114-LHK Document 54-2 Filed 09/04/20 Page 14 of 17 Case 5:19-cv-02114-LHK Document 54-2 Filed 09/04/20 Page 15 of 17 Casevisite  5:19-cv-02114-LHK Document 54-2 09/04/20 PageIf  a 16 ofor, 17 Para  informacion  en  espanol,  www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore o  ‐ You  may Filed seek  damages  from  violators.  CRA,  in  some  cases,  a  user  of  escribe  a  la  Consumer  Financial  Protection  Bureau,  1700  G  Street  N.W.,  consumer  reports  or  a  furnisher  of  information  to  a  CRA  violates  the  FCRA,  you  Washington, DC 20006.  may be able to sue in state or federal court.   ‐ Identity theft victims and active duty military personnel have additional rights.  For more information, visit www.consumerfinance/learnmore.  A  Summary  of  Your  Rights  Under  the  Fair  Credit  Reporting Act   The  federal  Fair  Credit  Reporting  Act  (FCRA)  promotes  the  accuracy,  fairness  and privacy of information in the files of consumer reporting agencies (CRA’s).  There are many types of CRA’s, including credit bureaus and specialty agencies  (such as agencies  that sell information about  check  writing histories, medical  records,  and  rental  history  records).  Here  is  a  summary  of  your  major  rights  under  the  FCRA.  For  more  information,  including  information  about  additional  rights,  go  to  www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore  or  write  to:  Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 1700 G Street N.W., Washington, DC  20006.  You may have additional rights under Maine’s FCRA, Me. Rev Stat. Ann. 10,  Sec 1311 et seq.  ‐  You  must  be  told  if  information  in  your  file  has  been  used  against  you.  Anyone who uses a credit report or another type of consumer report to deny  your  application  for  credit,  insurance,  or  employment  –  or  to  take  another  adverse  action  against  you  –  must  tell  you,  and  must  give  you  the  name,  address and phone number of the agency that provided the information.   ‐ You have the right to know what is in your file. You may request and obtain  all the information about you in the files of a CRA (your “file disclosure”). You  will be required to provide proper identification, which may include your Social  Security number. In many cases, the disclosure will be free. You are entitled to  a free file disclosure if:   ‐ A person has taken adverse action against you because of information  in your credit report;   ‐ You are the victim of identify theft and place a fraud alert in your file;   ‐ Your file contains inaccurate information as a result of fraud;   ‐ You are on public assistance;   ‐  You  are  unemployed  but  expect  to  apply  for  employment  within  60  days.   In  addition,  by  September  2005  all  consumers  will  be  entitled  to  one  free  disclosure every 12 months upon request from each nationwide credit bureau  and  from  nationwide  specialty  CRA’s.  See  www.consumerfinance/learnmore  for additional information.   ‐  You  have  the  right  to  ask  for  a  credit  score.  Credit  scores  are  numerical  summaries  of  your  credit  worthiness  based  on  information  from  credit  bureaus.  You  may  request  a  credit  score  from  consumer  reporting  agencies  that create scores or distribute scores used in residential real property loans,  but you will have to pay for it. In some mortgage transactions, you will receive  credit score information for free from the mortgage lender.   ‐ You have the right to dispute incomplete or inaccurate information. If you  identify information in your file that is incomplete or inaccurate and report it  to  the  consumer  reporting  agency,  the  agency  must  investigate  unless  your  dispute is frivolous. See www.consumerfinance/learnmore for an explanation  of dispute procedures.   ‐  CRA’s  must  correct  or  delete  inaccurate,  incomplete  or  unverifiable  information.  Inaccurate,  incomplete  or  unverifiable  information  must  be  removed or corrected, usually within 30 days. However, a consumer reporting  agency may continue to report information it has verified as accurate.   ‐  CRA’s  may  not  report  outdated  negative  information.  In  most  cases,  a  consumer reporting agency may not report negative information that is more  than seven years old, or bankruptcies that are more than 10 years old.   ‐ Access to your file is limited. A CRA may provide information about you only  to people with a valid need – usually to consider an application with a creditor,  insurer, employer, landlord, or other business. The FCRA specifies those with a  valid need for access.   ‐  You  must  give  your  consent  for  reports  to  be  provided  to  employers.  A  consumer  reporting  agency  may  not  give  out  information  about  you  to  your  employer, or a potential employer, without your written consent given to the  employer.  Written  consent  generally  is  not  required  in  the  trucking  industry.  For more information, go to www.consumerfinance/learnmore.  ‐  You  may  limit  “prescreened”  offers  of  credit  and  insurance  you  get  based  on  information  in  your  credit  report.  Unsolicited  “prescreened”  offers  for  credit and insurance must include a toll‐free phone number you can call if you  choose to remove your name and address from the lists these offers are based  on. You may opt‐out with the nationwide credit bureaus at 1‐888‐567‐8688.   States  may  enforce  the  FCRA,  and  many  states  have  their  own  consumer  reporting  laws.  In  some  cases,  you  may  have  more  rights  under  state  law.  For  more  information,  contact  your  state  or  local  consumer  protection  agency  or  your state Attorney General. For information about your federal rights, contact::  TYPE OF BUSINESS: CONTACT: 1.a. Banks, saving associations, and  a. Bureau of Consumer Financial credit unions with total assets of over  Protection  $10 billion and their affiliates.  1700 G Street NW  Washington, DC 20006  b. Such affiliates that are not banks,  savings associations, or credit unions  b. Federal Trade Commission: also should list, in addition to Bureau:   Consumer Response Center – FCRA  Washington, DC 20580  (877) 382‐4357  a. Office of the Comptroller of the  2. To the extent not included in item  Currency‐ Customer Assistance Group  above:  1301 McKinney Street, Suite 3450  a. National banks, federal savings Houston, TX 77010‐9050  associations, and federal branches  and federal agencies of foreign banks  b. Federal Reserve Consumer Help Center   b. State member banks, branches and P.O. Box 1200  agencies of foreign banks (other than  Minneapolis, MN 55480  federal branches, federal agencies,  and insured state branches of foreign  c. FDIC Consumer Response Center 1100 Walnut Street, Box #11  banks), commercial lending  Kansas City, MO 64106  companies owned or controlled by  foreign banks, and organizations  d. National Credit Union operating under section 25 or 25A of  Administration ‐ Office of Consumer  the Federal Reserve Act  Protection (OCP)  c. Nonmember Insured Banks,  Division of Consumer Compliance and  Insured State Branches of Foreign  Outreach (DCCO)  Banks, and insured state savings  1775 Duke Street  associations  Alexandria, VA 22314  d. Federal Credit Unions 3. Air carriers 4. Creditors Subject to Surface Transportation Board  5. Creditors Subject to Packers and Stockyards Act  6. Small Business Investment Companies  7. Brokers and Dealers 8. Federal Land Banks, Federal Land Bank Associations, Federal  Intermediate  Credit Banks,  and Production Credit Associations  9. Retailers, Finance Companies, and All Other Creditors Not Listed Above  Asst. General Counsel for Aviation Enforcement & Proceedings  Department of Transportation  400 Seventh Street SW  Washington, DC 20590  Office of Proceedings, Surface  Transportation Board  Department of Transportation  1925 K Street NW  Washington, DC 20423  Nearest Packers and Stockyards  Administration area supervisor  Associate Deputy Administrator for Capital Access  United States Small Business  Administration  406 Third Street, SW, 8th Floor  Washington, DC 20416  Securities & Exchange Commission 100 F St NE  Washington, DC 20549  Farm Credit Administration 1501 Farm Credit Drive  McLean, VA 22102‐5090  FTC Regional Office for region in  which the creditor operates or  Federal Trade Commission: Consumer  Response Center – FCRA  Washington, DC 20580  (877) 382‐4357  MILLER 000009 Case 5:19-cv-02114-LHK Document 54-2 Filed 09/04/20 Page 17 of 17 Renter Relations 307 Orchard City Drive Suite 110 Campbell, CA 95008 Live Help: www.RenterRelations.com Fair Credit Reporting Act Disclosures Information on file: On-Site does not maintain a file on you. We are a reseller of credit and public records information, and all of that information comes from sources outside On-Site. That means that each time we generate a new report for a housing provider, we go to our outside sources for that information and pass it on in the form of our report to the housing provider. We do not generate reports from our own data because we maintain no data—it all comes from third parties. Sources of the information in our report: Any credit information in our report is provided to us by one or more of the credit bureaus listed below. Our report will indicate the credit bureau where On-Site requested credit information about you. • Equifax, Inc.: P.O. Box 740256, Atlanta, GA 30374-0241; toll free: (800) 685-1111 http://www.equifax.com/online-credit-dispute • Experian, Inc.: P.O. Box 2002, Allen, TX 75013; toll free: (888) 397-3742 http://www.experian.com/disputes • TransUnion, LLC: P.O. Box 1000, Chester, PA 19022; toll free: (800) 916-8800 http://www.transunion.com/corporate/personal/creditDisputes.page If our report indicates that we requested information about possible criminal records or landlord tenant court records, please contact us at (866) 266-7483 and our Renter Relations team will provide information about our sources to you. Previously reports: On-Site is unable to identify companies or persons who have previously requested a report about you for employment purposes or any other purposes because On-Site does not maintain a file on you. Dates, original payees, and amounts of bad checks on file: On-Site does not maintain information about bad checks. Your number of credit inquiries within the preceding year: If a housing provider requested credit information about you, the number of credit inquiries made about you in the past year is located at the bottom of our report. Housing providers do not use credit inquiry information in our report as a factor when they make their decisions. Credit Scores: You have the right to request and obtain a credit score; however, On-Site does not generate or maintain credit scores. If a housing provider created or used a credit score in making a decision about you, the score will appear in the adverse action notice that the housing provider generated and provided to you, or it will be a credit score from FICO that appears in our report. MILLER 000010