FACTA Compliance Failures Lead to Legal Action

Though Congress passed the Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act back in 2003, FACTA compliance failures have led disgruntled consumers to file FACTA class action lawsuits against a wide variety of companies.

FACTA is a federal law designed to make it harder for identity thieves to get the information they need to use someone else’s credit card. Among other provisions, the law strictly regulates what information merchants may print on electronic credit card receipts.

To comply with FACTA, receipts must not show more than the last five digits of a credit or debit card number, and the receipt must not show the expiration date. Though this may seem overly detailed, each of these provisions makes it harder for identity thieves to get a full credit card number.

For example, if FACTA mandated that receipts may only show five numbers, but did not specify which numbers, identity thieves could possibly piece together credit cards by dumpster-diving for credit card receipts from multiple retailers.

FACTA was passed in 2003, and went into full effect by 2005 to give retailers time to maker sure their credit card and debit card receipts were in compliance. California has had a similar law in effect since 2001.

Despite this, FACTA compliance remains an issue for many companies. As such, FACTA compliance class action lawsuits have been filed against a diverse group of retailers. Some FACTA compliance settlements have amounted to millions of dollars.

FACTA Lawsuits

In one case, three California residents started a FACTA class action lawsuit against cab companies when the cars allegedly broke FACTA rules about credit card and debit card receipts. In another case, Spirit Airlines allegedly printed more than five digits on consumers’ credit card and debit card receipts.

Spirit agreed to a $7.5 million dollar settlement to resolve the FACTA lawsuit, though the company maintains their innocence. The Spirit settlement also included a provision that the airline would hire IBM to reprogram their kiosks to prevent any further problems with FACTA compliance.

Even companies collecting tolls on California’s toll roads have faced a FACTA compliance lawsuit. The roads in questions had stopped taking cash all together, and the toll company’s credit card and debit card receipts allegedly published eight digits of the customers’ cards.

FACTA is designed to be partially enforced through FACTA lawsuits. To wit, the law proscribes statutory damages of $100 to $1000 per FACTA violation, as well as allowing plaintiffs to recover punitive damages and legal costs.

If it can be demonstrated that FACTA violations led to identity theft, compensation for this may also be sought in a FACTA compliance lawsuit.

Free FACTA Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you made one or more purchases and the retailer provided you with a receipt that contained more than the last five digits of your credit or debit card number or the expiration date, you may be eligible for a free class action lawsuit investigation and to pursue compensation for these FACTA violations.

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