What Is an FCRA Case Worth in the Third Circuit? The Real Numbers From the Decisions

1. Actual damages

Economic loss plus emotional distress. Cortez's jury awarded $50,000 compensatory to a woman falsely flagged as a terrorist-list match, affirmed in full.

2. Statutory damages

$100–$1,000 per willful violation, no proof of loss required — the platform for more.

3. Punitive damages

Cortez: $750,000 from the jury, remitted to $100,000 and affirmed, for a $150,000 total judgment. Willfulness under Safeco includes reckless disregard, and the Fuges "reasonable reading" defense only stretches so far — it cannot excuse ignoring settled duties (Cushman's no-parroting rule, Ingram's mandatory investigation, Seamans's dispute-notation rule).

4. The New Jersey bonus layer

NJFCRA statutory and punitive damages can travel alongside the federal claims — a second, parallel damages framework in the same lawsuit.

5. Fee-shifting — the quiet engine

Successful FCRA actions shift attorney's fees to the defendant, which is why we can take these cases on contingency and why defendants settle documented cases.

What drives value in practice

Dissemination (who saw the error), consequences (denials, rate hikes, lost jobs or apartments), documentation (the dispute paper trail), and defendant conduct (rubber stamps and seconds-long investigations). Get a free case review at our FCRA attorney page.