American Bar Association v. Federal Trade Commission

The U.S. District Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit decided on March 4, 2011 that Congressional action to amend the FCRA to clarify the definition of "creditor" under the "Red Flags" requirements of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) has made moot the case brought by the American Bar Association (ABA) against the FTC in which the ABA claimed that the FTC's interpretation of FACTA to include attorneys and law firms within the scope of the Red Flags rules under an Extended Enforcement Policy was unlawful. The Red Flag Program Clarification Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111-319), enacted on 12/18/2010, made the case moot, said the Court of Appeals, which directed the lower court to dismiss the case. The Clarification Act made it clear that a creditor's allowance of deferred payments alone could not trigger the identity theft protection requirements.