The ARDC has charged a lawyer with wrongfully obtaining a credit report of the opposing party. Obtaining a credit report would not normally be a problem. However, if the allegations are true, the lawyer misrepresented his identity in seeking the report.
These are the key allegations:
“ On April 29, 2014, Respondent entered his appearance on behalf of Bozena Wysocki (“Bozena”) in her petition for dissolution of marriage from her husband, Jacek Wysocki (“Jacek”), in Cook County Circuit Case No. 2013 D 7670.
2. Between April 29, 2014, and December 5, 2014, through the course of pretrial discovery, Respondent obtained Jacek’s personal identifying information, including his social security number, as well as information concerning Jacek’s financial history.
3. On or about December 5, 2014, Respondent visited the website http://www.creditreport.com, an online consumer credit reporting site which allows consumers to access their own credit reports.
4. Pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 1681q, any person who knowingly and willfully obtains information on a consumer from a consumer reporting agency under false pretenses shall be fined, imprisoned for not more than two years, or both.
5. On or about December 5, 2014, Respondent entered Jacek’s identifying information, including Jacek’s name, address, date of birth, and social security number, into the http://www.creditreport.com website for the purpose of obtaining Jacek’s credit report.
6. On or about December 5, 2014, Respondent obtained Jacek’s credit report from the http://www.creditreport.com website.”
These allegations have not been proven.
Edward X. Clinton, Jr.
Legal Ethics Lawyer 