Pro Se Plaintiff Moves Court for Default Judgments vs. Amex, Lending Tree

Pro se plaintiff Venton Smith moved the court for default judgments against American Express and Lending Tree in his negligence lawsuit (see 2306120045), said his Monday motions (docket (3:23-cv-02804)) in U.S. District Court for Northern California in San Francisco. Smith sued the financial company and over 20 banks and credit reporting agencies in June (see 2306120045), alleging his personally identifiable information was exposed in a 2019 Capital One data breach in which an Amazon Web Services employee stole data affecting about 106 million customers. Due to the breach, Smith alleges fraudulent purchases using his accounts for American Express, Best Buy, Capital One, Chase, Citibank, Macy’s and Nordstrom totaled $92,300 in loans, merchandise and products. American Express and Lending Tree failed to respond to the complaint; Smith requests that the court enter default judgments against the companies and award him relief he's entitled to in each claim: $42,500, including $30,000 under the California Identity Theft Law, $5,000 for negligent and willful violation of the California Fair Credit Reporting Act and $7,500 for actual and statutory damages and costs. In July, Capital One and Amazon said Smith’s claims should be barred because he didn’t opt out of the settlement in Capital One Consumer Data Security Breach Litigation (see 2307100050). TransUnion said last month (see 2307130055) Smith’s claims are preempted by the Fair Credit Reporting Act, Smith failed to take reasonable steps to mitigate damages, and any damages he suffered are the result of acts or omissions he committed. Smith’s claim of exemplary and punitive damages violates TransUnion’s rights under due process and excessive fines clauses of the Fifth, Sixth, Eighth and 14th amendments, plus those of state constitutions, it said. Best Buy, Citibank and Macy’s moved the court to compel Smith to arbitration (see Ref:2307140038). Smith reached a settlement with Equifax in July (see 2307140038), and he filed an instant motion of dismissal against DSRM National Bank last week after the parties reached a settlement (see 2308040026). Also Monday, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer granted Smith’s motion to extend time to respond to defendant Citibank’s motion to compel arbitration and to vacate hearings slated for Sept. 29, said his Monday order; Smith’s response is due Aug. 18, with Citibank’s reply due Aug. 25.