22
Opinion of the Court
Andrew Ryan Henderson argued the cause for respondent. With him on the brief were Carlyle W. Hall, Jr., and Gerald L. Sauer.
Kent L. Jones argued the cause for the United States et al. as amici curiae urging affirmance. On the brief were Acting Solicitor General Underwood, Deputy Solicitor General Wallace, Edward C. DuMont, John D. Graubert, John F. Daly, and Lawrence DeMille-Wagman.*
Justice Ginsburg delivered the opinion of the Court.
This case concerns the running of the two-year statute of limitations governing suits based on the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA or Act), as added, 84 Stat. 1127, and amended, 15 U. S. C. § 1681 et seq. (1994 ed. and Supp. V).1 The time prescription appears in § 1681p, which sets out a general rule and an exception. Generally, an action to enforce any liability created by the Act may be brought "within two years from the date on which the liability arises." The exception covers willful misrepresentation of "any information required under [the Act] to be disclosed to [the plaintiff]": When such a representation is material to a claim under the Act, suit may be brought "within two years after [the plaintiff's] discovery . . . of the misrepresentation."
Section 1681p's exception is not involved in this case; the complaint does not allege misrepresentation of information that the FCRA "require[s] . . . to be disclosed to [the plaintiff]." Plaintiff-respondent Adelaide Andrews nevertheless contends, and the Ninth Circuit held, that § 1681p's generally applicable two-year limitation commenced to run on
*Richard J. Rubin, Joanne S. Faulkner, Willard P. Ogburn, Deborah M. Zuckerman, Stacy J. Canan, and Michael R. Schuster filed a brief for the National Association of Consumer Advocates et al. as amici curiae urging affirmance.
1 Congress has revised the FCRA extensively since the events at issue, but has not altered the provisions material to this case.
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