Equifax Agrees To Remove Records And Pay $3M In FCRA Suit

[StartingOver10]

Interesting FCRA suit results. Here is a portion of the article with a link at the end for you to read the entire article:

Equifax on Tuesday agreed to settle a Fair Credit Reporting Act class action by removing all Virginia state court judgments from its consumer database and shelling out more than $3 million, a result attorneys for the consumers called “unprecedented” in an FCRA case.

As a part of the proposed deal filed with the court on Tuesday, the credit reporting agency agreed to remove judgments in Virginia General District Court from the records of all consumers, not just class members. The deal also provides $3 million to be split among around 90,000 class members who had a report issued since 2003 that included a judgment marked as open a month or more after they had been paid, vacated or dismissed. The consumers who complained to Equifax about the erroneous judgment listings can also get a cut of the settlement fund.

“Particularly considering the relief obtained here — the complete removal of all public record Virginia judgment information — this settlement is, in a word, unprecedented,” the consumers said in the motion for preliminary approval of the deal. “Plaintiffs’ counsel carefully monitor FCRA classes filed and settled across the country and can represent to the court without qualification that such a sweeping landscape change has never been seen before in the history of FCRA class litigation.”

Class members are eligible to receive four years of free credit monitoring service or $180 cash, and class members who claim they suffered actual damages from the inaccurate reports can reserve the right to sue or settle their claims separately under the proposed deal.

Lead plaintiff Donna K. Soutter claimed in her 2010 suit that Equifax violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act by erroneously reporting a state judgment against her that had been set aside and dismissed in 2008.

Brenda Arnold and Joyce Ridgley in filed a similar suit in August, which the settlement would also cover. The parties moved to consolidate the two actions on Tuesday.

Under the draft terms of the settlement, lawyers for the consumers would ask the court for $3.7 million in fees, a request Equifax would not dispute. Soutter can seek $20,000 and the other consumers who filed suit can ask for $2,500 under the settlement.

Go to this link to read the rest:  https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#search/law360/15185fe7921d8515

[Anonymous]

Thanks for sharing..  A small victory.  Equifax is soo annoying.

[Anonymous]

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@StartingOver10 wrote:

Interesting FCRA suit results. Here is a portion of the article with a link at the end for you to read the entire article:

Equifax on Tuesday agreed to settle a Fair Credit Reporting Act class action by removing all Virginia state court judgments from its consumer database and shelling out more than $3 million, a result attorneys for the consumers called “unprecedented” in an FCRA case.

As a part of the proposed deal filed with the court on Tuesday, the credit reporting agency agreed to remove judgments in Virginia General District Court from the records of all consumers, not just class members. The deal also provides $3 million to be split among around 90,000 class members who had a report issued since 2003 that included a judgment marked as open a month or more after they had been paid, vacated or dismissed. The consumers who complained to Equifax about the erroneous judgment listings can also get a cut of the settlement fund.

“Particularly considering the relief obtained here — the complete removal of all public record Virginia judgment information — this settlement is, in a word, unprecedented,” the consumers said in the motion for preliminary approval of the deal. “Plaintiffs’ counsel carefully monitor FCRA classes filed and settled across the country and can represent to the court without qualification that such a sweeping landscape change has never been seen before in the history of FCRA class litigation.”

Class members are eligible to receive four years of free credit monitoring service or $180 cash, and class members who claim they suffered actual damages from the inaccurate reports can reserve the right to sue or settle their claims separately under the proposed deal.

Lead plaintiff Donna K. Soutter claimed in her 2010 suit that Equifax violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act by erroneously reporting a state judgment against her that had been set aside and dismissed in 2008.

Brenda Arnold and Joyce Ridgley in filed a similar suit in August, which the settlement would also cover. The parties moved to consolidate the two actions on Tuesday.

Under the draft terms of the settlement, lawyers for the consumers would ask the court for $3.7 million in fees, a request Equifax would not dispute. Soutter can seek $20,000 and the other consumers who filed suit can ask for $2,500 under the settlement.

Go to this link to read the rest:  https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#search/law360/15185fe7921d8515

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Thank you for posting this as I knew nothing about it. I live in Virginia and just got a hard copy of my credit report from Equifax. I have two satisfied judgments on there, so, I'm going to call them tomorrow and see when they will be removed.

Again, thank you! :-)

[Anonymous]

I know this is a month or so old, but since its still on the front page, I'll bump

I just wanted to add on that Equifax is absolutely terrible with their record keeping and due diligence on investigations. There's been numerous accounts where I've had "slam dunk" removals from Transunion and Experian, whereas Equifax would simple pencil whip through the dispute doing absolutely nothing.

I've even been to the point where I've showed an authorized letter from a credit saying a mistake was made and to remove from my record and they did nothing. I eventually had to go through about 35 unanswered emails to the Equifax EO, citing the above case as well as prior cases of punitive suits against Equifax before they finally responded.

And they removed the account in question

If you know you have a legitimate case and can back it up, be prepared to go the extra mile with Equifax and don't let up, no matter how long it takes.

[CreditMagic7]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I know this is a month or so old, but since its still on the front page, I'll bump

I just wanted to add on that Equifax is absolutely terrible with their record keeping and due diligence on investigations. There's been numerous accounts where I've had "slam dunk" removals from Transunion and Experian, whereas Equifax would simple pencil whip through the dispute doing absolutely nothing.

I've even been to the point where I've showed an authorized letter from a credit saying a mistake was made and to remove from my record and they did nothing. I eventually had to go through about 35 unanswered emails to the Equifax EO, citing the above case as well as prior cases of punitive suits against Equifax before they finally responded.

And they removed the account in question

If you know you have a legitimate case and can back it up, be prepared to go the extra mile with Equifax and don't let up, no matter how long it takes.

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Thanks for sharing and Geez Wow. Now if ALL the rest of the states would get this aggressive there might be a more positive change in how they choose to carry out their work in the future.

[Anonymous]

Thanks so much for sharing!