Equifax Debts Reported as “Unavailable” Class Action

This class action brings suit against Equifax Information Services, LLC, alleging that the company violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) by “knowingly, and/or willfully reporting inaccurate information” on consumer reports and by not having procedures to assure that the information is, as far as possible, accurate.

The complaint proposes a class and a subclass for this action:

The Nationwide Class is all persons with an address in the US whose Equifax credit reports were inaccurately reported with a status of “Unavailable” between February 7, 2020 and February 7, 2022.

The Arizona Subclass is all persons with an address in Arizona whose Equifax credit reports were inaccurately reported with a status of “Unavailable” between February 7, 2020 and February 7, 2022.

These days, consumer reports are requested not just by those who provide loans and credit cards, but also by potential employers and landlords. It is thus more important than ever that the information on them be accurate and timely. The reports are most commonly furnished by three major credit reporting agencies (CRAs). One of them is the defendant in this case, Equifax Information Services, LLC.

The complaint quotes the FCRA, saying that when a CRA prepares a consumer report, it must “follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy of the information” about the consumer.

The plaintiff in this case, Corinna Sullivan, filed for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy in August 2021. Her debts were discharged in the bankruptcy on or around December 21, 2021. The complaint lists some of them as accounts with Synchrony Bank/JC Penneys, Regional Acceptance Corp., and Westlake Service, Inc., as well as three accounts with Capital One Bank USA, N.A. and five with Comenity Capital.

“On or around January 27, 2022,” the complaint alleges, Sullivan “reviewed her Equifax credit report … only to discover that much of the information on that report was inaccurate.”

The complaint claims that Equifax had listed eleven reports as “Unavailable.” It alleges, “Equifax’s reporting of the above-mentioned accounts was inaccurate because the accounts should have been reporting as included in bankruptcy in the status section.”

It adds, “Regardless of what the account should have been reporting as, a status of ‘Unavailable’ is inaccurate” and does not allow creditors to evaluate the report subject’s creditworthiness.

The complaint claims, “Equifax was recently sued for the very same issue…” Equifax was served in that case on July 22, 2021, so that the complaint charges, “Equifax was aware of the issue at the very latest on July 22, 2021.” The complaint therefore concludes that Equifax’s actions in Sullivan’s case “were willful.”

According to the complaint, Sullivan’s “overall financial wellbeing has been severely affected by Equifax’s inaccurate reporting. … [Sullivan] has found it increasingly difficult to rebuild her credit from the ground up after her bankruptcy because of Equifax’s inaccurate reporting.”

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Consumer
Tags: Credit Reports, Discharged/invalid debts on credit report, FCRA