This class action brings suit against Toyota Motor Sales USA, Inc. in the form of Koons Lexus of Wilmington, in Delaware, under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The issue? The complaint claims that it pulled a credit report on a customer who told its personnel multiple times that she did not want them to do that.
The class for this action all persons whose consumer credit reports Koons Lexus has accessed or made inquiries upon without written permission or authorization, or without a permissible purpose, between March 11, 2019 and March 11, 2021.
Plaintiff Chanel Rhoads-Reed went to Koons Lexus to shop for a new vehicle on December 3, 2020. The complaint alleges, “During this process, [Rhoads-Reed] repeatedly informed the representatives of Koons Lexus that she did not desire or wish to obtain, apply for or pursue any financing through Koons Lexus. [Rhoads-Reed] further stated that she did not want or authorized Koons Lexus to pull her credit report and make an inquiry on [her] consumer credit.”
For some reasons, the dealership seems not to have respected this desire. The complaint claims that “Koons Lexus’s employees repeatedly attempted to obtain information from [Rhoads-Reed] under false pretenses for the purpose of making an inquiry on her credit and in order to acquire [Rhoads-Reed’s] credit report without [her] knowledge, consent or authorization.”
But if she didn’t give them her personal information, the company can’t do that, right? Apparently it can: the complaint claims the representative used a fake number, 111-11-1111, to make an unauthorized inquiry and obtain a report.
The complaint alleges that Koons violated the FCRA because it obtained her report and made a credit inquiry “without [her] consent or authorization and without a permissible purpose.” Consent is supposed to be provided in writing.
The representative pulled the credit report while she was at the dealership, the complaint says, but then did not want to allow her to see it. When she persisted, the complaint says, the representative only wanted to show her the credit score.
Finally, she was allowed to see the report; but when she tried to leave the dealership with it, the complaint alleges, the “employees then told [Rhoads-Reed] that she could not leave the [Koons Lexus] premises with her own consumer credit report, under the baseless premise that she was not employed by [Koons Lexus’s] finance department—and attempted to prevent her from leaving Koons Lexus” with the report.
She was not permitted to leave until she threatened to call the police.
Afterwards, she received a supposed confirmation e-mail from Koons Lexus thanking her for her financial loan application, even though she had not made any such application with the company.
The complaint alleges violations of the FCRA and the Delaware Consumer Fraud Act, which the complaint says is designed “to protect consumers from unfair or deceptive merchandising practices…”
Article Type: LawsuitTopic: Privacy
Most Recent Case Event
Koons Lexus Pulls Credit Reports Without Authorization Complaint
March 11, 2021
This class action brings suit against Toyota Motor Sales USA, Inc. in the form of Koons Lexus of Wilmington, in Delaware, under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The issue? The complaint claims that it pulled a credit report on a customer who told its personnel multiple times that she did not want them to do that.
Koons Lexus Pulls Credit Reports Without Authorization ComplaintCase Event History
Koons Lexus Pulls Credit Reports Without Authorization Complaint
March 11, 2021
This class action brings suit against Toyota Motor Sales USA, Inc. in the form of Koons Lexus of Wilmington, in Delaware, under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The issue? The complaint claims that it pulled a credit report on a customer who told its personnel multiple times that she did not want them to do that.
Koons Lexus Pulls Credit Reports Without Authorization Complaint