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On Tuesday, Equifax agreed to a $3 million class action settlement that would resolve claims that the company violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act. As part of the settlement, Equifax will remove any judgments from Virginia state court from its consumer database.
Under the terms of the proposed FCRA settlement, Equifax has agreed to not only remove Virginia General District Court judgments from Class Members’ records, but will remove such judgments for all consumers.
About 90,000 consumers who had an Equifax report listing a judgment marked as open a month or longer after they had been paid, vacated or dismissed, and consumers who complained to Equifax about inaccurate judgment listings will receive a portion of the $3 million settlement.
In addition, the proposed Equifax class action settlement also provides for four years of credit monitoring services at no charge or a $180 cash payment. Those Class Members suffering actual damages as a result of the inaccurate reporting can retain the right to continue with their own litigation or settle their claims separately apart from the proposed class action settlement.
The Equifax class action lawsuit was originally filed in 2010 by plaintiff Donna K. Soutter. Soutter claimed that Equifax violated the FCRA by the company’s allegedly erroneous reporting of a state judgment that had already been resolved in 2008. Two other plaintiffs, Brenda Arnold and Joyce Ridgley, filed similar FCRA class action lawsuits in August this year as well, and the settlement will include resolution of their claims. The two lawsuits may end up being consolidated if their request to do so is approved.
In April, U.S. District Judge Robert E. Payne officially granted Class certification to the members and stated that Equifax obtains information from Virginia court records from LexisNexis, who is not named as a defendant in the class action lawsuit.
According to Judge Payne, the agreement between Equifax and LexisNexis only required the public records vendor to collect information on judgment dispositions if such a practice was “commercially reasonable.” Judge Payne also said that a jury could rule that Equifax “prioritized adverse information over accurate information and invited inaccuracies.”
The terms of the Equifax class action settlement appear to be groundbreaking and could influence future legal outcomes of future credit reporting agency litigation.
“Particularly considering the relief obtained here — the complete removal of all public record Virginia judgment information — this settlement is, in a word, unprecedented,” the court documents read. “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.”
Soutter is represented by Leonard Anthony Bennett, Matthew James Erausquin, Casey Shannon Nash and Susan Mary Rotkis of Consumer Litigation Associates PC.
The Equifax Class Action Lawsuit is Soutter v. Equifax Information Services LLC, Case No. 3:10-cv-00107, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
UPDATE: The Equifax FCRA class action settlement is now open! Click here to file a Claim Form.
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5 thoughts onEquifax Reaches Settlement in FCRA Class Action Lawsuit
Credit Bureaus have been known to not investigate fully. I have owned and operated a Credit Repair company for over 15 years, and the CRA’s never cease to amaze me.
Equifax will not remove a tax lien from my credit report, since 2009, in Oregon. They are falsely reporting this information.
They will not correct my judgement in Alabama that is false..
Im from Indiana and I am in the beginning stages of warring with the dishonest lying crooks at Equifax. I certainly would not recommend anyone use their services and hope and pray the ATL DA office will find cause to shut them down altogether.
UPDATE: The Equifax FCRA class action settlement is now open! Click here to file a Claim Form.