CenturyLink Pulls Credit Reports on Potential Customers, Class Action Says

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CenturyLink has been pulling credit reports on potential customers just because they inquired about service, according to a new class action lawsuit.

Plaintiff Jennifer Ohlman is accusing defendants CenturyLink Communications LLC and Clear Link Technologies LLC of continuing to routinely access consumers’ credit reports even though those consumers never ordered services from the defendants. Ohlman claims this practice violates the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, or FCRA.

The allegedly unlawful credit inquiries appear on consumers’ credit reports as a “hard inquiry.” As opposed to a soft inquiry, a hard inquiry is linked to an actual application for credit, and it therefore has the potential to reduce the consumer’s credit score.

Defendant Clear Link’s function in this alleged misconduct is to deliver potential customers to CenturyLink, according to Ohlman’s complaint. She says that persons who call CenturyLink may be transferred to and served by a representative of Clear Link, and vice-versa.

Ohlman, who lives in Illinois, says she called CenturyLink in December 2015 while she was shopping for internet service for her parents in Florida. Her call was relayed to a representative from Clear Link, who asked her for her Social Security number.

Ohlman responded that she didn’t want a credit report pulled and that she was only inquiring about service on behalf of her parents. The representative assured her that she “shouldn’t worry” and that her information would be used only to find the best prices in the area, Ohlman says.

While still on the phone with the Clear Link representative, Ohlman says, she got an email alerting her that her credit report had been pulled. She claims the inquiry caused a 12-point drop in her credit score. Ohlman says she confronted the representative about the credit check but was told it would only affect her score by “a point or two,” if at all.

Ohlman says she then asked to speak to a manager, who confirmed that no products or services were being ordered. Nevertheless, Ohlman says she got another email two days later incorrectly confirming that she had ordered internet service.

Other persons have reported similar experiences, according to this CenturyLink class action lawsuit. One person reported in an online forum that CenturyLink pulled her credit report after she merely added an internet service package to her online shopping cart without ever actually purchasing it.

Ohlman is proposing to represent two nationwide plaintiff Classes. The Impermissible Access Class would represent all persons in the U.S. for whom the defendants have no open account or a written request to open an account, yet whose credit reports show an inquiry by the defendants.

The Impermissible Use Class would cover all U.S. persons for whom records show their credit reports were received and reviewed by the defendants.

The plaintiff is asking the court for an award of actual, statutory or punitive damages, reasonable attorneys’ fees, and costs of litigation.

Ohlman’s attorneys are Stacy M. Bardo of Bardo Law PC, and Ian B. Lyngklip and Sylvia Bolos of Lyngklip & Associates Consumer Law Center PLC.

The CenturyLink Unauthorized Credit Reports Class Action Lawsuit is Jennifer Ohlman v. CenturyLink Communications LLC and Clear Link Technologies LLC, Case No. 1:17-cv-03640, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division.