Bank of America Settles Credit Report Claims for $1.6M

Settlement of a Fair Credit Reporting Act class action lawsuit against Bank of America has received preliminary approval from a federal judge.

U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria granted preliminary approval of the settlement on July 7, allowing the parties to begin the first steps toward settlement administration.

The settlement resolve claims that Bank of America made unauthorized soft credit inquiries of its customers that did not fall within the limited list of permitted purposes for such inquiries under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, or FCRA.

The parties reached the current Bank of America class action settlement in principle last summer, after extensive negotiations and mediation sessions conducted by a retired judge. Judge Chhabria describes the resulting settlement as “fundamentally fair, reasonable, adequate, and in the best interests of the Settlement Class members.”

Under terms of the settlement, Bank of America will put up a settlement fund of $1.645 million. Each Class Member who submits a valid and timely claim will receive a pro rata payment from this fund. The four named plaintiffs are requesting incentive awards of $5,000 each.

The Bank of America class action lawsuit was filed in 2015 by plaintiff Robert Pastor. Pastor accused Bank of America of requesting credit reports on certain customers without a “permissible purpose” under the FCRA.

Pastor claimed Bank of America pulled his own credit report in relation to a former debt that he owed the bank, a debt that had been discharged when Pastor went through bankruptcy.

Bank of America continues to deny Pastor’s claims but has agreed to the current FCRA class action settlement to avoid the expense and risk associated with further litigation.

A final approval hearing is scheduled for Jan. 11, 2018.

For purposes of the settlement, the plaintiff Class will consist of all persons with a U.S. address whose credit report was obtained by Bank of America or FIA Card Services for an account review inquiry between Aug. 21, 2010 and July 7, 2017, and whose account relationship with the bank was terminated because the debt on the account had been discharged via bankruptcy, the account was closed with a zero balance, or the account was sold or transferred to a third party. Class Members are estimated to number around 537,000.

Top Class Actions will post updates to this class action settlement as they become available. For the latest updates, keep checking TopClassActions.com or sign up for our free newsletter. You can also receive notifications when this article is updated by using your free Top Class Actions account and clicking the “Follow Article” button at the top of the post.

Counsel for the plaintiffs and settlement Class are attorneys Abbas Kazerounian and Ryan L. McBride of Kazerouni Law Group, and Joshua B. Swigart and David J. McGlothlin of Hyde & Swigart.

The Bank of America Unauthorized Credit Reports Class Action Lawsuit is Robert A. Pastor, et al. v. Bank of America NA, Case No. 3:15-cv-03831, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

UPDATE August 18, 2017: The Bank of America Credit Report settlement website and claim form are now available.  Click here to file a claim!