Cox Class Action Says Consumer Credit Reports Pulled Without Consent

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An Arizona man says Cox Communications has been making unauthorized credit report inquiries in violation of federal law.

In a Cox class action lawsuit filed on Wednesday, plaintiff Amichai Bergman alleges the cable TV and internet provider has been pulling credit reports on persons who only inquire about service without actually purchasing service.

Bergman says that in July 2016, he called Cox to inquire about services and pricing. He didn’t agree to purchase any services that day, he says. He also claims the Cox representative he spoke to did not tell him Cox would pull his credit report, nor was he given any reason to think his report would be pulled.

The next day, he claims, he got a notice that Cox had made a hard inquiry on his credit reports from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.

A “hard inquiry” occurs when a prospective creditor requests a credit report for use in making a lending decision. Hard inquiries typically appear on the credit report for two years. This type of inquiry may lower the consumer’s credit score.

Bergman says he wrote Cox a letter saying the inquiry was not authorized, and he asked Cox to remove the inquiry from his report. Cox did nothing in response, he claims, leaving the hard inquiries on all three of his credit reports.

Other individuals have reported similar experiences, according to Bergman. He quotes one complaint submitted to an online consumer credit discussion forum by a person who says their report was pulled after speaking to a Cox salesperson. The customer says they never would have accepted the salesperson’s offer had they known Cox would do a hard pull of their credit report.

According to Bergman’s Cox class action lawsuit, these unauthorized hard inquiries violate the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act. The FCRA allows companies like Cox to solicit consumer credit reports only for a limited number of specific purposes.

None of those purposes applied to the inquiries Cox made, Bergman says. He argues that merely inquiring about available services does not give Cox the right to obtain a consumer’s credit reports.

Bergman proposes to represent two plaintiff Classes. The Impermissible Access Class would cover all U.S. residents whose consumer reports display an inquiry by Cox and for whom Cox has no record of an open account or a request to open an account. The Impermissible Use Class would cover all U.S. residents whose consumer reports Cox received and for whom Cox has records showing their report was reviewed.

He seeks a court injunction barring Cox from illegally pulling and using credit reports. He is asking the court to award statutory and punitive damages, court costs and attorneys’ fees, and any other relief the court deems warranted.

Bergman is represented by attorney John Prather.

The Cox Unauthorized Credit Report Check Class Action Lawsuit is Bergman v. Cox Communications Inc., Case No. 2:17-cv-04721, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona.