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A $13.5 million class action settlement against LexisNexis Risk & Information Analytics Group, Inc. alleging that it violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) was given final approval by a Virginia federal judge Friday.
LexisNexis has a service for debt collectors called Accurint, in which it sells financial information about debtors they are trying to collect on.
According to the plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit, LexisNexis has sold its “Accurint brand reports to debt collectors without treating the reports as ‘consumer reports’ within the meaning of the the FCRA,” U.S. District Judge James R. Spencer explained in his final ruling.
LexisNexis has argued “that Accurint reports are not ‘consumer reports’ within the meaning of the FCRA, and as a result, have not attempted to afford customers with respect to the Accurint reports that the FCRA requires with respect to ‘consumer reports.'”
The LexisNexis class action lawsuit included two classes — the impermissible use class and the file request and dispute class.
The impermissible use class includes “every person listed in the Accurint reports.”
The file request and dispute class is for every person who requested a copy of their file” from LexisNexis and “every person who filed a dispute regarding the information reported,” from Oct. 1, 2006 through April 29, 2013, which is about 31,000 people.
Each person that falls in this class will receive about $300, unless they either excluded him or herself from the settlement or objected to it by July 12, 2013. If a class member received a postcard notifying them of this class action settlement, he or she does not have to do anything to receive their settlement payment.
The impermissible use class will receive injunctive relief. This class includes about 200 million people.
LexisNexis “will implement a substantial, nationwide program that addresses the issues raised in the complaint . . . and will result in a significant shift from the currently accepted industry practices.”
As a result, LexisNexis will “become the industry leader among data aggregation companies in the protection of customer information provided to debt collectors.”
Specifically, LexisNexis “will overhaul their currently existing Accurint for Collections (AFC) suite of products for the Receivables Management Market, which they currently do not treat as ‘consumer reports’ as defined by the FCRA,” Judge Spencer explained.
“The Defendants will split AFC into two newly developed suites of products and services,” he wrote. “The first suite, called ‘Collections Decisioning,’ falls within the FCRA definition of a ‘consumer report’ and will be treated as such.
“The second suite, called ‘Contact & Locate,’ will not be treated as falling within the ‘consumer report’ definition under the FCRA because the Parties agree it does not fall within the FCRA definition,” he added.
In 2013, LexisNexis agreed to the allegations by the class, that it violated the FCRA.
However, Judge Spencer explained that the Federal Trade Commission sees it differently.
“In this case, all of Plaintiffs’ claims are predicated on Accurint reports being deemed “consumer reports” within the meaning of the FCRA,” Judge Spencer wrote. “However, the FTC in 2008 voted unanimously that Accurint for Collection reports do not fall within the FCRA and do not involve credit reports.”
“Absent some authority to the contrary, the merit of Plaintiffs’ claims — and, necessarily, the absent class members’ theoretical future claims — is speculative at best,” he contends.
“For this reason, the benefit of substantial relief without the risk of litigation demonstrates the adequacy of the Settlement Agreement,” he added.
Information for receiving a settlement check is provided by a website set up for the purpose of informing class members.
Please let Top Class Actions know in the comments section if you receive a check from this LexisNexis class action settlement.
The LexisNexis Accurint Fair Credit Reporting Class Action Lawsuit is Gregory Thomas Berry et al., v. LexisNexis Risk & Information Analytics Group, Inc. et al., Case No. 3:11-cv-00754-JRS in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division.
The class is represented by Leonard Bennett of Consumer Litigation Associates, Dale Pittman, Michael Caddell of Caddell & Chapman, and James Francis of Francis & Mailman.
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104 thoughts onLexisNexis Pays $13.5M Fair Credit Reporting Class Action Settlement
I have my check today (2/27/16) for $336.36
Received the $336.36 check today, bank accepted it.
I received a ck today (2/27/17) for $336.36, was surprised . I thought it might have been a scam so before I cashed had to investigate…..woo-hoo it was legit!!
Same here! i recieved mine today~ $336.36
I received a check today and I’m still a little leary about cashing the check. I’ve not researched enough to see if it’s legitimate. Can someone please tell me? It’s for $336.36
I got my $336.36 check today, Mon 2/27. Thought it was a scam also. Investigated it online – just now. Read all I could find. Looked for fine print. Couldnt find any, but, taking it to bank tmrw & ask them to confirm as real check. These so many scams out there now days. But, of course, can use the money!!!
I received a check today. This all started with a background check for my current job where they provided false information about a potential identity theft issue which caused me about 2 months of opening police reports, scouring bills, and reporting the issue to the FTC.
I received a check today, a pleasant surprise, but its small compensation as the problem still exists.
Accurint added an alias to my credit report. Some guy used my social to open a phone account (actually his # is 1 digit off from mine). Accurint gave me the name of the phone company, but would not give me contact info and refused to correct their records.
The phone company either no longer exists or is run out of Jordan!!! (Thats the only one that comes up on line).
Still have that guy’s name on my credit report as Equifax wont remove him till acurint updates their info!
I wonder if they will shape up now and fix the messes they created
I had the same problem but Equifax not only removed everything but put a fraud alert on my account.
I acquired debt for a home, a cell phone, and a new mother and family. What is really odd is none of this showed up on the other national credit report just Equifax.
BTW Got my check on 2-27-17.
I also have several other first names and a new last name. Accurint claims they get the information from Public records but where does the “Public Records” get the information from.
Also the Government agency I retired from used Accurint for my background check and the majority of information on it was incorrect.
Dear Victim of Accurint,
I was told that Accurint got their information from your credit report. In other words they got it from Equifax.
I also received a check for $336.36 on Saturday. Thought it was some kind of scam. Glad I investigated it further. I can really use this extra money. The check really was in the mail!
Me too! I was really wary about the check but I searched and ended up here. I am really happy. I hate these agencies that collect information and sell it- it’s ridiculous- and they inevitably get things wrong, which can wreak havoc on consumers. I had to go through a legal case because some debt buyer accidentally got my account number for a credit card I had paid off. Luckily, I was able to get an attorney to take the case pro-bono and we “won” but the stress it caused was awful. I started researching all the credit reporting agencies and other kinds of information gathering agencies, which is how I found out about the Accurint report and requested every report available. That was several years ago and it’s time-consuming to do- most requests have to be sent by mail and then take 30-90 days to receive. I think I may do another round of requests now because you never know when one of these agencies gets it wrong and/or when it will end up paying off, like in this case.
I recieved a check on Saturday February 25th, 2017 $336.36 Had no idea it was coming!!
Is there anyway to find out if you will be receiving a check. I requested a copy of my report and I also asked Accurint to correct it and they told me they did not have to. My report is a major mess. They gave me a whole new family ,several houses and a cell phone and a bunch of delinquent unpaid debt. Then they sold the information to Equifax. Unlike Accurint, Equifax actually took the information off my credit report.