Equifax Credit Scores Reported ‘Bogus’ Debts, Says Class Action

Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.

Equifax Credit Scores Class Action Lawsuit Overview: 

• Who: A group of plaintiffs filed a class action lawsuit against Equifax Information Services, LLC. 
• Why: Plaintiffs claim debt collectors were allowed to report inaccurate information related to debts on their Equifax credit scores — which Equifax then released.
• Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in California federal court.

Equifax allowed debt collectors to report inaccurate, adverse, and outdated information on consumer reports, affecting their credit scores, a new class action lawsuit alleges.

Plaintiffs Elettra Meeks, Joseph De La Cruz, Stephanie Laguna, and Amber Leonard claim the inaccurate reports were related to payday loans which had already been forgiven as part of a nationwide class action settlement. 

Plaintiffs want to represent themselves and a nationwide Class of consumers who had inaccurate debt information reported on their credit scores released by Equifax.

Plaintiffs claim that, despite the payday loans being forgiven, debt collectors Midwest Recovery and Consumer Adjustment Company, Inc. (CACI) continued reporting the unenforceable debts in an unlawful attempt to secure repayment. 

“This improper continued reporting of debts unfairly, and by design, pressures consumers into paying debts so that they will stop appearing on their credit, dragging down their credit scores,” states the Equifax lawsuit. 

Midwest Recovery and CACI also “re-aged” the debt by altering its delinquency date in order to make it look more recent than it actually is to ensure it doesn’t get removed from a consumer’s credit report, the class action lawsuit alleges. 

False Equifax Credit Scores Allow Payday Lenders to Connive For Repayment on Forgiven Debt

The Federal Trade Commission has been investigating Midwest Recovery for placing “bogus or highly questionable debts onto consumers’ credit reports to coerce them to pay the debts,” according to the class action lawsuit. 

Plaintiffs claim Equifax allowed Midwest Recovery to report the adverse and outdated information regarding consumers’ debts by not following procedures set forth by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). 

“Congress enacted the (FCRA) to prevent this type of misconduct,” states the Equifax lawsuit. 

Plaintiffs argue that Equifax never should have allowed Midwest Recovery and CACI to report the “bogus,” debts to begin with because they were already forgiven as part of a nationwide class settlement. 

“Equifax nonetheless allowed debt collectors, such as Midwest Recovery and CACI, to inaccurately report that consumers had outstanding balances on loans after the announcement of a nationwide class action settlement,” states the class action lawsuit. 

Plaintiffs claim Equifax has committed multiple FCRA violations and are demanding a jury trial and relief in the form of actual, statutory, and/or punitive damages for themselves and all Class Members. 

Have you had inaccurate debt information reported on your credit score released by Equifax? Let us know in the comments! 

The plaintiffs are represented by Craig C. Marchiando of Consumer Litigation Associates, P.C.

The Equifax Credit Scores Class Action Lawsuit is Meeks, et al. v. Equifax Information Services, LLC, Case No. 4:21-cv-07727, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:

• Boeing, Southwest Ask Judge to Halt 737 RICO Class Action Lawsuit
• Do You Qualify: Birth Injury Lawsuit | Cerebral Palsy, Erb’s Palsy, Brain Damage, Other Injuries
• Neuriva Supplements False Ad $8M Class Action Settlement
• Do You Qualify: New Jersey Catholic Clergy Abuse Legal Help — Deadline to File Dec. 1