American Express class action overview:
- Who: Plaintiff Carla Flannery filed a class action lawsuit against the American Express Co.
- Why: American Express said it would only do a soft credit check until a user was approved and accepted a credit card offer, but did a hard credit check instead, the lawsuit claims.
- Where: The American Express hard credit class action was filed in federal court in California.
American Express is facing a class action lawsuit alleging the company makes hard credit inquiries on new applications when it claims it only makes soft inquiries until the new card is finalized.
That means a potential customer’s credit can be negatively affected even if their credit application is denied, the American Express hard credit class action claims.
A soft credit pull is not visible to third parties on a credit score, while a hard credit pull does have an impact.
“Soft inquiries include inquiries made when a consumer checks his or her own credit report, inquiries made by businesses with which the consumer already does business, such as a mortgage servicer reviewing the status of the consumer’s account and, as discussed above, and inquiries made by credit card companies or insurance companies to make firm offers of credit even when no transaction has been initiated by a consumer,” the class action says.
American express falsely marketing credit checks, won’t remove inquiries from credit reports, lawsuit claims
American Express marketed its cards by telling customers they would know if they were approved without an impact on their credit score. The plaintiff sent four credit disputes to the credit reporting agencies, and none was successful.
American Express is accused of obtaining credit reports without permission and obtaining consumer information under false pretenses.
American Express is also facing a lawsuit from an Arizona woman alleging it violated the law when it contacted her at least 10 times trying to collect debt from a woman she says she has never heard of.
Do you use an American Express credit card? Let us know in the comments.
The plaintiff is represented by Yitzchak Zelman of Marcus and Zelman LLC.
The American Express class action lawsuit is Flannery v. American Express Co., Case No. 2:23-cv-07931, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California Western Division.
Don’t Miss Out!
Check out our list of Class Action Lawsuits and Class Action Settlements you may qualify to join!
Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:
- Bank of America class action claims company refuses to pay sign-up bonuses to credit card applicants
- Proposed Credit Card Competition Act to reduce restaurant swipe fees
- Lowe’s settles lawsuit against Mastercard, banks over transaction fee overpayment
- Appeals court upholds $5.6 billion Visa, Mastercard antitrust litigation
147 thoughts onAmerican Express class action alleges company submits hard credit inquiries despite contrary representations
Been victimized by Amex, they’re the biggest bullies of the credit card providers and getting away with their shenanigans.
How can I join the law suit?
I complained to CFPB several times about a company wide audit that damaged my credit by 200 points due to no fault of my own as I have had the cards since 2004.
I was told by an agent that I was being audited due to credit discrepancies, I searched (5 )five different companies abd found nothing, they devalued my platinum card with a limit and reduced my credit without my knowledge or consent and THEN when I complained to cfpb they input my length of credit history as 5 versus 20 years. Dure to their malfeasance I lost 150 credit score points despite never being late.
I would like to join this lawsuit.
add me to the lawsuit
Amex unlimited account has now set limits on the spending and there was no notification give to consumer that their plan was changing. There are many issues/concerns that AMEX is doing. How can I speak to someone to see if I have a class action suit or join a suit. I need information.
I am paying 28% interest rate for Auto loan as Amex reported that my card was NEW when in fact I have owed on it for 6 years!
Add me
I got a check for $1 from AE & checked on Google to see what is going on. Looks like it’s my portion! Lions share as usual goes to attorneys!!!!
I had American Express do the exact same thing to me, and I was pissed that they said there wouldn’t be a hard credit check. Well guess what on Experian I had tangible evidence that they did.
Add me to the amex lawsuit
Add me
Add me – i have an amex card