CIC Mortgage Credit inaccurate reporting $385K class action settlement

A settlement has been reached in a class action lawsuit that claimed CIC Mortgage Credit Inc. violated the law by inaccurately reporting living consumers as deceased. 

The settlement class is composed of all individuals who had a consumer report provided by CIC mortgage Credit to a third party from Dec. 14, 2017, to June 9, 2023, where the report or any related error messages showed a status from Equifax, Experian or Trans Union that falsely suggested the consumer’s death when the consumer was actually alive.

The plaintiffs in the case allege that within the class period, CIC Mortgage Credit violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) by producing inaccurate credit reports in which consumers were wrongly identified as deceased. By doing this, the company allegedly failed to follow reasonable procedures to assure optimal reporting accuracy for consumers. 

The defendant has denied any wrongdoing in the case and believes the lawsuit to be without merit, as the company did not violate any laws. However, CIC Mortgage Credit and the plaintiff reached a settlement to resolve the class action lawsuit; the defendant would have defended the lawsuit if they had not reached a settlement. 

Contemporary Information Corp. (CIC) provides consumers with predictive housing and criminal public records for reporting. The company has access to over 36 million housing court records and 1 billion FCRA-compliant criminal records, which are managed via “its proprietary heuristic matching methodology and exclusive regulatory filtering tool.”

Eligible class members can receive financial compensation if the settlement is approved and becomes final. CIC Mortgage Credit will pay $385,000 into a settlement fund that will then be distributed to class members, the class representative and class counsel’s attorney fees.

Class members must fill out a paper or online claim form, which can be accessed by entering a notice ID and PIN number that were previously mailed out. Depending on the number of total settlement class members, the amount of attorney fees and service award amount, class members can expect to receive an estimated $525.

The deadline for exclusion and objection is Jan. 29, 2024.

A final approval hearing in the CIC settlement will take place Feb. 15, 2024.

The claim form submission deadline is Jan. 29, 2024.

Who’s Eligible

All individuals who had a consumer report provided by CIC mortgage Credit to a third party from Dec. 14, 2017, to June 9, 2023, where the report or any related error messages showed a status from Equifax, Experian or Trans Union that falsely suggested the consumer’s death when the consumer was actually alive.

Potential Award

$525 (estimated)

Proof of Purchase

Class members must use their notice ID and PIN to access the claim form. 

Claim Form

NOTE: If you do not qualify for this settlement do NOT file a claim.

Remember: you are submitting your claim under penalty of perjury. You are also harming other eligible Class Members by submitting a fraudulent claim. If you’re unsure if you qualify, please read the FAQ section of the Settlement Administrator’s website to ensure you meet all standards (Top Class Actions is not a Settlement Administrator). If you don’t qualify for this settlement, check out our database of other open class action settlements you may be eligible for.

Claim Form Deadline

01/29/24

Case Name

McAfee v. CIC Mortgage Credit Inc., Case No. 3:22-cv-00772-RCY, in the U.S. District Court for Eastern District of Virginia

Final Hearing

02/15/24

Settlement Website

McAfeeFCRASettlement.com

Claims Administrator

McAfee v CIC
PO Box 23680
Jacksonville, FL

Class Counsel

Kristi Cahoon Kelly 
KELLY GUZZO PLC

Michelle Drake Joseph Hashmall 
BERGER MONTAGUE PC

Defense Counsel

Christi A Lawson 
FOLEY & LARDNER LLP

John J Atallah
FOLEY & LARDNER LLP