Class action lawsuit over LendingTree data breach headed to mediation

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Update:

• LendingTree agreed to mediate claims the company negligently allowed the information of 200,000 people to be compromised during a February 2022 data breach. 
• LendingTree and the two consumers asked a North Carolina federal judge for a 30-day deadline extension to file expert reports, with their mediation scheduled to begin May 30. 
• The judge previously turned down a request for a monthslong stay for the initial complaint, which was filed in July 2022.
• LendingTree has been accused of bearing responsibility for the February 2022 data breach due to it allegedly not implementing strong enough security measures.

Lending Tree data breach class action lawsuit overview: 

• Who: Christopher Lamie filed a class action lawsuit against LendingTree, LLC. 
• Why: Lamie claims LendingTree failed to implement adequate security protocols prior to a February data breach and waited more than four months to disclose the event to consumers.
• Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in North Carolina federal court. 

(Sept. 14, 2022)

LendingTree “lost control” of more than 200,000 consumers’ highly sensitive personal information during a February data breach it bears responsibility for, a new class action lawsuit alleges. 

Plaintiff Christopher Lamie claims hackers were able to exploit a “code vulnerability” in LendingTree’s system due to the company’s “inadequate data security protocols.” 

He says LendingTree waited more than four months to disclose the data breach to consumers and that, when doing so, failed to mention the extent of the attack or that the information was on the dark web. 

LendingTree, Lamie argues, “downplayed the breach” by telling consumers that the hackers only stole Social Security numbers, home addresses and dates of birth were stolen while failing to mention that they also accessed  IP addresses, phone numbers, loan types, loan form submissions and credit profile scores.

LendingTree class action alleges company violated Federal Trade Commission Act

“LendingTree’s misconduct violates state and federal law, industry standard practices, and its own internal policies,” the LendingTree class action states. 

Lamie wants to represent a nationwide class of consumers who had their personally identifiable information compromised during the LendingTree data breach. 

He claims LendingTree is in violation of the Federal Trade Commission Act and is guilty of invasion of privacy, unjust enrichment, negligence and negligence per se. 

Lamie demands a jury trial and requests injunctive and declaratory relief along with compensatory, exemplary, punitive and statutory damages for himself and all class members. 

In related data breach news, earlier this month, Marriott International confirmed that it was the victim of a June data breach that exposed 20 gigabytes of sensitive customer data. 

Also this month, Claire’s agreed to pay $350,000 to end claims related to how the company handled a 2020 data breach.

If you were affected by a data breach, you might qualify to participate in a data breach lawsuit.

The plaintiff is represented by Joel R. Rhine and Martin A. Ramey of Rhine Law Firm, PC and Samuel J. Strauss and Raina C. Borrelli of Turke & Strauss LLP. 

The Lending Tree class action lawsuit is Lamie, et al. v. LendingTree LLC, Case No. 3:22-cv-00307, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina.

Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:

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• Health Aid of Ohio data breach class action settlement
• Mangatoon data breach exposes data of 23M accounts
• Former Amazon employee found guilty in 2019 Capital One data breach