Class action lawsuits have been filed by people who had loans rejected, or paid more money on their loans, because Equifax sent the wrong credit scores to lenders.
What You Can Do & How We Can Help
The Schmidt Firm, PLLC is currently accepting Equifax credit score induced injury cases in all 50 states. If you or somebody you know had a loan rejected or paid more money on a loan due to Equifax credit score errors, you should contact our lawyers immediately for a free case consultation. Please use the form below to contact our Class Action Litigation Group or call toll free 24 hours a day at (866) 920-0753.
Equifax Credit Score Class Action Lawsuit
In August 2022, a class action lawsuit was filed by a woman whose auto loan was rejected after Equifax sent the dealership a credit score that was 130 points too low.
Who Filed the Class Action Against Equifax?
The lawsuit was filed by Nydia J., a woman from Jacksonville, Florida who applied for an auto loan and was pre-approved in January 2022, where she was expecting to pay $350 per month.
Unfortunately, her auto loan was denied after Equifax sent the Toyota dealership an inaccurate credit score that was 130 points lower than it should have been. She applied for another loan with much less favorable rates, and is currently paying $504 per month.
The lawsuit accuses Equifax of violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), and is asking Equifax to:
- Pay “FCRA statutory damages to the fullest extent allowable by law”
- Identify which consumers’ credit scores were affected
- Notify each U.S. citizen who was affected
- Provide enough money to pay for quality credit repair services
- Pay for time and out-of-pocket expenses related to the glitch
- And more
The proposed Equifax Class Action Lawsuit was filed on August 3, 2022 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia (Atlanta Division) — Case 1:22-mi-99999-UNA
Equifax Sued for FCRA Violations
Equifax is accused of violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), a law that Congress enacted in 1970 to provide consumers with the right to accurate, fair, and private financial information. The FCRA governs the behavior of “credit bureaus,” including Equifax, TransUnion, Experian and others. If someone violates your rights under the FCRA, you can file a lawsuit. You are also entitled to damages, which may include compensation.
How Much Money Can I Get?
Basic damages range between $100 and $1,000 if you do not have any proof that you were harmed by violations of the FCRA, plus punitive damages (if awarded by the court), attorney fees and other costs, according to NOLO.
Consumers who show actual harm from violations of the FCRA could be entitled to more money, such as:
- Actual damages (no limit)
- Expenses for your time to fix the problem, other out-of-pocket expenses
- Punitive damages (as decided by the court)
- Attorney’s fees
What Is Equifax?
Equifax is one of the “Big 3” consumer credit agencies in the U.S., along with TransUnion and Experian. These private companies assign each person a credit score between 300 and 850. People with higher scores are more likely to get bigger loans at lower interest rates.
Who Looks at My Credit Score?
- Banks
- Credit card companies
- Non-bank lenders
- Landlords
- Employers
- And more
Equifax Sends Out Wrong Credit Scores for 2.5 Million Consumers
On August 2, the The Wall Street Journal reported that during a 3-week period in March and April 2022, Equifax sent lenders the wrong credit scores for 2.5 million Americans who applied for loans, credit cards, and more. Not all of those 2.5 million people were harmed, because some of the scores were just a few points off.
However, for up to 300,000 people, their credit scores were wrong by at least 25 points in either direction. Some mistakes were huge — hundreds of points off. There were people who had good scores in the 700s, but Equifax told lenders they had no score at all, or vice versa.
Those big credit score errors, in excess of 25 points off, would be easily enough to have a loan rejected, be denied for a credit card, or pay a higher interest rate. Thousands of people are currently paying too much money due to an an unfair interest rate on their loans.
Can I Join a Class Action Lawsuit Against Equifax?
The Schmidt Firm, PLLC is nationally recognized as a class action law firm. We are filing lawsuits for people who were harmed as a result of Equifax sending out the wrong credit scores.
If you believe you had a credit card denied, home or auto loan rejected, or paid an unfairly high interest rate on your loan, we may be able to help you file a lawsuit or join a class action.
About Class Actions
Class actions are useful when a lot of people have similar legal claims. Instead of everyone filing lawsuits alone, one person (called a “Class representative”) files a class action on behalf of everyone who was harmed in their state. If money or other damages are awarded, everyone who joins the class action shares the payout and benefits.
Do I have an Equifax Class Action Lawsuit?
The Schmidt Firm, PLLC is currently accepting Equifax credit score induced injury cases in all 50 states. If you or somebody you know had a loan rejected or paid more money on a loan due to Equifax credit score errors, you should contact our lawyers immediately for a free case consultation. Please use the form below to contact our Class Action Litigation Group or call toll free 24 hours a day at (866) 920-0753.
Attention Lawyers: We consider a referral from another law firm to be one of the greatest compliments. If your firm is interested in referring us a case or for us to send you a list of previous award judgments and/or average referral fees, please visit the Lawyer Referral section of our website.
The Schmidt Firm, PLLC has been recognized as one of the nation’s leading plaintiffs' law firms and handles cases in all 50 states. We are very proud of our legal achievements, but equally self-respecting of our firm's reputation for providing personal attention to each and every client we represent.
