Equifax Class Action Alleges Inaccurate Credit Report

Class action Alleges: Equifax Information Services, Bank of America and General Motors Financial Company have been hit with a class-action lawsuit from a consumer who claims she is a victim of inaccurate credit reporting by Equifax.

Plaintiff Bella Rabinowitv says she disputed an inaccurate item associated with Bank of America and GM Financial that appeared on her Equifax credit report on Nov. 6, 2019.

Equifax reportedly told Rabinowitv that they would investigate the dispute but failed to resolve it, so she filed a statement of dispute with the company.

The plaintiff then obtained another credit report in December 2019, and saw that Equifax had not included her statement of dispute on her updated credit report.

The Equifax class action lawsuit states that Equifax then issued consumer reports without telling the users of the reports that certain information was disputed by the plaintiff and did not include a copy of the plaintiff’s statement of dispute.

“Equifax Information Services, LLC intentionally failed to include the statement of dispute with later copies of the Plaintiff’s consumer reports,” the Equifax class action lawsuit claims.

Rabinowitv alleges that the statement of dispute letter was sent after her request for a reinvestigation displayed “no change” in the status of her credit report account.

The plaintiff says the defendants have violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) as she disputes the accuracy of the information on her credit file.

“Despite having furnished information from Bank of America Corporation and GM Financial and the disputes from the Plaintiff, Equifax Information Services, LLC has completely abdicated its obligations under federal and state law and has instead chosen to merely ‘parrot’ whatever its customers, Bank of America Corporation and GM Financial have chosen to say,” alleges the Equifax class action lawsuit.

The plaintiff also claims that Bank of America and GM Financial have promised to update their accounts based on the statement of dispute but have “willfully, maliciously, recklessly, wantonly, and/or negligently failed” to follow this requirement, as well as the requirements put forth by the FCRA.

The Equifax class action alleges that a furnisher is liable for its failure to participate in the investigation after it receives notice from the credit reporting agency (CRA) of the consumer’s dispute. In addition, the class action lawsuit states that a failure of the CRA to send the dispute to the furnisher would relieve the furnisher of its obligations.

“Any furnisher who negligently fails to comply with any of its investigation duties is liable to the consumer for actual damages, the costs of litigation, and attorney fees. If the violation is willful, the furnisher is liable for actual damages or minimum statutory damages between $100 and $1000, for punitive damages, as well as for costs and attorney fees,” the Equifax class action lawsuit states.

Have you had any disputes with Equifax Information Services? Let us know in the comment section below.

The plaintiff is represented by Adam J. Fishbein of Adam J. Fishbein PC.

The Equifax Credit Report Class Action Lawsuit is Rabinowitv v. Equifax Information Services LLC, et al., Case No. 1:20-cv-00496, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

By Steven Cohen