The American multinational consumer credit reporting agency, Equifax, was sued for reporting several credit score errors to customers over the past months. This error caused Jacksonville resident, Nydia Jenkins to make two monthly car payments due to the agency’s inaccurate scores.
A lawyer representing the woman says the credit score reporting errors calculated by Equifax earlier this year have forced their client to make payments twice within the same month.
What Equifax Is All About
The company is known for being one of the three largest consumer credit reporting agencies, along with TransUnion and Experian. The company collects information from over 800 million individual consumers and more than 88 million businesses worldwide. Equifax is open to the public and has been around for over 100 years.
In addition to a credit report, the company provides demographic data, credit monitoring, and fraud prevention services directly to its consumers. The agency operates in several countries; specifically, there are 24 in the Americas, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. With over 10,000 employees worldwide, Equifax has around $3.1 billion in annual revenue and is traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
Aside from having high customer volume, that may not always be a good thing because there are many people to accommodate at once, which makes more room for errors. Recently, the agency has faced several lawsuits about credit score errors and reporting them to customers. Although the company holds such great expectations and is one of the largest credit bureaus, this can become a problem for customers that will leave a lifelong effect on the issues.
The After Effects
For example, a woman in Jacksonville, Florida, Nydia Jenkins, says because of Equifax, her credit score was off significantly during the application for a car loan. This resulted in her getting denied prior to choosing a different loan that cost her $15 more per month. Aside from Jenkins, her lawyers plan to help others who may have also been affected by the lawsuit, which was filed on August 3rd in Atlanta’s federal court.
In a Fox Business article, “Equifax is allowed to perform credit reporting services, involving such sensitive consumer credit information, only if it adheres to the requirements of laws meant to protect the privacy and accuracy of such information, such as the FRCA,” a complaint said. “Equifax’s maintenance, use, and furnishing of consumer reports were intended to affect Plaintiff and other Class Members. The harm caused by the inaccuracies on consumer reports resulting from the Glitch was entirely foreseeable to Equifax.”
Along with lawyers, The Wall Street Journal reported that Equifax told an auto lender that 10% of applicants using Equifax had the wrong scores due to a glitch within their system, which has impacted several applicants during the months of March and April.
The Start For a Solution
In a statement reported by the credit agency, “less than 300,00 consumers experienced a score shift of 25 points or more. “The company has said that they are working with lenders and providing updated credit scores for those affected, but Jenkins’s lawsuit says this is not enough.” Yanchunis, the lawyer Jenkins said even those that have been affected have seen their scores decline during the affected period when the glitch occurred. He said the Fair Credit Reporting Act provides actual damages, which could range from $100 to $1,000 per violation.
“So we could get a substantial sum of money even for people who were otherwise not impacted whatsoever but nevertheless, connection with the transaction were given a lower credit score because of the glitch”, Yanchunis said.
If you believe you have been impacted by the Equifax glitch, Yanchunis has provided his extensions at jyanchunis@forhtepeople.com or dial #LAW on their phone, which will then direct you to their general number for the Morgan & Morgan law firm. Having an accurate credit score is very important if you are looking to make a big financial purchase. If you believe you have been affected, please reach out to your credit bureau with any concerns.
Opinion News by China Page
Edited by Sheena Robertson
Sources:
FOX Business: “Florida woman files class action lawsuit against Equifax over credit score errors”; by Ronn Blitzer
Action News Jax: “Jacksonville woman has to make 2 car payments a month due to Equifax error, lawyer says”‘; by ActionNewsJax.com News Staff
Top and Featured Image Courtesy of CafeCredit.com‘s Flickr Page- All Creative Common License
Inset Image Courtesy of Sheena Robertson’s – Used With Permission
