Recent Fair Credit Reporting Act Cases

Lawsuits against credit bureaus for failure to correct errors

Fair Credit Reporitng Act lawsuit against U.S. Bank, Experian, Equifax and Trans Union regarding identity theft fraud account - The Kittell Law Firm recently filed a Fair Credit Reporting Act lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee against U.S. Bank, Experian, Equifax and Trans Union.  Our client is the victim of identity theft.  His ex-wife used his name, Social Security Number and other personal identifiers to open a credit card with U.S. Bank.  After his ex-wife passed away, U.S. Bank started reporting late payments and other derogatory credit references onto our client's Equifax, Experian and Trans Union credit reports.  Upon learning of the fraud and the inclusion of the U.S. Bank credit card on his credit reports, our client disputed the fraudulent debt to the credit bureaus, who refused to remove the account.  The lawsuit claims that Experian, Equifax and Trans Union violated 15 U.S.C. 1681i of the Fair Credit Reporting Act by failing to perform reasonable investigations of our client's disputes.  It also claims that U.S. Bank violated 15 U.S.C 1681s-2(b) by failing to perform reasonable investigations of our client's disputes that were relayed to U.S. Bank by the credit bureaus.  The lawsuit seeks actual damages, attorney's fees, and punitive damages.

Lawsuit arising from Fair Credit Reporting Act violations involving fraudulent obtained student loans - The Kittell Law Firm recently filed litigation against Navient (formerly known as Sallie Mae), the U.S. Department of Education, USA Funds (a collection agency for Navient), Experian, Equifax and Trans Union in the Circuit Court of Tunica County, Mississippi.  The Defendants removed the case to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi. The lawsuit alleges that our client is the victim of at least two student loans fraudulently obtained in her name and using her Social Security number and other personal identifiers. One loan was apparently used to pay tuition at a college which our client never attended.  The other loan was used to pay for tuition at a school from which our client had already graduated.  This loan was not even applied for until after our client had completed her course work at this particular school.  Our client disputed both fraudulent student loans to Sallie Mae, the U.S. Department of Education, USA Funds, Experian, Equifax and Trans Union but all failed to remove the fraudulent student loans from her credit report.  The continued inclusion of the fraud accounts on her credit reports ruined her credit and kept her from obtaining reliable transportation.  The FCRA lawsuit seeks compensatory damages, attorney's fees and punitive damages.

Fair Credit Reporting Act litigation against Capital One Bank, Trans Union, Experian and Equifax - Prior to moving from Michigan to Tennessee, our client attempted to purchase an item from a Menard's store in Michigan using his Capital One Menard's credit card. After our client was informed that the item was not in stock and could not be shipped directly to him, he immediately cancelled his purchase.  Despite this, Capital One allegedly refused to reimburse our client for the charge for the non purchased item and allegedly reported his Capital One Menard's card as significantly late onto his Equifax, Experian and Trans Union credit reports. Our client disputed the erroneous derogatory history associated with his Capital One account to Capital One, Equifax, Experian and Trans Union.  All allegedly refused to correct his credit reports.  Because of the inaccurate information on his credit reports, our client was unable to purchase a house upon moving to Tennessee. At that point, the client hired the Kittell Law Firm to represent him in a Fair Credit Reporting Act lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee against Capital One, Equifax, Experian and Trans Union seeking compensation from each for their alleged violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act.  The lawsuit seeks compensatory damages, attorney's fees and punitive damages.

Fair Credit Reporting Act lawsuit against Experian, Equifax, Chase, Capital One, Citi, Department Stores National Bank and Midland Funding - Our client's identity was stolen, which caused several fraudulently opened accounts to appear on his credit reports.  He sent multiple letters to Equifax and Experian, as well Chase, Capital One, Citi, Department Stores National Bank and Midland Funding.  However, despite all of his efforts, the fraudulently opened accounts continued to be reported as part of his credit reports.  As a result, he was denied credit many times.  A lawsuit was filed on our client's behalf in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, which alleged that the credit bureaus and credit card companies' failure to remove the fraudulently opened accounts violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act's requirement that the credit bureaus and furnishers of credit information must perform reasonabie investigations of a consumer's disputes of allegedly inaccurate information.

Stolen Identity Leads to Fair Credit Reporting Act Lawsuit against U.S. Bank, Experian, Equifax and Trans Union - The ex-girlfriend of our client opened up a U.S. Bank account using our client's identity, which led to a fraudulent U.S. Bank account appearing on his credit reports with Experian, Equifax and Trans Union.  A lawsuit was filed on our client's behalf in state court in South Carolina, where our client resides.  Despite evidence of the ex-girlfriend's admission that she stole our client's identity, Experian, Equifax, Trans Union, as well as U.S. Bank, refused to remove the fraudulent U.S. Bank account from the Plaintiff's credit reports, causing him to be denied credit.

Fair Credit Reporting Act Case against Bank of America, Experian, Equifax and Trans Union - Lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan against Bank of America and the big three credit bureaus - Equifax, Experian and Trans Union.  The Plaintiff was an authorized user on his now former spouse's Bank of America credit card.  Prior to their divorce, the credit card had a $0 balance.  At the time of the divorce, the Plaintiff requested that Bank of America remove him as an authorized user on his ex-wife's Bank of America credit card.  After the divorce, the Plaintiff's ex-wife ran up a large credit card bill but failed to make timely payments.  Even though the Plaintiff was only an authorized user (and thus not liable for the debt) and had requested to be removed as an authorized user, Bank of America placed the ex-wife's derogatory payment history onto the Plaintiff's credit reports with all three credit bureaus.  Despite numerous disputes to Bank of America and to Experian, Equifax and Trans Union, the error was never corrected, damaging the Plaintiff's ability to obtain a home loan with his new spouse.

Theft of Identity Case against Verizon Wireless and Experian - Lawsuit filed in the District of Delaware against Verizon Wireless and Experian arising from the theft of our client's identity.  Multiple disputes to Verizon and Experian did not result in the deletion of the Verizon account opened by the identity thief, which was reporting as a derogatory payment item on our client's Experian credit report.  Experian refused to delete the fraud Verizon account, even though the account did not bear our client's Social Security Number or date of birth.  As a result, the client was denied a home loan, eventually having to pay a higher interest rate on the home he ultimately purchased.  He also had to pay higher interest rates on two car loans and suffered significant emotional distress due to Experian and Verizon's violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

Fair Credit Reporting Act Lawsuit against SunTrust Bank and Equifax - Lawsuit arising from the incorrect reporting of our client's car loan.  Our client's car was totaled in a car wreck.  Her insurance company paid off most of the balance of her car loan with SunTrust Bank.  Gap insurance paid the rest of the balance on the car loan.  Despite the car loan being paid off in full, SunTrust allegedly reported a derogatory payment history on the loan to Equifax and the other credit bureaus.  When the client learned of this, she disputed the incorrect late payment history to all three credit bureaus.  Experian and Trans Union corrected the account.  Equifax did not, allegedly at the insistence of SunTrust Bank.  As a result, the client was denied various loans and suffered emotional distress.  This Fair Credit Reporting Act lawsuit is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina.

Fair Credit Reporting Act Lawsuit pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas - Our client purchased a Verizon cell phone and signed up for Verizon's cellular service, primarily to replace her home phone.  Unfortunately, Verizon failed to provide service to the area where the Plaintiff lived.  As a result, the client eventually cancelled her contract with Verizon for non-performance.  Undeterred, Verizon placed a derogatory credit item on the client's credit reports, even though she was never late and all charges incurred on the account were paid in full.  Multiple disputes from both the client and her former attorney regarding the erroneous credit information did not result in its correction.  The client has suffered several credit denials and emotional distress due to the Verizon account's continued derogatory status on her credit reports.

Fair Credit Reporting Act Lawsuit against CitiMortgage, Freddie Mac, Equifax, Experian and Trans Union - Fair Credit Reporting Act lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the District of Nevada arising from the incorrect reporting of a home loan as being involved in a short sale.  The Plaintiff owned a home that was financed through CitiMortgage.  Several years ago, the Plaintiff sold the house.  CitiMortgage had financed the home and was paid in full at the time the home was sold.  CitiMortgage provided the Plaintiff with a full release of the deed of trust on the home and also wrote the Plaintiff confirming that the loan had been completely satisfied.  Despite this, CitiMortgage has continued to report the home loan adversely as being involved in a short sale to the credit bureaus for inclusion on the Plaintiff's credit reports.  The erroneous credit reporting has caused the Plaintiff to be unable to obtain a new home loan.  The Plaintiff has disputed the error on his credit reports to the credit bureaus multiple times, yet the credit bureaus and CitiMortgage refuse to correct the error.

Theft of Identity Lawsuit against Comenity Bank f/k/a WFNNB, Equifax, Experian and Trans Union - Fair Credit Reporting Act lawsuit filed in the Circuit Court of Tallahatchie County, Mississippi.  The Plaintiff is a victim of identity theft.  The identity thief who stole his identity used his Social Security number and other personal identifiers to open four store credit cards with Jessica London, Roamans, BryLane Home and Chadwicks.  All of the credit cards were opened and serviced by World Financial Network National Bank, which later changed its name to Comenity Bank.  Despite several years of disputes to WFNNB and the credit bureaus Equifax, Experian and Trans Union, the fraud accounts continued to appear as part of the Plaintiff's credit reports, thereby ruining his credit history and damaging his credit score.  As a result of the erroneous publication of the fraudulently opened accounts on his credit reports, the Plaintiff suffered several adverse credit actions, including the closure of his legitimate American Express credit card.

Mixed File Fair Credit Reporting Act lawsuit filed against Equifax - Lawsuit filed in the Circuit Court of Forrest County, Mississippi against Equifax.  In this lawsuit, the Plaintiff claims that Equifax mixed his credit file up with the credit file of his father.  As a result of the father and son having the same first and last name (but different middle names, different addresses and different dates of birth), Equifax placed three tax liens on the Plaintiff's credit report that actually belonged to his father.  Equifax refused to remove the father's tax liens from the son's credit report, despite several disputes to Equifax which included more than enough documentation to show that the tax liens belonged to the father, not the son.  Due to Equifax's negligent and willful violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Plaintiff had his credit applications denied on several occasions because the potential creditor thought the Plaintiff was a credit risk because of the inclusion of his father's tax liens on his Equifax credit report.

Creditor error lawsuit filed against Bank of America, Equifax, Experian and Trans Union - Lawsuit arising from an accounting error by Bank of America filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi.  Bank of America continued to make charges to a paid off and closed account of the Plaintiff's, including an annual fee, long after the Plaintiff had instructed Bank of America to close the account both verbally and in writing.  Despite repeated disputes being lodged with Bank of America, Bank of America refused to correct their error and reported the account as past due to the credit bureaus Experian, Trans Union and Equifax.  The Plaintiff disputed the error to the credit bureaus.  Upon receipt of the Plaintiff's disputes, both the credit bureaus and Bank of America were required by the Fair Credit Reporting Act to perform a reasonable investigation of the Plaintiff's disputes.  However, none did, which caused the error to continue to be reported on the Plaintiff's credit report.  A lawsuit was filed, which caused the credit bureaus to correct Bank of America's error.  The case was settled with all four defendants for a confidential sum.

Mixed File Lawsuit against Equifax, Trans Union, Experian and CSC - filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma.  The credit bureaus mixed the plaintiff's credit file with that of another consumer, causing the other consumer's bad credit to appear on the plaintiff's credit reports.  The erroneous credit reports caused the plaintiff to be denied the opportunity to refinance her home loan.

Mixed File Lawsuit filed against Equifax - filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.  Lawsuit alleged the mixing of the Plaintiff's credit history with that of another person who unfortunately had bad credit.  Equifax included the other person's bad credit on the Plaintiff's credit report, despite differences in the Plaintiff and the other person's name, address, date of birth and Social Security number.  Counsel for the Plaintiff associated Christopher E. Kittell on the case due to Mr. Kittell's experience representing consumers victimized by Equifax's faulty matching logic.  Shortly after Kittell was associated on the case, the lawsuit settled for a confidential sum.

FCRA claim against Arrow Financial, HSBC, Experian Information Solutions, Trans Union, LLC and Equifax Credit Information Services - filed in the Circuit Court of Lauderdale County, Mississippi.  FCRA lawsuit involves multiple violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act by Arrow Financial, HSBC, Experian, Equifax and Trans Union regarding the attempted collection from the client of another person’s debt.  Arrow Financial also violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act with its collection tactics.

FCRA claim against Wells Fargo - filed in the United States District Court for the District of Kansas; Case involves multiple violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq. committed by Wells Fargo.  Wells Fargo sent a “cash and use” check to a person living in Florida with the same or similar name as our client who lives in Kansas.  Our client has never lived in Florida.  The Florida person cashed the check, but failed to repay the loan.  Instead of collecting from the person in Florida, Wells Fargo made abusive collection attempts against our client, including reporting the erroneous debt onto our client’s credit reports with Trans Union, Experian and Equifax.  Despite repeated disputes to Wells Fargo and the credit bureaus, Wells Fargo refused to remove the erroneous debt from the client’s credit reports, thereby violating the FCRA.  The case was settled for a confidential sum.

FCRA lawsuit against Trans Union - filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.  Case involves erroneous publication by Trans Union of an account as thirty days late when in fact the account was never late.  As a result, the client was charged higher interest rates on a home loan, resulting in over $120,000 in liquidated damages.  The case was settled for a confidential sum.

Theft of Identity FCRA lawsuit against Equifax Credit Information Services, Experian Information Solutions, Trans Union and Verizon Wireless - Filed in Circuit Court of Washington County, Mississippi.  Removed to United States District Court for Northern District of Mississippi.  Client is a victim of identity theft.  Unknown person in Illinois used client's identity to open an account with Verizon Wireless.  Despite repeated disputes, neither Equifax, Experian, Trans Union nor Verizon would remove fraudulent account from client's credit reports.  Client suffered multiple credit denials, resulting in filing of claim under Fair Credit Reporting Act.  The case was settled for a confidential sum.

Mixed file FCRA lawsuit against Equifax Credit Information Services - Filed in United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, Southern Division.  In Fair Credit Reporting Act litigation, client alleges that Equifax merged his credit file with that of his brother, causing the brother's derogatory credit to appear on client's credit report.  Client suffered multiple credit denials due to brother’s bad credit appearing on his credit report.  The case was settled for a confidential sum.

Creditor error FCRA lawsuit filed against GE Money Bank- Filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.  Client was allegedly victimized by GE Money Bank's five year refusal to correct a simple error on the client's Home Depot account.  GE placed an erroneous $9,000 charge on the client's account.  When attempting to fix the error, GE actually made it worse and, instead of correcting the error, doubled it, making it look like the client owed $18,000 on his credit card when in fact he had a $0 balance.  GE Money Bank published the client's account to the credit bureaus as being past due and even reported to the IRS that the client had received a tax break of $18,000 because GE had "forgiven" his $18,000 debt (that he never owed) and also reported to the IRS that the client had filed bankruptcy.  GE also sent multiple collection agencies after the client.  The case was settled for a confidential sum.

Mixed file FCRA lawsuit against Equifax Credit Information Services and CSC Credit Services - Filed in United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.  Client alleges in this Fair Credit Reporting Act case that Equifax merged her credit file with that of another person with the same first and last name and a similar social security number, leading to the denial of the client's credit application.  CSC, Equifax’s agent, failed to correct the errors on the client's Equifax credit report despite repeated disputes.  The case was settled for a confidential sum.

Credit Error FCRA lawsuit against Credit Protection Association and Equifax Credit Information Services - Filed in United States District Court for District of Arizona.  Fair Credit Reporting Act lawsuit arising from an account that was sent to collection in error.  Client disputed erroneous collection to Equifax and Credit Protection on several occasions yet both failed to remove the erroneous collection.  The case was settled for a confidential sum.

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