Inaccurate Credit Reporting Class Action
Introduction
Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, serves as Co-Lead Counsel in a nationwide class action lawsuit, entitled White v. Experian Information Solutions, No. 05-CV-1070 DOC (C.D. Cal.), against the nation's three major repositories of consumer credit information, Experian Information Solutions, Inc., Trans Union, LLC, and Equifax Information Services, LLC.
Plaintiffs charge that defendants have violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act ("FCRA") by recklessly failing to follow reasonable procedures in the reporting, and reinvestigation of reporting, of debts discharged in Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings. Plaintiffs allege that defendants continued to report such debts as due and owing when they had been discharged in bankruptcy and defendants were aware a Chapter 7 discharge order had been entered.
Case Status
In August 2008, Judge David O. Carter granted final approval to a historic settlement for injunctive relief requiring detailed procedures for the retroactive correction and updating of consumers' credit file information. Effective October 1, 2008, Experian, Trans Union and Equifax must now follow detailed procedures for the retroactive correction and updating of consumers' credit file information concerning debt discharged in Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings as well as new procedures to ensure that debts subject to future discharge orders will be similarly treated. Read a copy of the Court's order.
Michael W. Sobol of Lieff Cabraser stated, "The new procedures represent a paradigm shift in credit reporting industry that will immediately benefit millions of consumers in the United States and for years to come. No longer can credit reporting agencies merely parrot back this information as provided by creditors but must now reconcile creditors' information against available public records to assure maximum possible accuracy."
Millions of Americans have been denied mortgages, home refinancing and car loans, or paid higher interest rates, when their credit reports have old debts still showing up as unpaid and overdue. "Consumer credit is tightening across the nation due to the crisis in the financial industry," noted Sobol. "It is more important now than ever that consumers' creditworthiness be assessed upon the most accurate information available."
A profile of the litigation and discussion of the importance of the injunction can also be found in the September 30, 2008 Wall Street Journal.
The class action lawsuit remains ongoing with plaintiffs seeking monetary damages for defendants' alleged misconduct.
About Lieff Cabraser
Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP is a sixty-plus attorney law firm that has represented plaintiffs nationwide since 1972. We have offices in San Francisco, New York and Nashville. We represent plaintiffs in class and group actions and in individual lawsuits in cases involving substantial losses. For the last seven years, The National Law Journal has selected Lieff Cabraser as one of the top plaintiffs' law firms in the nation.
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