TU takes it in the wallet!!!!

Discussion in 'Credit Talk' started by dep_tx, Jul 31, 2002.

  1. dep_tx

    dep_tx Well-Known Member

    Jury Awards $5.3 Million for Credit Report Errors


    Courts: The verdict against Trans Union is the largest ever for violations of
    the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

    By KATHY M. KRISTOF
    TIMES STAFF WRITER

    July 31 2002

    An Oregon woman who fought for six years to clear erroneous items from her
    credit report was awarded $5.3 million Monday by a federal jury in Oregon.

    The verdict against Chicago-based credit reporting firm Trans Union was the
    largest amount ever awarded for violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act,
    which requires credit reporting companies to keep accurate records and
    promptly correct mistakes, consumer attorneys said Tuesday.

    "This amount, awarded to one plaintiff, eclipses everything we've seen
    before," said Andy Henderson, a Los Angeles attorney who has litigated
    several such suits. "But it's a continuation of a trend that has been going
    on since 1996.

    "We have seen increasingly large awards against credit reporting
    agencies--and rightly so. The credit reporting industry has been acting in
    conscious disregard of the law for years."

    Trans Union is expected to appeal the verdict, but a company spokesman did
    not return calls seeking comment.

    The case was filed two years ago in U.S. District Court in Portland by Judy
    Thomas, a Klamath Falls real estate broker who discovered that her clean
    credit history had been marred by the credit problems of another woman with a
    similar first name and Social Security number.

    Thomas had first attempted to clear the inaccurate items in 1996 by
    contacting Trans Union, said her attorney, Mike Baxter of Portland. Baxter
    said Trans Union had mixed Thomas' credit history with that of a woman who
    lived one state away and whose Social Security number was just one digit off
    from Thomas'.

    Thomas didn't discover that the inaccuracies were still on her credit
    report--and showed her credit had gotten even worse--until three years later,
    when she was in the process of buying a home. Turned down for a mortgage,
    Thomas learned that her credit report included an "a.k.a." or "also known as"
    listing, indicating to potential lenders that she and the other woman were
    the same person.

    According to Baxter, when renewed efforts to get Trans Union to fix the
    problem were unsuccessful, Thomas contacted the other woman, and persuaded
    her to write a letter to the credit agency stating that she was not Thomas.
    The "also known as" remained on Thomas' credit report until only a few months
    ago, Baxter said, thwarting Thomas' efforts to clear her report of credits
    problems.

    "She has not had a clean credit report in six years," said Baxter, who asked
    the jury for both compensatory and punitive damages. "We are hoping that this
    case will make it clear that credit reporting agencies have to follow the
    law."

    The Fair Credit Reporting Act spells out a procedure for consumers to dispute
    erroneous items on their credit report--a document used by lenders and
    insurers to set rates and determine whether to issue new loans and insurance
    policies. Trans Union is one of three major credit reporting companies that
    compile such data. The other two are Atlanta-based Equifax and Costa
    Mesa-based Experian.

    The Fair Credit Reporting Act also requires that credit reporting companies
    investigate disputes and correct or delete the incorrect items within 30 days.

    Credit reporting firms typically investigate consumer complaints by sending a
    form letter to the creditor that reported the disputed item, asking to verify
    its accuracy. If the creditor does not verify the item within 30 days, the
    item is dropped. If it's reinstated later, the credit reporting company is
    supposed to notify the consumer.

    However, Thomas contended in her lawsuit that the procedures Trans Union used
    to investigate and correct her report only worsened the problem. The agency
    never wiped out the erroneous "also known as" listing, Baxter said, so its
    computer-generated form letters gave creditors the impression that Thomas and
    the other woman were one and the same. The result was that Thomas' report was
    never cleared.

    Thomas eventually got her mortgage by contacting the creditors directly,
    providing the correct information about her name, address, Social Security
    number and stating she wasn't using any other names or any other addresses.

    "It's a perfect example of what happens to hundreds of thousands of
    consumers," attorney Henderson said. "It's a reflection of the fact that
    credit reporting systems often don't have the proper mechanisms in place to
    correct a problem even after it's been identified and proven to be inaccurate
    by the consumer."


    I got this off of a yahoo Credit group and verified it was published in LA times today!
     

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