Since Equifax has been found on numerous occasions by the courts to NOT have "reasonable procedures" in place the question that should be asked of them in Deposition is What exactly have they done to fix an obviously broken system that systemically continues to report inaccurate information and not rely on valid consumer documentation?? IF they have done nothing to comply and placing "reasonable procuedures" in place then that is tantamount to Willful disregard and is applicable to Punitive damages. I feel that the rulings that they do not have reasonable procedures in place opens this door widely and an experienced attorney to effectivley hold them reasonsible. It continues to alarm me how day by day they continue to do damage to innocent consumers KNOWING their procedures are flawed yet their corporate attorneys continue to twist and spin our very flimsy consumer protection laws to confuse and breakdown consumers from taking them on. To knowingly continue to operate with the same procedures that they have been found to be "unreasonable" is willful disregard and grounds for punitive damages!! Denise Richardson deniserichardson1@netzero.com
Couldn't agree more! I have had Equifax do everything that they possibly could to my CR to indicate that they do not have reasonable procedures in place . . . ** Deleting positive older TLs when my file started getting large ** Deleting inquiries (I realize that this is a good thing, but in terms of reasonable procedures, it violates the FCRA) ** Allowing numerous PRMs although my CR has a Promotional Block ** Verifying negative info even though I've provided hard copy proof of the error (and which, by their own records couldn't be right -- e.g., indicating that I was 90-days late on an account that, by their records, was only opened the previous month). ** Reinserting month after month -- I have an creditor that has now removed a 30-day from my CR four times, but it continues to reappear. ** I've deleted an incorrect address a few times but it keeps coming back and they refuse to tell me where it's coming from ("one of your creditors is reporting it" -- "which one?" -- "we can't tell you that") Etc., etc. My suspicion is that they have not invested in an adequate database to accomodate the way consumers use credit today vs. thirty years ago (e.g., refinancing every few years, balance transfers, etc.) I'm considering suing, but at this point I don't have any actual damages.
Boy! I just thought I was going crazy! My score has went from 692 on 7/23/03 to 593 today! I have four items that I have tried and tried to get corrected to no avail. My other two CR's do not have these problems. The top bad item is that I have two credit cards that have $1500.00 due. (Maybe if they took into consideration income this would not be such a big thing.) I think they just make things up so they can lower your score. I will definitely be following to see what others have done. Michelle
YEOW!!!! Hi Denise !!! Hope all is well with you. You've been an ongoing source of inspiration for us all. So delighted to see you posting again, and hope to see a lot more of you. God Bless. ))))
Butch...thank you VERY much for your kind words...it really does mean a lot to me! It's nice to know that the little bit of case law I managed to obtain is there for others to utilize. The FCRA is about the only law we have that allows for mental duress as ACTUAL damages. The one thing I heard over and over from their corporate attorneys is "So what? what are her damages?" I continued to stress I didn't need actual monetary damages to withstand in court because emotional distress IS, unlike other laws, an actual damage that the FCRA affords us. No matter how much they attempt to twist our protective rights we just NEED to stand firm. One of my trigger points that gets me going is when I hear them continually state "So what..what are your damages". They have no remorse and there comes a point where we should not be the ones doing their work in correcting their continual mistakes effecting our lives... when all they need to do is effectively put procedures in place (listen to the courts telling them so), hire more help! I hope people will start to hold them accountable because they now know it is cheaper to fend off the few that stand up to them, then invest money in their non-exsitent system of errors. Thanks again Butch...I hope people will use the case laws provided and take the open door to punitive damages for willfully disregarding consumers...and the courts by not correcting a failed system !!! I strongly believe that having been ruled that they do not have "reasonable procedures" in place, is knowing willful disregard for the courts and the consumers and should be easy to prove punitive damages are necessary. I would like to know what changes they made to their system since being ruled they do not have reasonable procedures in place????? If there are this many complaints still ongoing it is apparent nothing has been done. THAT is willful disregard!
Merlin...you DO have damages...Emotional distress is an allowed "damage". A reputable experienced attorney in any state will take them on...on a contingency basis and obtain their own counsel in your area. They have snubbed the FCRA by re-inserting inaccurate info and obviously are not validating your authentic documentation proving otherwise. I hope you are documenting all this and once you see you keep going through this, and you are tired of it...get a good attorney. That is the only way we can hold them accountable!!! Good luck to you, I feel your frustration!!
Thanks for the inspiration Denise! Up to this point I have just been putting up with it, figuring each individual violation is more of an annoyance than anything else. However, when taken in total their behavior is unacceptable. My next step will be finding an attorney. If anyone has any suggestions for a good So. Cal. attorney I'd appreciate the info.
I'm pretty sure the accounts are not related. The one that keeps reinserting the 30-day late is an account that I'm an authorized user on (it's my husband's account) and it never would have had the address that keeps coming back. As an aside, the 30-day late that keeps coming back comes back on different dates each time and sometimes on multiple dates. It started out with one late in 2003 and as of the end of January was showing 3 separate lates (one of the lates is the same month the account was opened!). EQ is all screwed up.
