Most class action lawsuits take many years to work through -- so that the lawyers can spend a lot of time amassing "necessary" research -- i.e., thousands of billable hours, which leaves the actual wronged party (the "class") with about four dollars and twenty-seven cents each after the costs of advertising new recruits for the class in mainstream periodicals are deducted. Far more fun would be to collect $1000 per hard inquiry -- the statutory damages specified by the FCRA when there is no "permissable purpose." Even better, you'll probably collect your money within weeks, not years. Here's what will happen. (CAVEAT: I'm not telling anyone to do this. I'm no lawyer. What I'm doing is giving my guess as to what will happen if you choose to pursue the small claims option.) 1) You go down to the courthouse and ask to speak to the small claims court clerk. You ask for the form you need to fill out. You write the name of the company for "defendant," and you write $1000 multiplied by the number of hard inquiries (or the maximum allowable damage claim allowed in small claims in your county) for the "damages." You write "Impermissable credit inquiries" in the place where it wants you to write out your reasons for bringing the lawsuit (and nothing more). 2) You arrange for "SERVICE" (i.e., delivery of the lawsuit) to the corporate headquarters of the defendant. No, you are not required to serve their local agent if they have one, although that's an option -- it's up to you. When I sued the three CRAs, I didn't serve the local agents in my state; rather, I had the CRAs served at their headquarters buildings in Atlanta, Chicago, and Orange, CA. 3) You then call them on the phone and let them know you've filed the lawsuit, that they'll receive service shortly, and that once that happens, you'll be willing to speak to their general counsel about it, not before. 4) Then they freak out and quickly remove the hard inquiries from your reports. That's ok. You've got the proof that they broke the law already -- the printouts from the net, the hard copy from Trans Union that you ordered the day before you filed suit, whatever. Remember that a statutory damage doesn't require that you be DAMAGED in some other way -- rather, it's like a speed limit -- if you break the statute and are caught, there's a statutory penalty, period. 5) They call you on the phone and tell you that all's well because they removed the hard inquiries. You then say, "All's not well. I don't take it very lightly when my civil rights as outlined by the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act are violated. I take that very seriously, in fact. However I will withdraw the lawsuit in exchange for an x-thousand-dollars settlement (the amount you specified in your lawsuit -- not more). They then tell you that's outrageous, and you say, "Look I'm willing to negotiate the amount a bit, but it sounds like you're not interested in doing even that, so I'll see you in court and let the judge review your statutory damages. Enjoy [name of your town]." 6) They freak and make you an offer. You settle for between 40% and 70% of what you originally asked. 7) You then write about your wonderful learning experience on the board. Now wasn't that fun? Doc
Outstanding ! Thanks, Doc ! I'll print it out ! Hoo-hoo ! I'm just beside myself ! Glad to be here ! Glad you're here ! P.S. And, yes, I'll hold you in indemnity ! I'll tell the wife it was all MY idea !
ROTFLMAO! Thanks Doc! Following is a copy of the letter I just mailed and e-maied with copies (and PDFs) of our reports to PrivacyGuard: To whom it may concern: Attached are copies of our credit reports pulled today from your service. Magali (my wife's name) has three hard inqueries showing on Trans Union as a direct result of your services. James has two as a result of your services. We fully expect these hard inqueries to be removed from our reports within one week. Otherwise we will be forced to take legal action under the FCRA. Furthermore, we would also very much appreciate notification when it has again become "safe" to pull reports from PrivacyGuard. If either of the above requests cannot be complied with in a timely manner, we will also be forced to take our business elsewhere! Thank you!
I talked to a rep and she kept changing her story and I have it all on tape. First they had nothing to do with consumerinfo then they did. It went on and on. I called iplace and they said hold on let us transfer you to the privacyguard section. lol. Yet pg said iplace was their competition. I just sent in my intent to sue letter to both faxes. The first went to the pg place at (307) 771-2950 and the second I got off the bbb site and went to trilegiant at (203) 956-8789. EVERYONE get those intents out now and swamp their fax numbers. We do not have to take this. I did not ask for cash yet but just wanted it fixed. IF we all hit them now they will take us seriously or seriously pay out the cash. go go go
The really sad part about this whole thing is that we pay for membership to services like PG so they can HELP protect us against these problems. I am amazed at all the lies I have heard from them today (through this board). It isn't their fault (TU's fault) but they are also working on it and expect results in 48 hours. Their phone people could have handled the situation more professionally. I'm going to have to cancel my membership. Anyone know about the six month rule? Cancel within six months and get refund? Todd
I definately would love to sue the pants off of them. They told me to dispute with TU, then told my husband that they would send out a dispute packet (whatever that is) and I was treated with so much disrespect by "Darrell". (I posted my complaints on another thread) The super I talked to didn't seem like she was going to do anything about it. I am livid!
Re: Re: Re: Re: WARNING.......Privacy Guard I DON'T KNOW...NEVER SEEN IT (FCRA)!!! Only seen bits and pieces of it...(HERE)
Re: Re: Re: Re: WARNING.......Privacy Guard I just spoke with Rhonda at Privacy Guard. The problem started this weekend when TU changed the coding for inquiries. (hmmm. Perhaps they are catching on to the bumpage issue. They are working on the problem. She said her or a supervisor would call me back tomorrow when they resolve the problem. 30ft.
Doc, Does it cost to file? Thanks! I got the general run around, too! I was transferred several times and almost every time I got hung up on. I am livid!!! I want blood.LOL! No, just money I am to fax Sandy (Emp. ID # 6256), she's a supervisor, at 307-771-2950. I requested this be deleted ASAP. I informed her that I'm not the only person w/this problem and that the company is violating the FCRA. She said she was aware of the violation and wanted to fix it ASAP. We'll see....
Hey, if we could get WRITTEN confirmation that they are not Iplace.com, then we could all sue Iplace.com for no PP, TIMES X number of days/ times it shows up!! Am I crazy?
ConsumerInfo.com/IPlace.com is NOT PrivacyGuard. PrivacyGuard is owned by Trilegiant (a privately held company). You sign up with PrivacyGuard to monitor your credit files and PG then 'purchases' your credit files from ConsumerInfo/IPlace which is a reseller. ConsumerInfo/IPlace uses software from Equifax that allows them to confirm your identity instantly and then pulls all 3 reports and displays them on PG's website for your review. Apparently ConsumerInfo is coding the pulls incorrectly. ConsumerInfo has alliances with ELoan, Lending Tree, etc and provides them with information when you apply for a loan. Now, guess who actually owns ConsumerInfo/IPlace... its Experian. So, Experian's company is the one messing up our TransUnion files. To contact ConsumerInfo.com - their number is: (714) 978-0078. Give them a call and find out what is going on. Their address is 1 City Blvd West, Orange, CA 92868
Re: Re: WARNING.......Privacy Guard This subject came up on FatWallet not too long ago. Back then, when PrivacyGuard loaded 'iplace' was part of the URL that flashed by rapidly prior to the screen load. I now see that it's no longer happening in the same manner. I do think there is a connection.
Re: Re: WARNING.......Privacy Guard well I pulled PG as well and saw the hard inquiry, has anyone come to the conclusion on what is going? I will be still looking for an anser.... Thanks
Re: Re: WARNING.......Privacy Guard I think they fixed the problem. I just pulled PG and it didn't register as a hard.
Re: Re: WARNING.......Privacy Guard I just pulled PG reports for my wife and myself and it wasn't a hard inquiry on TU.
Re: Re: WARNING.......Privacy Guard Sounds like PrivacyGuard saw the seriousness of the problem and worked to correct this quickly. Doc P.S. I'll answer the question about small claims court anyway, in case this topic helps someone down the road in another matter. Yes, it does cost to file, however the amount varies from locale to locale. In the county where I filed (where we lived at the time), it cost something like $60 -- can you believe I'm forgetting the exact amount, lol -- per lawsuit. I've come to understand that my county was more toward the high end in this respect -- some locales charge as low as $15 per small claims lawsuit.
Yes Doc, BUT, now they have thousands of inqueries that they somehow have to deal with! I warned them that they stand to lose $5,000 to us over the five inqueries on our CRs. Haven't heard back how they plan on dealing with it yet... we'll see!
Thanks, Doc!!! I'm going to have to sue. I can't get a straight answer out of these people. I spoke w/Sandy, a supervisor, yesterday. I faxed the info she wanted today and now I'm told I have to call (888)609-2455. I spoke w/Natalie (#4078) a supervisor and she told me I have to call Consumer Info and fax them my info. I get some jerk on the phone, Eric and he wants to argue about my member # not being correct and he can't transfer me to a supervisor. Then, he asks if my 7 digit member # is my SSN. I laughed at him and asked how many #'s are in his SSN. His reply, "9 digits". Again, I laughed! He put me through to his supervisor and I got voicemail. I knew when he answered the phone he wasn't going to help me. He's very rude!!! I called back and got the run around and talked to a supervisor who was going to put me back through to the original supervisor that I spoke with at PG because "she's the only one that can handle this". WTF ever!! I told her I hope they enjoy my town!! Off to district court... I tried for two days now to resolve this and still can't get a straight answer. I faxed the info they wanted. I've done what they wanted me to do. I've waited, but there's nothing for me to wait for. No one is working on my case and I can't find anyone that will take the responsibility. I'm gathering my cell bill so I can get my $ for that and use it as proof. Ha! This is fun
Good luck to you -- you'll probably prevail! Two years ago, I struggled with the same problem with a different 3-in-1 report company called ConfidentialCredit.com (a now-defunct division of First American Credco). Same exact problem -- the inquiries showed soft on Equifax and Experian but HARD on Trans Union! I find it VERY strange that this would occur with an apparently different outfit now. In my case, I had to plead with them for almost two months to get it straightened out. I just wish I had understood my rights as well back then. Here's a Creditnet thread from January 2002 regarding yet ANOTHER 3-in-1 company whose inquiries were HARD: LINK Doc
