If you have inaccurate information on your credit report, in most cases, you have to dispute the information through Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion (the CRAs) before you can file a claim under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.  For Texas residents, the process is: Login to Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion and get a current version of...Read More

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau settled claims with Sterling Jewelers, Inc.: The Bureau’s and the State’s parallel investigations found that Sterling violated the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 by opening store credit-card accounts without customer consent; enrolling customers in payment-protection insurance without their consent; and misrepresenting to consumers the financing terms associated with the credit-card...Read More

In Sanders v. Global Radar Acquistion, LLC, a Court in the Middle District of Florida denied a defendant’s motion to dismiss a Fair Credit Reporting Act class action case: This is a fair credit reporting case relating to employment background checks that seeks to hold defendant Global HR Research liable for failing to obtain certain certifications...Read More

A noteworthy Fair Credit Reporting Act opinion came out of the Western District of Washington in late December.  In it, the consumers alleged: Plaintiffs filed this lawsuit alleging that Defendant violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(b), the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”), 15 U.S.C. §§ 1692a, 1692e, 1692f, the Washington...Read More

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently recently ruled that Fannie Mae was not liable for false information contained in its Desktop Underwriter software.  As a result: The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a $30,000 verdict and an award of $720,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs to Richard and Kristin Zabriskie, an Arizona couple...Read More

A couple of vehicle repossession stories have made their respective local news lately. The first is about a consumer biting a repo man attempting to take his vehicle: A 50-year-old Lopatcong Township man bit and pulled a weapon on a tow truck driver repossessing the man’s vehicle, township police report. Joe Lopez Jr., of the 100 block of Powderhorn Drive,...Read More

The Houston Chronicle ran a story on Christmas about how a paid $40 debt showing up as delinquent can have big consequences: Three years ago, James Rohn discovered that he owed a $40 gas bill to CenterPoint Energy, and promptly paid it. The Houston resident thought that was that — until he applied for job...Read More

A recent report from the House of Representatives shed light on the Equifax data breach: A House Oversight Committee report out Monday has concluded that Equifax’s security practices and policies were sub-par and its systems were old and out-of-date, and bothering with basic security measures — like patching vulnerable systems — could’ve prevented its massive data breach...Read More

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall announced a settlement with Encore Capital Group and subsidiaries Midland Credit Management and Midland Funding yesterday.  The settlement stemmed from allegations that Midland: Midland used affidavits to get judgments in court against those accounts between 2003 and 2009. The agreement settles claims that Midland signed and filed affidavits in state courts in...Read More