Equifax is being sued for violated in Fair Credit Reporting Act 

Earlier this year, Cento Law filed a complaint against Equifax for mixing the credit report of the plaintiff with information belonging to the plaintiff's father. 

The plaintiff was first alerted to the mixed credit file when he was eighteen years old. At the time he was living at his parents and working. The alert came when he received a letter that was attached to his paycheck. The letter was from a county auditors office and its purpose was to inform the plaintiff that his wages were going to be garnished due to unpaid property taxes. Eventually the plaintiff learned that the property taxes in question were actually taxes levied against a man that he shared the same name with, his father. 

As time went by, plaintiff was able to obtain a loan for a vehicle. He paid his loan on time with the hope of creating good credit. Two years later, plaintiff tried to obtain a cell phone, but was told that due to his credit he couldn't unless he paid a $400 deposit. The following year, plaintiff tried to obtain a loan for his first mortgage, but was declined for pre-approval because of the before-mentioned property taxes which were levied against plaintiff's father. After much effort, the plaintiff was able to obtain the mortgage he sought. However, not too long after, the same property taxes prevented the plaintiff from obtaining a loan which he sought for home repairs and improvements. Five years later, plaintiff attempted to obtain a pre-approval for another mortgage, but was again denied because tax liens belonging to his father appeared on his credit report prepared by Equifax.

Despite its actual knowledge of an ongoing mixed file problem, Equifax merged the plaintiff's credit file with the credit file of another individual with the same name. Plaintiff is suing Equifax for violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). This case was filed in the USDC, Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division and litigation is currently underway. 

Learn more about mixed or merged credit files here and here.