Credit bureau ordered to hand over $18 million to Oregon woman

After spending years fruitlessly attempting to reverse errors on her credit report, an Oregon woman walked away with one of the largest awards in history against a consumer credit agency.
Julie Miller, of Marion County, Ore., was awarded $18.6 million in damages against Equifax on Friday, winning a long battle in federal court.

Miller claimed she reached out to Equifax at least eight times between 2009 and 2011 to address errors she found on her credit report. Two other credit reporting agencies had no problem fulfilling Miller's request, but Equifax, for some reason, allegedly would not budge.

It wasn't as if Miller was complaining about a missing letter in her name or an incorrect address. She claimed her report showed credit accounts she never opened, along with debt collection attempts and a Social Security number that wasn't even hers. Just one of these flags could have dealt a nasty blow to anyone's credit score, let alone all of them at once.

"There was damage to her reputation, a breach of her privacy and the lost opportunity to seek credit," her attorney, Justin Baxter, told Oregon Live. "She has a brother who is disabled and who can't get credit on his own and she wasn't able to help him."

This is a huge victory for Miller, but it only underlines the seriously disjointed world of credit reporting in the U.S.

A recent report by the Federal Trade Commission found that as many as one in five consumers have errors on their credit reports that could hinder their ability to apply for new credit or stick them with sky-high interest rates.

Of those errors, 5% could have blocked consumers like Miller from access to credit and only 20% of people who disputed errors ever saw them corrected.

The sad part here is that she did everything right. As soon as she discovered the problems on her report, she reached out to all three credit bureaus and requested adjustments. She also asked for copies of her credit report.

There are literally tens of thousands of complaints against credit bureaus floating in the ether out there, either with state attorneys general, the Federal Trade Commission, or the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, all of which are charged with protecting consumers from fraud.

So, what does a case like Miller's mean for the rest of consumers out there?

Hopefully, it will encourage credit bureaus to take consumer complaints seriously, but only time will tell. Equifax is pursuing plans to appeal the verdict as we type.

If you have a credit error you'd like to report, the quickest and easiest way to go about it is to fill out an error form at each of the three major bureau's websites. From then on, it's a game of wait and see. If you feel like you're getting the runaround, it could be time to call on the FTC, CFPB or your state attorney general for help.

If your claim is denied, you can submit supplemental evidence and request another look. Once an agency has recieved your request, they are legally obligated to reopen your case and resolve your claim within 30 to 45 days under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

If they fail to do so and the errors are seriously hindering your ability to obtain credit, you could consider hiring a consumer attorney.

Read the original article HERE on Yahoo.News.com

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Originally Posted by littleroundman

A recent report by the Federal Trade Commission found that as many as one in five consumers have errors on their credit reports that could hinder their ability to apply for new credit or stick them with sky-high interest rates.

So, what does a case like Miller's mean for the rest of consumers out there?

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What it means is that it can happen to any one of us. I had a very long dispute with Barclaycard and it is still not resolved but they backed down when they could not get my own bank (NatWest) or The Financial Ombudsman Service to force me to hand over control of my affairs to a third party.

I tried to claim that Barlaycard tactics constituted cybe bullying but The Ombudsman would not swallow that. However the person who handled my complaint must have done something as Barclaycard stopped contacting me several times a day with veiled threats.

I needed credit for an extremely difficult home improvement project which I undertook in 2008 but I can not envisage ever needing credit for anything else at my age so I don't care about any records of past disputes. What I can say is that if you have the backing of your own bank and they trust you that is 90% of the problem solved.

So many stories you hear, all of them bad. Had a family friend who had credit opened in their name, it went through Citibank I believe. Of course it was disputed and she won, but in the interim they had sold the debt to another collection agency. So it starts all over, as the new debt owner will immediately flag the file. Not to mention of all the problems of companies that basically own the keys to your life getting so many things incredibly wrong. For instance, I have a company name that I made up when I wanted to request information from a few places years back that shows up on my report. That just seems absurd on so many levels, not the least of which is they are gathering information from people that do nothing more than send mail.

My bigger concern with all the data breaches is that of identity theft. I don't see how you avoid it when you have things like the hacking ring that was recently busted, or something as simple as medical records sitting in a box in a warehouse somewhere. I don't know what it is in other countries but in the US you can get a copy of your file from each agency once a year for free. This seems almost a must as something like auto insurance rates or employment can be based partially on your FICO score.

There are some good tips here on doing a "credit freeze", if you don't have a need to take out new loans routinely I would suggest it as it makes it almost impossible for someone to open credit in your name. Credit Freeze and Thaw Guide | www.clarkhoward.com

If you are a victim of crime, you can get (i believe) a lifetime flag on your file that requires additional verification before credit can be opened.

The IRS will issue you a 6 digit code to supplement your tax return, which will prevent people from filing a return in your name and receiving a return.