Class Action Lawsuits Against Equifax

Three Class Action Lawsuits Filing Against Equifax This last fall, three class action lawsuits have been filed against the nationwide credit bureaus by consumers who claim that the way the company’s handling of an identity data breach was fraudulent. Equifax has already agreed to for a $Structured Settlement which will pay consumers for their losses. The Class Action Lawsuits will be distributed by a law firm of Perkins Cooney & Broyles, on behalf of the Class of Individuals Claiming this violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The attorneys at the firm have represented some of the largest corporations in the world such as VISA, Diners Club, and Continental Airlines.

These suits are being pursued by private litigants, because the Federal Trade Commission under the Obama Administration chose to not go forward with enforcement of the Equifax data breach situation.

There was pressure from The White House on the FTC to drop the case, but the FTC determined that the data breach actually occurred, and that the actions taken were appropriate for them to do at that time. The decision came at a time when the FTC is now reviewing the enforcement activities of financial companies in general. The result is that the Equifax data breach may never have been fully investigated, and a lack of evidence suggests that the financial companies were not forced into submission.

According to the official website of the U.S.

Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, these suits were brought on behalf of “a group of Attorneys General from states throughout the country that are representing consumers that suffered harm as a result of the Equifax breach.” The Attorneys General filing suit were Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Washington. In considering these suits there are several things to be noted. First, it is important to recognize that these types of lawsuits generally involve only very minor issues, and are thus not worth pursuing on your own.

For this reason, most small businesses will seek the advice of a competent legal counsel before they proceed with any type of lawsuit on their own.

Moreover, many of the major firms involved in these lawsuits will not allow class action lawsuits against Equifax as the basis of their complaint. These lawsuits involve issues of general liability and unfair debt collection practices, which are beyond the realm of the workings of the Equifax data breach. Furthermore, the massive number of class-action lawsuits currently pending means that there are many more potential victims of Equifax data breaches who may not yet be aware that such an event occurred.

In light of the foregoing it is clear that the FTC can ill afford to allow the Equifax breach to continue without taking remedial action.

If the Federal Trade Commission has not done so already, it is now up to the members of Congress to step in and demand that the FTC immediately take actions to remedy the situation. This should not be difficult to do given the recent congressional hearings where Equifax was the subject of very relevant testimony. At the same time the evidence presented at the time by Congressman Rohrabacher and Ranking Member Cummings makes it clear that the Equifax scandal is much more than a simple case of identity theft. The fact that almost every major financial institution that processed credit card transactions was affected by the Equifax breach shows that the crisis has broader implications for the US economy.

The Class Action Lawsuits against Equifax should be expanded to include all Americans who were affected by Equifax’s data breach as well as any other US based banks and credit unions which may have been compromised by Equifax.

All consumers who have been affected by Equifax’s data breach should be able to seek monetary damages for their losses as well as legal fees to the attorneys who have pursued such lawsuits in the past. This would not only be a very wise course of action for any US citizen but also a necessary course of action for all Americans to protect our economy from such massive corporate crime.