Lawsuit: Verizon's 'Hard' Unauthorized Credit Report Pulls Harm Consumers

Verizon Communications, Inc. is the defendant in a proposed class action lawsuit that alleges the company willfully and knowingly obtains consumer credit reports after being specifically instructed not to engage in any credit inquiry. These “hard” credit pulls—which the lawsuit alleges are conducted when individuals call to merely ask about service availability—cause consumers significant harm, including credit score decreases and the unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information, in violation of the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the suit claims.

In addition to claiming Verizon pulls consumers’ credit reports without authorization, the lawsuit also contends that the defendant takes adverse action based in whole or in part on the information contained within these unauthorized consumer reports without disclosing “vital and required” information after doing so. These non-disclosures allegedly include:

The plaintiff claims he first engaged with Verizon in September 2016 to inquire about the availability of its FiOS cable and Internet service. During this communication, the plaintiff claims he made it clear that he was not interested in the service if a credit inquiry was necessary. Despite being told by a Verizon representative that a credit report would not be obtained, the plaintiff says the company proceeded to conduct an unauthorized “hard” credit pull that decreased his credit score. According to the complaint, Verizon lies to prospective customers about obtaining credit reports “so that it does not discourage inquiries about plan availability” of the company’s services.

As if pulling the plaintiff’s credit report wasn’t enough, Verizon then allegedly informed the plaintiff that it could provide service so long as a deposit was provided first. This request for a deposit, the case argues, constitutes an adverse action governed by FCRA regulations and, as such, calls for appropriate notice to be provided.

The lawsuit proposes to cover two classes, an “unauthorized access class” and an “adverse action class.”

The proposed “unauthorized access class” seeks to include anyone in the United States who specifically requested that Verizon not obtain a consumer report, yet was the subject of one anyway, within the last five years.

The proposed “adverse action class” seeks to cover anyone in the United States against whom Verizon took adverse action by offering “any unfavorable change in the terms for services by Verizon,” based in whole or in part on information contained in a credit report, within the last five years.