Class Action Claims Experian Refused to Reinvestigate Incorrect Consumer Info

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Experian Information Solutions faces a proposed class action over its alleged refusal to reinvestigate disputed consumer report information, including names, addresses, and Social Security numbers. 

The 13-page lawsuit claims Experian has “shirk[ed]” its statutory duties by refusing to investigate disputed information, failing to contact third-party information furnishers within five business days of receiving a dispute, and instructing the plaintiff to contact the third party as a means of correcting any errors. The credit reporting agency has also failed to delete or correct incorrect consumer information in violation of federal law, the suit alleges. 

Per the complaint, the plaintiff, a Gadsden, Alabama consumer, sent a dispute letter to Experian on two occasions requesting that it correct and/or delete incorrect information pertaining to her name, address and Social Security number. On both occasions, the case claims, Experian failed to satisfy its obligations under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act. 

The lawsuit relays that the plaintiff obtained her credit report on November 29, 2019 and, upon review, noticed that Experian had reported two incorrect addresses, an incorrect name and an incorrect Social Security number. The plaintiff submitted her dispute to Experian about a month later, the case says, and the defendant replied in January 2020 that it had completed a reinvestigation of the woman’s dispute. In particular, the plaintiff’s dispute centered on Experian’s use of her maiden name, and not her married name, in her credit report, the suit says. 

According to the lawsuit, Experian, rather than conduct a reinvestigation of the plaintiff’s dispute as required by law, instructed the woman to “contact the source of the information directly” or call Experian by phone. Experian did not list the source of the disputed information in the plaintiff’s letter, the case claims, charging that the defendant chose instead to place the burden of correcting the data on the consumer. 

“Essentially, Experian shifted its statutory duty to conduct a reinvestigation onto the Plaintiff without even telling her who was reporting the inaccurate information, by failing to let her know if the disputed information was verified, modified or deleted as a result of her dispute and requiring her to spend her time calling them so that they could potentially provide information relating to who was furnishing the inaccurate information instead of simply including that information in the letter it sent to Plaintiff,” the complaint reads. 

Nothing in the FCRA requires a consumer to contact Experian to learn who furnished the disputed information, such that the individual would have to then contact the entity themselves, the case asserts.  

“Rather, the FCRA requires Experian to contact those furnishers and conduct an investigation of Plaintiff’s dispute promptly and free of charge,” the lawsuit says. 

The plaintiff’s situation continued into February 2020, the suit continues, when the consumer again contacted Experian about the apparent inaccuracies in her credit report. Experian, in response, once again directed the plaintiff to contact the source responsible for furnishing the information, the case claims. Per the suit, the plaintiff contacted Experian once more in February 2021 to reiterate her dispute yet has, to date, received no response. 

The lawsuit, removed to Alabama’s Northern District Court on June 30, looks to represent all consumers in the United States who’ve disputed information appearing on their Experian credit report and received within the last two years a response letter from the agency directing them to contact the information’s furnisher directly without identifying the entity. 

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