Credit Bureau Connection Accused of Selling Inaccurate Consumer Reports Containing Inaccurate Gov. Threat Information

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Credit Bureau Connection, Inc. (CBC) is on the receiving end of a proposed class action lawsuit in which a man claims the agency includes false information on consumers’ credit reports while depriving proposed class members of an opportunity to dispute the inaccuracies.

According to the lawsuit, the defendant prepares and sells consumer reports to automobile and other vehicle dealers. As part of the reporting process, CBC allegedly checks individuals’ names against a list of “terrorists, narcotics traffickers, money launderers, arms dealers, and other criminals subject to U.S. government sanctions” compiled by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). The case alleges that the defendant routinely mistakes “innocent consumers” for OFAC-listed individuals, who the suit points out are ineligible for credit, may not be employed, and may be subject to “deportation and criminal prosecution.” The lawsuit pins the allegedly erroneous associations on the defendant’s supposedly lax reporting procedures that fail to “assure the maximum possible accuracy” of the information the company provides to third parties.

Per the plaintiff’s experience, the man claims that while attempting to purchase a car at a dealership in Huntington Beach, California, he was told his consumer report reflected an “OFAC hit.” The dealership explained that OFAC alerts “pertain to terrorists and other enemies of the United States,” and required the plaintiff to co-sign the loan with his father, the suit says. Upon returning the next week, the plaintiff claims he had the dealership request another report, which supposedly reflected two OFAC hits—one pertaining to a shipping vessel and the other to “a North Korean state official with a date of birth nearly thirty years before [the plaintiff’s].” The lawsuit argues that despite being provided with the plaintiff’s name, address, social security number, and date of birth, the defendant conducted a “name only” OFAC search that was likely to—and did—produce inaccurate associations.

Furthermore, the plaintiff claims that upon contacting CBC to remove the inaccuracies from his report, he was informed that “there was no OFAC information associated with him” and was deprived of an opportunity to dispute the data in his file.

“Plaintiff is unsure whether information erroneously associating him with North Korean state officials and assets remains in his CBC credit file and fears that Defendant may continue to report it to third parties,” the case reads.