Goldman Sachs, Others Illegally Obtained Consumer Credit Reports Without Permission, Class Action Claims

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A proposed class action lawsuit claims that Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, along with LendingPoint, LLC and Upstart Network, Inc., illegally reviewed credit reports of non-accountholders without their permission.

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Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the use of credit reports by furnishers such as the defendants is limited to certain permissible purposes, the complaint says. Although these purposes are generally restricted to transactions initiated by the customer, the suit states that companies are also permitted to conduct “account review inquiries” on customers currently holding accounts. 

The lead plaintiff claims that Goldman Sachs, LendingPoint and Upstart Network simultaneously pulled her TransUnion credit report in October 2018 for the purpose of conducting an account review.  

According to the complaint, however, the plaintiff never held an account with Goldman Sachs, LendingPoint or Upstart Network, nor did she authorize any of the defendants to review her credit information. Therefore, the case contends, the defendants’ use of the plaintiff’s credit report was illegal. From the case:

“Each of Defendants’ inquiries were [sic] unauthorized and illegal. Plaintiff had never had any accounts with any of the Defendants. Plaintiff did not seek out nor inquire about Defendants’ services or credit extensions. Therefore, their concurrent inquiries were not promotional.

Further, Plaintiff did not have an account with Defendants and thus, Defendants had no reason to review Plaintiff’s credit report or collect on a debt.”

The suit seeks to represent a class comprising of anyone with an address in the U.S. whose consumer report was obtained by the defendants from TransUnion, Experian or Equifax as an account review inquiry within the past five years and who did not have an account with any of the defendants.

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