Court Approves $2.7 Million Settlement in FCRA Class Action Lawsuit

Written By Digital Content Editor Thomas Ahearn

A federal court has granted a Plaintiff’s motion for preliminary approval of a $2.7 million settlement of a class action lawsuit that claimed the Defendant violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) by allegedly providing false information on credit reports to automobile dealerships, according to a report by Bloomberg Law.

Plaintiff claimed Defendant – a company that sold credit reports to help automobile dealers manage regulatory compliance obligations accompanying consumer car purchases – violated FCRA 15 U.S.C. § 1681e(b) by failing to “follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy” which is required by the federal law. 

In a lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, the Plaintiff claimed he was denied credit to buy a car based on incorrect information in a consumer report provided by the Defendant that allegedly indicated he was on the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) list.

OFAC “administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions based on U.S. foreign policy and national security goals against targeted foreign countries and regimes, terrorists, international narcotics traffickers, and those engaged in activities related to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction,” according to OFAC’s website.

The FCRA is federal legislation enacted by Congress in 1970 to promote the accuracy, fairness, and privacy of consumer information contained in the files of consumer reporting agencies (CRAs), and to protect consumers from the willful and/or negligent inclusion of inaccurate information in their consumer reports.

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