Equifax misrepresented potentially millions of credit scores, lawsuit alleges

Credit reporting company Equifax Inc. corporate offices are pictured in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., September 8, 2017. REUTERS/Tami Chappell

(Reuters) – Equifax has been hit with a lawsuit accusing it of knowingly allowing a glitch in its coding system to result in inaccurate credit scores for potentially millions of consumers.

In a proposed class action filed Wednesday in Atlanta federal court, Florida resident Nydia Jenkins said she ended up paying more for an auto loan because of a 130-point discrepancy in her credit score.

According to the complaint, reports from consumers and news media showed the credit reporting giant sent erroneous credit scores for individuals applying for lines of credit over a three-week period earlier this year.

Equifax conducted an analysis of credit scores used for consumers seeking credit during that time period, a company spokesperson said Thursday, and found “no shift in the majority of scores” and “only a small number of them may have received a different credit decision.” Moreover, she said, a score shift does not necessarily mean that a consumer’s credit decision “was negatively impacted.”

Equifax officials acknowledged in May 2022 “there had been a coding issue within a program slated for replacement,” the complaint said. The complaint cited an Aug 2 Wall Street Journal article that said Equifax sent inaccurate scores on millions of consumers to lenders.

Jenkins is making claims of willful and negligent violations of the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act and seeks to represent a class seeking damages.

The case is Nydia Jenkins v. Equifax, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, No. 1:22-cv-03072.

For Jenkins: Greg Bosseler of Morgan & Morgan

For Equifax: Not immediately available

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