Mistakes in Credit Report Can Be Costly
It was reported by the Associated Press on that a federal court in Oregon found in favor of a woman who sued Equifax Information Services. The plaintiff had been seeking to have Equifax correct mistakes in her credit report. The award included $18.4 million dollars for punitive damages. Mistakes in credit reports can be costly to reporting agencies.
 An appeal is likely to be pursued
The plaintiff, Julie Miller, had contacted Equifax eight times trying to fix the mistakes being reported that reflected negatively on her credit history. Ms. Miller alleged that the mistakes resulted in damage to her reputation, a breach of her privacy and the lost opportunity to seek credit. Finding out the mistakes in her credit report after being denied credit by a bank she thereupon contacted Equifax and made efforts to have them correct the mistakes they were reporting. Miller found mistake being reported by other credit bureaus but that they had acted to correct the mistakes.Â
A study by the Federal Trade Commission found in the review of close to 3,000 credit reports that 21 percent had mistakes and that 5 % of the mistakes would lead to people being turned down for credit. So, if you have been turned down for credit it may be a good idea to see what’s being reported about your credit history.
