On May 27, 2022, it was reported that Equifax, one of the country’s three largest consumer credit reporting agencies, had provided inaccurate credit scores on millions of U.S. consumers seeking loans during a three-week period, from mid-March through early April, 2022. Equifax told lenders that a coding issue introduced during a technology change to its legacy online model platform may have resulted in the miscalculation of certain credit attributes for about 12% of credit scores. Equifax told one large auto lender that about 10% of applicants during the three-week period had inaccurate scores. Equifax stated that the glitch was a “mistake made by our technology team, in one of our legacy applications that resulted in some scores going out that had incorrect data in it.” According to reports from consumers and public reporting, Equifax sent the erroneous scores on people applying for auto loans, mortgages and credit cards to banks and non-bank lenders related to individuals applying for lines of credit. The scores were sometimes off by 20 points or more, according to public reporting, “enough to alter the interest rates consumers were offered or to result in their applications being rejected altogether.” According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”), “inaccurate information in consumer reports can have significant adverse impacts on consumers. These impacts are particularly concerning for prospective renters and job seekers struggling to recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.” The CFPB recently raised concerns that “[c]onsumers with inaccurate information in their consumer reports may, for example, be denied credit or housing they would have otherwise received, or may be offered less attractive terms than they would have been offered if their information had been accurate.”
If you have reason to believe you had an inaccurate credit score provided by Equifax to a lender from mid-March through early April, 2022, we would be interested in discussing the matter with you. You can contact Goldenberg Schneider, LPA by calling 513-982-1569 or you can complete the contact form.