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Taking Equifax to Small Claims Court

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Re: Taking Equifax to Small Claims Court

#41

Post by DrScump »

brndnmtthws wrote: post #31
s73ver_ wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It should be free. There is absolutely zero reason why I should have to pay to see my credit report at any time, or decide that I wish to freeze my credit at any time.

It's free in some states, depending on the circumstances. And yes, it should indeed be free. I wish I could opt out of giving them any of my data entirely, but it's neither practical nor possible.

In California, a security freeze is free to identity theft victims[0] who have a police report of identity theft.

[0] https://oag.ca.gov/idtheft/facts/freeze-your-credit

Re: Taking Equifax to Small Claims Court

#42

Post by jgowdy »

gumby wrote: post #12
blacksqr wrote: post #2

Now try collecting.

Those corporations are just as subject to these kinds of laws (there are other laws that they are de facto immune from but let's not get into that). The bank of america case elsewhere cited is a famous example. In my case, a few years ago: ADP double-debited our $250K IRS payroll tax deposit from our payroll account (pro tip: never allow third parties to make automatic withdrawals from your main bank account -- use a…

Important point you touched on there. In the case of businesses you should always use zero balance accounts for checks, EFTs, ACHs, etc. The smaller your business, the more you're at risk of an existential threat if someone takes money from your master account unexpectedly or for the wrong amount.

Re: Taking Equifax to Small Claims Court

#43

Post by panarky »

mcny wrote: post #38
phil21 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'd recommend freezing your credit (and just sucking up the $10) on all three credit bureaus. This may be the pragmatic approach, but it's also why these companies still exist. At risk of being too blunt - fuck that shit. I will spend thousands before I give them a dime of my money. I have zero business relationship with them, and I consider such crap absolute extortion. The world is a better place without credit r…

> I will spend thousands before I give them a dime of my money. I want to avoid giving them money but Equifax handles my W2 for some reason.

Equifax's payroll division "TALX" is a bucket of suck just like their credit reporting division [0].

Identity thieves prize the W-2 and payroll data held by companies like TALX because they can use it to file fraudulent tax refund requests with the IRS and the states on behalf of victim consumers.

Fraudsters reset customer PINs by answering simple "knowledge-based authentication" questions.

Naturally many of the answers to these questions are in the data leaked by the credit reporting division.

[0] Fraudsters Exploited Lax Security at Equifax’s TALX Payroll Division https://krebsonsecurity.com/2017/05/fraudsters-exploited-lax...

Re: Taking Equifax to Small Claims Court

#44

Post by jgowdy »

kinkrtyavimoodh wrote: post #6
ransom1538 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just walk into their office with a court order and start taking items. I would grab laptops first. Cops will show, then after they see the court order they will help you start bagging things. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ctLEGrOmf4

This sounds more of a fantasy (I don't deny that what they showed in the video happened but I'd be careful about assuming it generalizes) and I'd not recommend others trying similar stunts.

It's not a fantasy. Uncollected judgements can be enforced through direct property seizure if you follow your State's laws. Typically you call law enforcement first and pay them a fee for an escort to seize the property. For businesses, you typically schedule the law enforcement escort for the end of the day so you can seize the cash in the cash register. If I remember correctly, it costs around $75 to have our local county sheriff escort you for property seizure for a judgement.

Re: Taking Equifax to Small Claims Court

#45

Post by gumby »

phil21 wrote: post #36
froindt wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A friend of mine is an attorney. His client had a judgement against a relatively small bank. In his words, the bank was being a "horse's ass" and not paying. He got a judge to sign off on the sheriff assisting in collection. The client was about to be a proud owner of the servers run by the bank. When the sheriff arrived, the bank manager immediately called their attorney to call the client's attorney (my friend) and…

> When the sheriff arrived, the bank manager immediately called their attorney to call the client's attorney (my friend) and tell him they're writing a check. I've always wondered what happens if you say too bad so sad, you had your chance - I don't believe you that the check is "in the mail". Will the Sheriff still let you collect assets? If so, I'd absolutely cause them as much pain as possible. Typically in these…

I think the sheriff would rather not be collecting the hardware (unless he/she hastes the bank too) and would be quite happy if the person settled for a check at the last minute. Less work.

When I went to small claims the first thing the judge did was make everybody talk to their opponent in the hope that they would just find a settlement and save the judge's time.

Re: Taking Equifax to Small Claims Court

#46

Post by tourist2d »

ZushiZack wrote: post #37

No, the author didn't win $8000, because the judgement is suspended for 30 days, where Equifax can appeal (which they most certainly will, especially since the judgement was from a Pro Tem). There will likely be a new case in superior court, in front of an actual judge, who will realize the plaintiff could not prove any actual damage. Also, taking a photo of yourself during a court hearing to post on your blog promot…

Yep, It's almost certain that they'll appeal the case. There have been plenty of similar posts asking for advice on r/legaladvice on reddit. The general consensus is unless you're willing to spend the next few years in court, don't try to sue Equifax.

https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/7lz38l/tried_t...

Re: Taking Equifax to Small Claims Court

#47

Post by harryh »

drefanzor wrote: post #26

Hi. Read this article a few hours ago, and went down a rabbit hole of agony. I am a victim of the equifax breach apparently. I checked my credit report (on creditkarma.com) for equifax, and realized that there were two hard inquiries which pounded my score down about 40 points. One from Verizon (never have I ever done business with them); one from Paypal Credit (same). I ended up contacting both companies and placing…

FYI: The drop in credit scores from hard inquiries goes away quite quickly. Unless you are planning on applying for a large loan in the next 6 months it's not worth worrying about.

Re: Taking Equifax to Small Claims Court

#48

Post by joncrane »

tourist2d wrote: post #46
ZushiZack wrote: post #37

No, the author didn't win $8000, because the judgement is suspended for 30 days, where Equifax can appeal (which they most certainly will, especially since the judgement was from a Pro Tem). There will likely be a new case in superior court, in front of an actual judge, who will realize the plaintiff could not prove any actual damage. Also, taking a photo of yourself during a court hearing to post on your blog promot…

Yep, It's almost certain that they'll appeal the case. There have been plenty of similar posts asking for advice on r/legaladvice on reddit. The general consensus is unless you're willing to spend the next few years in court, don't try to sue Equifax. https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/7lz38l/tried_t...

That OP might actually be astroturfing, though.

I mean, it's definitely costing Equifax more than $435 to "fly a team of corporate lawyers" to some city. The optimal strategy would be to show up for that hearing. Win, or draw, the whole thing is costing Equifax more than it's worth. Which is what makes me suspect that it's made up. Equifax is evil, not dumb.

Re: Taking Equifax to Small Claims Court

#49

Post by Spivak »

s73ver_ wrote: post #30
brndnmtthws wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's cheap to freeze your credit report.

It should be free. There is absolutely zero reason why I should have to pay to see my credit report at any time, or decide that I wish to freeze my credit at any time.

Why? It's not really yours. It's service which collects and aggregates data from lenders and provides it to other lenders to evaluate your risk as a borrower. You the borrower are barely involved. There's nothing authoritative about their assessment of you other than popularity.

In another world you wouldn't even be allowed to see your number. It's not like similar agencies -- fraud detection, ad firms, social networks, spam blacklists, etc. -- let you see the profile they've built about you.

They're a for-profit company in the business of selling data, the fact that you're in the market for you own profile, to me, seems immaterial. The only reason you're required to be able to view your report once a year for free is to correct mistakes.

Re: Taking Equifax to Small Claims Court

#50

Post by dang »

ZushiZack wrote: post #37

No, the author didn't win $8000, because the judgement is suspended for 30 days, where Equifax can appeal (which they most certainly will, especially since the judgement was from a Pro Tem). There will likely be a new case in superior court, in front of an actual judge, who will realize the plaintiff could not prove any actual damage. Also, taking a photo of yourself during a court hearing to post on your blog promot…

Ok, we've revised the title above to downscale its ambitions to the factual.
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