TransUnion and Banks Face Lawsuit Over Alleged FCRA Violations

In a narrative that could be ripped from a movie script, Mordechay Maximoff, a Florida resident, finds himself embroiled in a legal battle against giants of the financial world. The defendants in this case are none other than TransUnion, LLC, a major credit reporting agency, and two banking institutions, Truist Bank and First Community Bank.

Maximoff's story begins with an error, a simple mistake on his credit report. But this error would set off a chain of events that would lead to a lawsuit filed on September 19, 2023, in the County Court of the 11th Judicial Circuit in and for Palm Beach County, Florida.

According to the filed complaint, Maximoff discovered inaccurate information on his credit report, an issue that is not uncommon in the credit reporting industry. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), a federal law enacted to promote the accuracy, fairness, and privacy of information in the files of consumer reporting agencies, provides consumers the right to dispute and correct such inaccuracies. Maximoff did exactly what the FCRA advises consumers to do - he disputed the inaccurate information with TransUnion and notified the two banks, Truist and First Community, of the dispute. However, according to Maximoff, the defendants failed to take appropriate action.

The FCRA imposes certain obligations on credit reporting agencies and furnishers of consumer credit information. One of these obligations is to conduct a reasonable investigation when a consumer disputes information on their credit report. If the disputed information is found to be inaccurate, the law requires the reporting agency to correct or delete it. But Maximoff alleges that the defendants did not fulfill these obligations. In the complaint, he states, "The defendants failed to conduct a reasonable investigation, review relevant information, report the investigation results to credit reporting agencies, and correct or delete the inaccurate information." This, according to Maximoff, is a clear violation of the FCRA.

As a result, he is seeking monetary damages, including actual damages for the harm he has suffered, punitive damages to deter the defendants from engaging in similar conduct in the future, and attorney's fees and costs associated with the lawsuit.

The lawsuit is not just about Maximoff. He has filed the lawsuit on behalf of all Florida consumers who have found themselves in a similar situation with the defendants. These are consumers who disputed incorrect information reported by Truist Bank and First Community Bank with TransUnion, and where the defendants allegedly failed to correct the disputed incorrect information, from two years prior to the filing of the lawsuit through the time of judgment.

This lawsuit serves as a stark reminder of the importance of accurate credit reporting and the obligations of credit reporting agencies and furnishers of consumer credit information under the FCRA. It also highlights the challenges consumers may face when trying to correct inaccuracies on their credit reports, and the legal avenues available to them when their rights under the FCRA are violated.