Pa. Attorney General secures nearly $500,000 in settlement with Equifax
HARRISBURG (KDKA) - Pennsylvanians will get a piece of a $485,000 settlement obtained by Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry with Equifax.
The settlement comes after the fact that Equifax made a coding error for nearly three weeks in 2022 which led to inaccurate reports to lenders and inflated costs for thousands of consumers looking for loans and insurance.
"As one of the nation's largest consumer reporting agencies, American consumers and lenders depend on Equifax to provide accurate consumer reports," said Attorney General Michelle Henry. "This settlement holds Equifax accountable for failing to do its most basic job. We hope that today's announcement will cause more lenders and insurers to adjust interest rates and refund overpayments to any consumers who were impacted by a negative score shift. We appreciate that Equifax has promised to accept requests for reimbursement from lenders and insurers through the end of 2024."
According to the attorney general's office, Equifax estimated more than 50,000 Pennsylvanians who applied for loans or insurance experienced negative credit score shifts and that may have led to lower credit scores.
This was all due to a coding error that Equifax discovered in March 2022.
That issue was resolved by April 8, 2022.
The settlement is the largest penalty imposed in a consumer finance case since 2010 and it's the second time Equifax has settled with the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office in 2019.
People who believe they may have been impacted can contact the office at this link.