For Release:
July 30, 2003
Equifax to Pay $250,000
to Settle Charges
FTC Alleges
Blocked and Delayed Consumer Calls Violated Consent Decree
Equifax Credit Information Services,
Inc. (Equifax) will pay $250,000 to settle Federal Trade Commission
charges that its blocked-call rate and hold times violated
provisions of an FTC consent decree that settled a 2000 lawsuit
for violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). That
lawsuit settled charges that Equifax did not have sufficient
personnel available to answer the toll-free phone number provided
on consumers’ credit reports.
The FCRA is designed to promote accuracy,
fairness, and privacy of information in the files of every
consumer reporting agency. To provide consumers with the ability
to resolve more easily inaccuracies in their credit reports,
in 1996 Congress amended the FCRA to require Equifax and the
two other major credit bureaus, Trans Union LLC and Experian
Information Solutions, to provide consumers who receive a
copy of their credit report with a toll-free telephone number
and access to credit bureau personnel during normal business
hours.
In January 2000, the three credit bureaus
paid a total of $2.5 million to settle charges that each violated
this provision of the FCRA. According to the FTC’s complaints,
the bureaus blocked calls from over a million consumers who
wanted to discuss the contents of, and possible errors in,
their credit reports, and kept others on hold for unreasonably
long periods of time. To ensure that credit bureau personnel
were accessible to consumers, the settlements required that
the bureaus meet specific performance standards, including
limiting the number of calls that the agencies could block
and the amount of time consumers could be placed on hold.
Equifax failed to meet the specific performance
standards in the consent decree for blocked calls and hold
times for certain periods in 2001. The settlement announced
today will require Equifax to pay an additional $250,000 for
violating the original consent decree.
The Commission vote to accept the settlement
was 5-0. It will be filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern
District of Georgia, Atlanta Division, by the Department of
Justice at the FTC’s request, and is subject to court
approval.
NOTE: This consent decree
is for settlement purposes only and does not constitute an
admission by the defendant of a law violation. Consent decrees
have the force of law when signed by the judge.
Copies
of the consent decree and the order modifying the consent
decree are available from the FTC's Web site at http://www.ftc.gov
and also from the FTC’s Consumer Response Center, Room
130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC. 20580.
The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive,
and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide
information to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid them.
To file a complaint, or to get free information on any of
150 consumer topics, call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1 877-382-4357),
or use the complaint form at http://www.ftc.gov.
The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft, and
other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure,
online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal
law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Claudia Bourne Farrell,
Office of Public Affairs
202-326-2181
STAFF CONTACT:
Peggy Twohig
Bureau of Consumer Protection
202-326-3224
(FTC File No. X000057)
(http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2003/equifax.htm)
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Related
Documents:
United States of America (for
the Federal Trade Commission v. Equifax Credit Information
Services, Inc., Civil Action No. 1:00-CV-0087-MHS
(Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division).
- Joint
Motion for Modification of Consent Decree and Proposed
Order Modifying Consent Decree [PDF 17KB]
Fair
Credit Reporting
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