MICHAEL
C.
BAXTER
Oregon State Bar ID Number 91020
JUSTIN
M.
BAXTER
Oregon State
Bar
ID Number 99217
Baxter
&
Baxter
LLP
8835 S.W. Canyon Lane, Suite 130
Portland, Oregon 97225
Telephone (503) 297-9031
Facsimile (503) 291-9172
Attorneys for PlaintiffMiller
Tig
**
w-is^w
FILEB12
OCT
'1113S7USDC-DRP
U
ORIGINAL
UNITED
STATES
DISTRICT
COURT
DISTRICT
OF
OREGON
PORTLAND
DIVISION
JULIE
MILLER,
Plaintiff,
v.
EQUIFAX
INFORMATION
SERVICES
LLC,
a foreign limited liability company,
Defendant.
Plaintiffalleges that at all times material:
CV11-1231-BR
Case
No.
COMPLAINT
Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. § 1681
et seq.)
Demand for Jury Trial
1.
This is a civil action brought under the Fair Credit Reporting Act ("FCRA"), 15 U.S.C. §
1681et.seq. The Court has jurisdiction pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 1681p.
Page
1-COMPLAINT
#^3^f
Case 3:11-cv-01231-BR Document 1 Filed 10/12/11 Page 1 of 9 Page ID#: 1
PlaintiffJulie Miller ("plaintiff) is a natural person residing in the State
of
Oregon,as
defined by the Fair Credit Reporting Act ("FCRA"), 15 U.S.C. § 1681a(c).
3.
Defendant Equifax Information Services, LLC, ("Equifax" or "Defendant") is a consumer
reporting agency as defined by the FCRA, 15 U.S.C. § 1681a(f).
4.
Plaintiffwas denied credit from Hubbard Bank due to her Equifax credit report. On or
aboutDecember8,2009, plaintiffrequested her credit report from Equifax. On or about January
5,2010, Equifax sent plaintiffa form letter requesting she provide additional identifying
information.
5.
On or about January 11,2010, plaintiffagain requested a copy
of
her Equifax credit
report, enclosing the additional identifying information Equifax requested in its January 5,2011
letter. On January 21,2011, Equifax sent plaintiffa copy
of
her January 18,2010 Equifax credit
report. The report contained false identification information,an incorrect Social Security
number, a false birthday and false derogatory collection accounts attributed to her.
6.
On or about January 22,2010, plaintiffdisputed the false information appearing in her
January
21,2010
Equifax credit report via facsimile. On or about January
26,2010
plaintiff
disputed her credit report for a second time. Plaintiffenclosed a copy
of
her Equifax credit
report with the false information highlighted. Equifax did not conduct an investigation
of
her
dispute. On or about February
5,2010,
Equifax sent plaintiffa third form letter indicating it
Page
2-COMPLAINT
Case 3:11-cv-01231-BR Document 1 Filed 10/12/11 Page 2 of 9 Page ID#: 2
needed additional identifying information to process her dispute.
7.
On or about February 8,2011 plaintiffrequested a new copy
of
her Equifax credit report.
Equifax did not respond to her request for her credit report.
8.
On or about February 16,2010, plaintiffdisputed to Equifax a third time the false,
derogatory information displaying in her January
21,2010
credit report. She again included the
identifying information requested by Equifax.
9.
On or about February
26,2010,
plaintiffreceived her Equifax investigation results.
Equifax had not changed anything on her credit report. It contained the same false information
that was in her January
21,2010
Equifax credit report.
10.
On or about March
2,2010
plaintiffdisputed a fourth time her Equifax credit report. She
included with her dispute all the identifying information Equifax required to process a dispute.
11.
On or about March
4,2010,
plaintiffreceived a denial
of
credit from Key Bank based
upon information appearing in her Equifax credit report
12.
On or about March
21,2011,
plaintiffagain requested a copy
of
her Equifax credit report.
On or about April
4,2011,
plaintiffreceived the same form letter, for a fifth time, requesting
additional identifying information. The next day she again requested her Equifax credit report,
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3-COMPLAINT
Case 3:11-cv-01231-BR Document 1 Filed 10/12/11 Page 3 of 9 Page ID#: 3
using the identifying information Equifax requested she use to obtain her credit report.
13.
On or about April 21,2011, plaintiffreceived a sixth form letter, requesting she provide
the identical identifying information she had already provided on numerous occasions. On or
about April 27,2011, plaintiffsent a new request for a copy
of
her credit report, again containing
the identical information that Equifax had previously requested she provide. Equifax received
her request on April 30,2011. Equifax did not respond to
plaintiffs
request for a credit report.
14.
On June
28,2011,
plaintiffcalled Equifax to dispute any false information appearing in
her credit report and to find out why she could not get Equifax to provide her a copy
of
her
Equifax credit report. Plaintiffprovided the Equifax consumer representative her name, Social
Securitynumber and address. She also provided account information regarding her creditors.
The Equifax representative told her that she was mixed with another person and she needed to
dispute the false information directly to the creditors before they would release her credit report.
Plaintiff complained that she did not know what was on her credit report and needed a copy to
determine what was necessary to dispute. Equifax agreed to send her a copy
of
her credit report.
On or about July
5,2011,
plaintiffreceived a copy
of
her Equifax credit report. The report
contained a wrong Social Security number and numerous false, derogatory accounts.
15.
On or about July
19,2011,
plaintiffdisputed to Equifax for a sixth time her Equifax credit
report. Equifax received her dispute on July 23,2011. In her dispute she informed Equifax
of
the false identifying information and that she had never defaulted on a single account in her life.
She also detailed all the false accounts and identifying information Equifax was reporting about
Page
4-COMPLAINT
Case 3:11-cv-01231-BR Document 1 Filed 10/12/11 Page 4 of 9 Page ID#: 4
her.
16.
On or about August 1,2011, Equifax sent plaintiff the same form letter, for a seventhtime,
requesting that she provide the same identifying information she had previously provided on
numerous occasions. There were no results
of
any investigations regarding any
of
her previous
disputesof the false information being reported about her. On or about August 2,2011 plaintiff
disputeda seventh time, again providing the identical identifying information Equifax requested.
17.
On or about August 15,2011, plaintiffreceived Equifax's August 8,2011 credit report.
She did not receive any results
of
investigation from her many disputes. There was no change in
her credit report.
18.
On or about August 25,2011, plaintiffdisputed an eighth time to Equifax. Plaintiff
enclosedthe same identifying information she had previously provided. In her dispute she
pleadedwith Equifax to investigate her credit report and detailed the same false informationshe
had been disputing for a year and a half. Equifax received her dispute on August 29,2011.
19.
On or about September 2,2011, Equifax sent plaintiffEquifax's form letter requestingshe
provideadditional identifying information. There were no results
of
investigation for any
of
her
numerous disputes.
20.
On or about September 13,2011, plaintiff sent Equifax the identical information Equifax
requested in their form letter so that it could process her dispute. On or about September28,
Page
5-COMPLAINT
Case 3:11-cv-01231-BR Document 1 Filed 10/12/11 Page 5 of 9 Page ID#: 5
2011,Equifaxsent plaintiffthe same form letterrequesting she submit the identical identifying
information which it claimed was necessary prior to processing this ninth request to dispute.
Equifax would not investigate her disputes. After approximately two years
of
disputing, plaintiff
gave up and filed this lawsuit.
FIRST
CLAIM
FOR
RELIEF
(FCRA-15
U.S.C.
§1681n)
21.
Plaintiffrealleges paragraphs 1-20 as
if
fully set forth herein.
22.
Equifax willfully failed to comply with the requirements imposed under the FCRA, 15
U.S.C. §1681 et seq., including but not limited to:
a) failing to follow reasonable proceduresto assure maximum possible accuracy
of
the information in consumer reports, as required by 15 U.S.C. §1681e(b);
b) failing to comply with the reinvestigation requirements in 15 U.S.C. §1681i;
c) providing plaintiffs credit file to companies without determining that these
companies had a permissible purpose to obtain plaintiffs credit file pursuant to U.S.C. §1681b
and
d) failing to provide plaintiffher credit file pursuant to 15 U.S.C. §1681g.
23.
As a result
of
Equifax's violations
of
the FCRA, Plaintiffhas suffered, continues to suffer,
and will suffer future damages, including denial
of
credit, lost opportunity to receive credit,
damage to reputation, worry, distress, frustration, embarrassment, and humiliation, all to her
damages, in an amount to be determined by the jury.
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6-COMPLAINT
Case 3:11-cv-01231-BR Document 1 Filed 10/12/11 Page 6 of 9 Page ID#: 6
24.
Plaintiffis entitled to punitive damages in an amount to be determined by the jury.
25.
Plaintiffis entitled to actual damages in an amount to be determined by the jury in addition
to any statutory damages in an amount to be determined by the Court.
26.
Plaintiffis entitled to her attorney fees, pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 1681n(a).
SECOND
CLAIM
FOR
RELIEF
(FCRA-15
U.S.C.
§1681o)
27.
Plaintiffrealleges paragraphs 1 - 20 as
if
fully set forth herein.
28.
Equifax negligently failed to comply with the requirements imposed under the FCRA,
including but not limited to:
a) failing to follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy
of
the information in consumer reports, as required by 15 U.S.C. §1681e(b);
b) failing to comply with the reinvestigation requirements in 15 U.S.C. §1681i;
c) providing plaintiffs credit file to companies without determining that these
companies had a permissible purpose to obtain
plaintiffs
credit file pursuant to U.S.C. §168
lb
and
d) failing to provide plaintiffher credit file pursuant to 15 U.S.C. §1681g.
29.
As a result
of
Equifax's violations
of
the FCRA, plaintiffhas suffered, continues to suffer
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7-COMPLAINT
Case 3:11-cv-01231-BR Document 1 Filed 10/12/11 Page 7 of 9 Page ID#: 7
and will suffer future damages, including denial
of
credit, lost opportunity to receive credit,
damage to reputation, worry, distress, frustration, embarrassment, and humiliation, all to her
damages, in an amount to be determined by the jury.
30.
Plaintiffis entitled to actual damages in an amount to be determined by the jury.
31.
Plaintiffis entitled to her attorney fees, pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 1681o(a).
PRAYER
Plaintiff demands a jury trial on all claims. Wherefore plaintiffJulie Miller prays for a
judgment as follows:
1. On Plaintiffs First Claim for Relieffor willful violations
of
the FCRA against
Defendant Equifax:
a. Actual damages in an amount to be determined by the jury;
b. Punitive damages in an amount to be determined by the jury; and,
c. Statutory damages as determined by the court; and
d. Attorney fees and costs.
2. On
Plaintiffs
Second Claim for Relieffor negligent violations
of
the FCRA
against Defendant Equifax:
a. Actual damages in an amount to be determined by the jury;
b. Attorney fees and costs.
3. On All Claims for Relief, costs and expenses incurred in this action.
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8-COMPLAINT
Case 3:11-cv-01231-BR Document 1 Filed 10/12/11 Page 8 of 9 Page ID#: 8
DATED
this
12th
day
of
October
2011.
Page
9-COMPLAINT
Justin
M.
Baxter,
OSB
#
992178
Telephone (503) 297-9031
Facsimile (503) 291-9172
Attorneys for Plaintiff
Case 3:11-cv-01231-BR Document 1 Filed 10/12/11 Page 9 of 9 Page ID#: 9
