
Taking Equifax to Small Claims Court - evashang
https://medium.com/@christianhaigh/i-won-8-000-from-equifax-in-small-claims-court-heres-how-you-can-too-f0ce6925c079
======
ZushiZack
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
promoting your company is probably not a good idea considering photography is
banned and it can get you charged for contempt, even after the fact.

Update: Author has taken the photo down, although it would be nice for him to
provide an update to his readers saying as with all small claims cases, the
judgement is suspended for 30 days and as such, he didn't actually win
anything yet.

~~~
tourist2d
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...](https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/7lz38l/tried_to_sue_equifax_for_data_breaches_just_got_a/)

~~~
joncrane
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_.

~~~
g051051
It's not made up...I couldn't believe he won either, but I looked up the
judgement at the court web site. Sure enough, it's there. Based on his story
and reading the judgement, I'd say he got incredibly lucky with a poorly
prepared judge and defense lawyer. It'll be surprising if this holds up.

~~~
joncrane
I mean the OP in the linked reddit comment in the reply directly upstream from
my post.

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dcole2929
Am i the only one kind of shocked at how little he actually got? I realize
it's small claims court but seriously that's a pittance compared to the cost
of a lifetime of credit monitoring. Say you're 30 years old. You have a
reasonable expectations of living another 30-40 years minimum. Being
compensated for only 120 months (10 years) of credit monitoring is just
ridiculous.

~~~
charlesdm
143m users times $8000 makes for a pretty penny. In fact, it would bankrupt
the company, as it should.

~~~
LeifCarrotson
As it should? If so, they probably ought not be operating: they are giving
consumers a liability they couldn't afford to pay, and profiting from this
liability by selling the information to third parties.

If the profits from this sale aren't enough to cover the liabilities, then
their business model is fundamentally flawed.

~~~
jjeaff
But they don't really have that much liability. Very few will sue and win.

------
baseethrowaway
Very relevant:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/7h9tn2/i_sued_...](https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/7h9tn2/i_sued_equifax_and_won_they_filed_an_appeal_whats/)

Might be an insight into what happens when Equifax appeals.

------
drefanzor
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 disputes to remove the inquiries from my
records. I also placed a dispute for the verizon credit inquiry through
equifax, but it wouldn't let me dispute the paypal credit because I couldn't
"verify" myself. It asked me for the address of somewhere I lived 10 years
ago, and I had a digit off and so it blocked me. Either way, I talked to
Verizon and they said someone had applied to get a Verizon account and they
were denied. Then they suggested I place a fraud alert (it was free, it's not
right that I have to pay $10 to freeze my credit) on my equifax; which I did.
By the way, these unauthorized hard inquiries were performed on the 19th, and
22nd (yesterday) of this month, respectably.

Either way, thanks for the article, because even though it's been many months
since the breach, the effects are still being felt; I'm sure by more than just
myself.

~~~
fossuser
The fraud alerts aren't good enough - I'd recommend freezing your credit (and
just sucking up the $10) on all three credit bureaus.

That'd be Equifax, Experian, and Transunion. You can also freeze your credit
at Innovis to get all four.

The freeze will require them to contact you before doing anything. The alert
doesn't do much in practice (from the people I know who've had it) - it's just
ignored.

~~~
phil21
> 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 rating agencies. Heck, I remember a point in time where it was
questionable whether these companies were even _legal_ to begin with. So far
have we fallen.

These are things people should be getting violent about.

~~~
mcny
> 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.

~~~
panarky
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...](https://krebsonsecurity.com/2017/05/fraudsters-exploited-lax-security-
at-equifaxs-talx-payroll-division/)

------
blacksqr
Now try collecting.

~~~
ransom1538
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](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ctLEGrOmf4)

~~~
kinkrtyavimoodh
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.

~~~
jgowdy
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.

~~~
MaxBarraclough
> pay them a fee for an escort to seize the property

A fee? Isn't it their job to help enforce the law, being law enforcement
officers?

~~~
jgowdy
A judgement against someone else is a civil affair, not a criminal issue. Law
enforcement officers enforce criminal law as a matter of course. In a lawsuit
when one person owes money to another due to a judgement, that debt is private
and you have to bear the costs of the state in enforcing your debt using law
enforcement officers.

Just like police officers at a concert aren't staffed for free, even though
their only purpose is to enforce the laws and/or facilitate traffic. You could
argue that enforcing those laws and facilitating that traffic is their job,
but those putting on the concert are creating the need for extra law
enforcement and want them on hand, so they have to pay.

~~~
MaxBarraclough
Thanks for the explanation.

I believe that here in the UK, the police will either decide you deserve an
escort and provide you with one, or decide you don't need one and refuse to
provide one.

I could be mistaken, but I believe bailiffs are essentially expected to take
on the risk and confrontation as part of their job, a bit like ticket-
inspectors on trains, or the folks that tow away illegally parked cars from
privately owned car parks.

The police can and do charge for special policing of public events, though -
[http://www.npcc.police.uk/documents/finance/2015/NPCC%20Guid...](http://www.npcc.police.uk/documents/finance/2015/NPCC%20Guidelines%20on%20Charging%20for%20Police%20Services.pdf)
, [http://www.isanuk.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/ISAN-
Guidan...](http://www.isanuk.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/ISAN-Guidance-
Police-Charging-for-Services-at-Events.pdf)

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no29
just a wild guess.. expect an appeal and a less than friendly attorney to be
present at the next hearing.

i'd also worry about removal to federal court and consolidation - now that a
judge has actually raised a federal question about the fcra

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CameronBanga
One note, this is a big PR piece for the author's business, Legalist.
Disclaimer really doesn't come until right at the end.

~~~
coupdejarnac
Considering he admits this is the first time he set foot in court, I have
mixed feelings as to whether this is good PR. Would you want someone filing
court papers on your behalf who has never been to court before? I wouldn't. I
hope his cofounder is an attorney.

~~~
TheCoelacanth
Reading the blurb on their website, it seems as if their business is providing
funding for your lawsuit in exchange for a share of the proceeds if you win,
not actually directly providing legal services. They need to be good at
predicting which lawsuits will be successful, not good at actually winning
lawsuits.

> Tell us about your lawsuit, including the court, case number, and who your
> attorney is. If approved, we cover all your legal costs, including
> attorney’s fees, deposition costs, and working capital for your business.
> The only time you repay is if your lawsuit successfully resolves. We’re in
> this together.

