Woman sues Equifax over inaccuracies on her credit report and was awarded $18.6 million, according to reports.
The Oregon woman who sued Equifax, Julie Miller noticed something was wrong in 2009 when she was denied credit from Hubbard Bank based off her Equifax credit report, according to WTKR.
She immediately contacted the company and requested a copy, which credit bureaus are required by law to provide to consumers annually for free. Miller said she contacted the company eight times over two years in an attempt to correct false information about her Social Security number, birth date and collection accounts. At one point, Equifax told her that her account had accidentally been combined with another person's.
Miller's lawyer, Justin Baxter, told ABC News that the jury was sympathetic to the multiple ways that bad credit had impacted her life. In one instance, Miller couldn't obtain credit for her disabled brother.
Baxter also said that Equifax's failure to protect Miller's personal account information constituted a breach of privacy that could have influenced the jury.
"There was damage to her reputation, a breach of her privacy and the lost opportunity to seek credit," Baxter said.
The judgment is the largest awarded to a consumer against one of the major credit bureaus. It likely will be appealed.
It's important to carefully check one's credit report as at least 20 percent of them include errors which may negatively impact the credit score and a person's ability to apply for credit, loans or even open up a store account.
