The three major U.S. credit bureaus have been hit with proposed class actions in Manhattan federal court this week accusing them of reporting old, vacated civil judgments on consumers’ credit reports without checking that the information was current, violating federal and New York state laws.
The lawsuits against Experian, Equifax and TransUnion seek actual, statutory and punitive damages for thousands of New York state residents who allegedly had vacated judgments misreported on their credit reports. Judgments, which are awarded to creditors and debt collectors who sue for unpaid debt, can hurt credit scores and raise a consumer’s borrowing costs
