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If you\u2019ve told Equifax at any point in the past several years that a credit check on your report wasn\u2019t yours, you may have money coming.<\/p>\n
Not a fortune, but real money: an estimated $100 to $400, depending on which group you fall into. And the deadline to claim it is Nov. 29.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what happened, who qualifies and how to file in about the time it takes to drink a cup of coffee.<\/p>\n
A \u201chard inquiry\u201d lands on your credit report when a lender pulls your file after you apply for credit. According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau<\/a>, those inquiries can affect your credit score, because scoring models look at how recently and how often you\u2019ve applied.<\/p>\n So when one shows up that you never authorized, you have every reason to want it gone. It could ding your score. It could also be a sign that somebody\u2019s trying to open credit in your name.<\/p>\n The lawsuit, Hines v. Equifax Information Services, is in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. It claims that when people mailed Equifax a dispute saying an inquiry wasn\u2019t theirs, the company often failed to reasonably investigate.<\/p>\n Instead, according to the case, many got back a stock reply, labeled \u201cCons Comm 664,\u201d saying, in essence, that an inquiry is simply a record of who pulled the file. Translation: Not our problem. Take it up with the creditor.<\/p>\n Top Class Actions, which tracks these cases, reports<\/a> the suit claimed Equifax didn\u2019t contact the companies that pulled the reports and didn\u2019t remove the disputed inquiries.<\/p>\n Equifax denies the allegations, and the settlement isn\u2019t an admission of liability, according to the settlement agreement. But the company agreed to put up $30 million to end the case.<\/p>\n The settlement covers about 3 million people, according to settlement materials reported by Top Class Actions. They fall into three groups, based on Equifax\u2019s own records:<\/p>\n Notice that the first group requires a mailed letter. The second covers a dispute filed any way.<\/p>\n Real talk \u2014 I\u2019ve made plenty of money mistakes in my life, and I\u2019ve spent decades helping people sidestep the ones they don\u2019t have to make. Sign up for the free Money Talks Newsletter<\/a> and let my scars save you a few of your own. Free, and worth more than that.<\/em><\/p>\n According to Top Class Actions, here\u2019s what people in each group are expected to receive:<\/p>\n Those are estimates, not promises. Payments are a share of what\u2019s left in the fund after costs, so the final amounts depend on how many people file. If few people bother, checks get bigger. If millions do, they shrink.<\/p>\n Either way, it\u2019s money you\u2019d otherwise leave on the table. Class members who do nothing get nothing, and they still give up their right to sue.<\/p>\n Settlement notices went out by email or mail. Each one has a claim number and PIN, and you\u2019ll need both to file online.<\/p>\n Search your inbox and spam folder for \u201cHines v Equifax.\u201d To be safe, type the official web address yourself rather than clicking a link.<\/p>\n Because membership is based on Equifax\u2019s records, you can\u2019t simply declare yourself in. If you believe you qualify but never got a notice, contact the settlement administrator through the official site, EquifaxDisputeClassAction.com.<\/p>\n Dig out any old letters from Equifax. If one says inquiries are \u201ca factual record of file access,\u201d you\u2019re likely in the higher-paying Certified Group. Logging in with your claim number and PIN should also show which group you\u2019re in.<\/p>\n You don\u2019t need receipts or copies of your credit report.<\/p>\n You do have to sign a statement, under penalty of perjury, that you disputed an inquiry and were harmed by how Equifax handled it, or were denied credit partly because of it. Answer honestly. That\u2019s a legal document, not a sweepstakes entry.<\/p>\n If you\u2019d rather not be part of the deal, perhaps to sue on your own, the deadline to opt out or object is Nov. 20. The court\u2019s final approval hearing is set for Dec. 10.<\/p>\n Settlement or no settlement, an inquiry you didn\u2019t authorize deserves attention. You can now pull your reports from all three bureaus free every week at AnnualCreditReport.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n If something\u2019s wrong, the Federal Trade Commission says<\/a> to dispute it with both the credit bureau and the company that reported it. The bureau generally has 30 days to investigate.<\/p>\n And if you find more mistakes than you have time to fight, you can get help cleaning up your credit here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Credit bureaus aren\u2019t your friends. They don\u2019t work for you. You\u2019re not their customer. You\u2019re their product.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why disputing errors is harder than it should be, and why it just got tougher. We\u2019ve covered how the government made it harder to fight credit report errors<\/a>.<\/p>\n One more thing: Don\u2019t confuse this case with a separate one. Equifax is also in a different deal covering about 4 million borrowers, which you can learn about in \u201cYou Could Get a Payment from Equifax\u2019s $100M Settlement<\/a>.\u201d You could qualify for both, neither or one.<\/p>\n Five minutes. Maybe a few hundred bucks. That\u2019s a better hourly wage than most of us earn. Go file.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nAre you one of the roughly 3 million people covered?<\/h2>\n
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How much you could get<\/h2>\n
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How to claim your share in 4 steps<\/h2>\n
1. Find your notice<\/h3>\n
2. Figure out your group<\/h3>\n
3. File by Nov. 29<\/h3>\n
4. Check your credit reports while you\u2019re at it<\/h3>\n
The bigger lesson<\/h2>\n