14 DAY TRIAL // A woman has received $18.6 million (€14 million) as compensations after suing Equifax for issuing a credit card report filled with errors.
A jury has ruled in favor of Julie Miller, as she brought Equifax to court for including false information in her report.
While not being in debt, the credit statement made Miller unable to borrow money. Her report included wrong identification information in the form of a different Social Security Number and birthday.
It also included references to an unpaid loan which had been wrongly put in her name. The collection accounts made it impossible for her to get credit from banks.
In 2009, she applied for one at Huybbard Bank and she was denied. According to ABC News, that is when she requested to see her credit statement.
In the 2009-2011 period she contacted the credit bureau eight times. She filed complaints, told them which information was incorrect, but the errors were never mended.
"She did what you're supposed to do. She didn't go running straight to the courthouse," attorney Justin Baxter clarifies.
In October 2011 she brought the company to trial in Oregon Federal District Court. By then, she had also been denied a loan by Key Bank.
She explained that she had a disabled brother and needed funds to help with his expenses.
Her husband also planned building a shed near their home, and she was unable to fund the project.
As they dug deeper, Miller's team found that her account had been mixed with a second one.
However, when she tried to get in contact with Equifax and fix the problem, she discovered they would send over her data to a subcontractor in the Philippines.
"We found that when complaints would come in, they'd run them through a scanner and then send them overseas," Baxter says.