Francis Mailman Soumilas, P.C.

Pennsylvania Complaint Against Trans Union, Experian, Capital One, HSBC and GE Money for Reporting False and Negative Accounts on Consumer’s Credit Reports that was Victim of Identity Theft

Jordan Sartell

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA

 

Jane Doe

 

Plaintiff,

 

v.

 

TRANS UNION, LLC

and

EXPERIAN INFORMATION SOLUTIONS, INC.

and

CAPITAL ONE (USA) N.A.

and

HSBC BANK

and

GE MONEY BANK d/b/a GEMB/WAL-MART

 

Defendants.

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 Civil Action No.

 

 

COMPLAINT

 

 

JURY TRIAL DEMANDED

NON-ARBITRATION

 

Complaint

Preliminary Statement

  1. This is an action for damages brought by an individual consumer,  against Trans Union, LLC, Experian Information Solutions, Inc., Capital One (USA) N.A., HSBC Bank and GEMB WalMart (collectively “Defendants”), for violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act ( “FCRA”), 15 U.S.C. §§ 1681, et seq.

The Parties

  1. Plaintiff  is an adult individual residing in TN.
  2. Defendant, Trans Union, LLC (hereafter “Trans Union”), is a business entity which regularly conducts business in Philadelphia County, and which has a principal place of business located at 1510 Chester Pike, Crum Lynne, PA 19022.
  3. Defendant, Experian Information Solutions, Inc. (hereafter “Experian”) is a business entity that regularly conducts business in Philadelphia County, and which has a principal place of business located at 5 Century Drive, Parsippany, NJ 07054.
  4. Defendant, Capital One Bank (USA) N. A. (hereafter “Capital One”) is a business entity that regularly conducts business in Philadelphia County, and which has a principal place of business located at 1680 Capital One Drive, McLean, VA 22102
  5. Defendant HSBC Bank (hereafter “HSBC”) is a business entity that regularly conducts business in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, and which has a principal place of business located at 2700 Sanders Road, Prospect Heights, IL 60070.
  6. Defendant GE Money Bank, d/b/a GEMB/Wal-Mart (hereafter “GEMB”) is a business entity that regularly conducts business in Philadelphia County and which has a principal place of business located at 3135 Easton Turnpike, Fairfield, CT 06828.

JURISDICTION & Venue

  1. Jurisdiction of this Court arises under 15 U.S.C. § 1681p and 28 U.S.C. § 1331.
  2. Venue lies properly in this district pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b).

Factual Allegations

  1. Defendants have been reporting derogatory and inaccurate statements and information relating to Plaintiff and Plaintiff’s credit history to third parties (the “inaccurate information”).
  2. The inaccurate information includes, but is not limited to, accounts with Capital One, HSBC and GEMB.
  3. The inaccurate information negatively reflects upon Plaintiff, Plaintiff’s credit repayment history, Plaintiff’s financial responsibility as a debtor and Plaintiff’s credit worthiness.  The inaccurate information consists of accounts and/or tradelines for which the Plaintiff has no responsibility and which are believed to be the product of fraud.
  4. Defendants have been reporting the inaccurate information through the issuance of false and inaccurate credit information and consumer credit reports that they have disseminated to various persons and credit grantors, both known and unknown.
  5. Plaintiff has disputed the inaccurate information with Trans Union and Experian to their representatives and by following Trans Union and Experian’s established procedures for disputing consumer credit information.
  6. Plaintiff has disputed the inaccurate information with Trans Union and Experian from October 2010 through the present.
  7. Notwithstanding Plaintiff’s efforts, Trans Union and Experian have sent Plaintiff correspondence indicating their intent to continue publishing the inaccurate information and Trans Union and Experian continue to publish and disseminate such inaccurate information to other third parties, persons, entities and credit grantors.  Trans Union and Experian have repeatedly published and disseminated consumer reports to such third parties from at least October 2010 through the present.
  8. Despite Plaintiff’s efforts, Trans Union and Experian have never:  (1) contacted Plaintiff to follow up on, verify and/or elicit more specific information about Plaintiff’s disputes; (2) contacted all third parties that would have relevant information concerning Plaintiff’s disputes; (3) forwarded any relevant information concerning Plaintiff’s disputes to the entities originally furnishing the inaccurate information; (4) requested or obtained any credit applications, or other relevant documents from the entities furnishing the inaccurate information; and (5) performed any handwriting analysis.
  9. Notwithstanding Plaintiff’s disputes, Capital One, HSBC and GEMB have also failed to conduct timely and reasonable investigations of Plaintiff’s disputes after being contacted by the relevant credit reporting agencies concerning Plaintiff’s disputes, have willfully continued to report such inaccurate information to various credit reporting agencies, and have failed to mark the above accounts as disputed.
  10. Despite Plaintiff’s exhaustive efforts to date, Defendants have nonetheless deliberately, willfully, intentionally, recklessly and negligently repeatedly failed to perform reasonable investigations of the above disputes as required by the FCRA, have failed to remove the inaccurate information, have failed to note the disputed status of the inaccurate information and have continued to report the derogatory inaccurate information about the Plaintiff.
  11. As of result of Defendants’ conduct, Plaintiff has suffered actual damages in the form of (a) lost credit opportunities, (b) harm to credit reputation and credit score, and              (c) emotional distress, including humiliation and embarrassment.
  12. At all times pertinent hereto, Defendants were acting by and through their agents, servants and/or employees who were acting within the course and scope of their agency or employment, and under the direct supervision and control of the Defendants herein.
  13. At all times pertinent hereto, the conduct of the Defendants, as well as that of their agents, servants and/or employees, was malicious, intentional, willful, reckless, and in grossly negligent disregard for federal and state laws and the rights of the Plaintiff herein.

COUNT I – TRANS UNION and EXPERIAN

VIOLATIONS OF THE FCRA

  1. Plaintiff incorporates the foregoing paragraphs as though the same were set forth at length herein.
  2. At all times pertinent hereto, Trans Union and Experian were “persons” and “consumer reporting agencies” as those terms are defined by 15 U.S.C. § 1681a(b) and (f).
  3. At all times pertinent hereto, Plaintiff was a “consumer” as that term is defined by 15 U.S.C. § 1681a(c).
  4. At all times pertinent hereto, the above-mentioned credit reports were “consumer reports” as that term is defined by 15 U.S.C. § 1681a(d).
  5. Pursuant to 15 U.S.C. §1681n and 15 U.S.C. §1681o, Trans Union and Experian are liable to the Plaintiff for willfully and negligently failing to comply with the requirements imposed on a consumer reporting agency of information pursuant to 15 U.S.C. §§ 1681c-2, 1681e and 1681i.
  6. The conduct of Trans Union and Experian was a direct and proximate cause, as well as a substantial factor, in bringing about the serious injuries, actual damages and harm to Plaintiff that are outlined more fully above and, as a result, Trans Union and Experian are liable to Plaintiff for the full amount of statutory, actual and punitive damages, along with the attorney’s fees and the costs of litigation, as well as such further relief, as may be permitted by law.

Count II – CAPITAL ONE, hsbc AND gemb

VIOLATIONS OF THE FCRA

  1. Plaintiff incorporates the foregoing paragraphs as though the same were set forth at length herein.
  2. At all times pertinent hereto Capital One, HSBC and GEMB were each a “person” as that term defined by 15 U.S.C. § 1681a(b).
  3. Capital One, HSBC and GEMB violated sections 1681n and 1681o of the FCRA by willfully and negligently failing to comply with the requirements imposed on furnishers of information pursuant to 15 U.S.C. §1681s-2(b).
  4. Capital One, HSBC and GEMB’s conduct was a direct and proximate cause, as well as a substantial factor, in causing the serious injuries, damages and harm to the Plaintiff that are outlined more fully above, and as a result Capital One, HSBC and GEMB are liable to compensate Plaintiff for the full amount of statutory, actual and punitive damages, along with attorney’s fees and costs, as well as such other relief, permitted by law.

JURY TRIAL DEMAND

33.       Plaintiff demands trial by jury on all issues so triable.

PRAYER FOR RELIEF

WHEREFORE, Plaintiff seeks judgment in Plaintiff’s favor and damages against the Defendants, based on the following requested relief:

(a)                Actual damages;

(b)               Statutory damages;

(c)                Punitive damages;

(d)               Costs and reasonable attorney’s fees pursuant to 15 U.S.C. §§ 1681n, 1681o; and

(e)                Such other and further relief as may be necessary, just and proper.

Respectfully Submitted,

FRANCIS & MAILMAN, P.C.

BY:     /s/ Mark Mailman

MARK MAILMAN, ESQUIRE

JOHN SOUMILAS, ESQUIRE

ERIN NOVAK, ESQUIRE

Land Title Building, 19th Floor

100 South Broad Street

Philadelphia, PA 19110

(215) 735-8600

Attorneys for Plaintiff