Equifax Class Action Lawsuit
Equifax allegedly reported the same collection account more than once on certain consumer credit reports, in violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Equifax denies it.
What happens next with the Equifax settlement
The claim deadline passed on August 30, 2026. New claims for this settlement are no longer being accepted.
The court held its approval hearing on October 6, 2026. That was the final approval hearing, where a judge decides whether to approve the settlement. Nothing is paid out until that approval is final.
Payments come after approval, and after any appeals. Anyone who objected to the settlement can ask a higher court to look at it again — an appeal — and that has to finish first. Eligible payments are sent once approval is final, and the stretch from a claim deadline to money in hand often runs a year or more. It varies from one settlement to the next.
Filed this claim with Chimo? The status of your claim is on the claims page in your account.
Settlements you can still claim in November 2026
Visa & Mastercard
$380
Generic Drug Makers
$59
Simplilearn
$120
Equifax Class Action Lawsuit
Charmayne Bradberry, a Georgia resident, sued Equifax Information Services, LLC, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia on December 1, 2022, saying the credit bureau violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act by reporting the same collection account more than once on her consumer report. She alleged Equifax violated FCRA section 1681e(b) by failing to follow reasonable procedures to assure the maximum possible accuracy of information in consumer reports. Bradberry, represented by Francis Mailman Soumilas, P.C., and Marcus & Zelman, LLC, argued that Equifax's system let a single collection account appear more than once on the same file, artificially worsening a consumer's credit picture. Equifax has denied any wrongdoing throughout the case, and the court did not decide who was right. After roughly three years of litigation the parties reached a settlement without any admission of liability.
Equifax Class Action Settlement - $2,200,000
In the Equifax duplicate account reporting settlement, Equifax agreed to resolve the claims for $2,200,000 in cash, plus a separate $425,000 attorneys' fee award tied to practice changes the company already put in place. The fund also pays attorneys' fees of $733,333.33, litigation costs of up to $75,000, and administration. The settlement covers 37,651 U.S. consumers who Equifax's own records show were mailed a "Duplicate Reporting Letter" in August or September 2022, informing them a collection account may have appeared twice on their file. Beyond the cash fund, Equifax agreed to keep its duplicate-reporting fixes in place for six months, remove any remaining duplicate collection accounts from class members' files, and give class members who did not opt out six months of "Equifax Complete" credit monitoring at no cost to them, valued at $59.70 and including up to $500,000 in identity-theft expense coverage. The claim deadline was September 1, 2026. New claims can no longer be filed. The credit monitoring needed no claim form. A final approval hearing was scheduled for October 6, 2026, before Judge Michael L. Brown in Atlanta.
Claims closed: August 30, 2026
Duplicate Account Reporting Class Action Payout: Up to $600 (Estimated)
There's no flat amount in this one — the Equifax settlement amount per person for the cash portion depends on how many valid claims came in, but the notice estimated payments of up to $600 per eligible claimant. Under the settlement, class members who did not opt out are to receive an access code for six months of Equifax Complete credit monitoring once the settlement is final, without filing a claim, but the cash payment required filing a claim by September 1, 2026, and checking at least one box confirming the specific harm experienced — either that Equifax sent a report showing the duplicate account to a third party, or that the duplicate account contributed to an actual credit denial. Claimants chose how to be paid: PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, a virtual prepaid card, or a mailed paper check. A final approval hearing was scheduled for October 6, 2026. Payments are made to eligible claimants only after the court grants final approval and any appeals are resolved, so there's no fixed payout date. Questions about a payment go to the settlement administrator listed on the official settlement website rather than to Equifax or the court.
Duplicate Account Reporting Class Action Eligibility
Eligibility for this Equifax class action was unusually narrow: you're only in the class if Equifax's own records identify you as having been mailed a Duplicate Reporting Letter in August or September 2022, and no one outside that list is in the class. Class members who did not opt out are eligible for the credit monitoring. To be eligible for the cash payment, a class member also had to affirm at least one specific harm from the duplicate account (a report sent to a third party, or a credit denial it contributed to). The class excludes Equifax and its officers, directors, and affiliates, the presiding judge and judicial staff, and anyone who opted out of the settlement class. The claim form itself asked two things: which harm or harms you experienced, and your preferred payment method among PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, virtual prepaid card, or check. It was signed under penalty of perjury.
FAQ
Membership isn't based on self-identifying as a customer — it's based entirely on Equifax's own records of who was mailed a Duplicate Reporting Letter in August or September 2022. According to those records, Equifax sent the letter to 37,651 people.
It's the notice Equifax sent to consumers in 2022 disclosing that a collection account may have appeared more than once on their credit file at the same time a third party made an inquiry.
The $2.2 million fund also pays attorneys' fees of $733,333.33, costs of up to $75,000, and administration. What is left is divided among eligible claimants who filed valid claims, so the per-person amount depends on how many claimed. The notice estimated up to $600.
Class members who did nothing stay in the settlement. If it becomes final, they are to receive an access code for six months of Equifax Complete credit monitoring, valued at $59.70, and they give up the right to sue Equifax over these claims. They are not eligible for a cash payment.
It includes six months of Equifax Complete, so class members can monitor their reports and scores and get alerts for key changes, plus up to $500,000 in coverage for certain out-of-pocket expenses related to identity theft.
Class counsel, the lawyers appointed to represent the class, asked for $733,333.33 (one-third of the cash fund) for the cash and credit monitoring part of the settlement, paid from the fund, plus a separate $425,000 that Equifax pays on its own in connection with the changes it made to its duplicate-reporting practices.
Anyone who excluded themselves by September 1, 2026, kept the right to sue Equifax individually over the same duplicate-reporting issue, but is not eligible for a cash payment or the credit monitoring from this settlement.
Claimants chose PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, a virtual prepaid card, or a mailed check on the claim form. Without an electronic choice, payments to eligible claimants are mailed as a paper check to the address Equifax has on file.
Claimants had to check at least one box confirming they experienced either a duplicate account being reported to a third party or a credit denial connected to it, and sign the claim under penalty of perjury.
A final approval hearing was scheduled for October 6, 2026. Payments are made to eligible claimants only after the court grants final approval and any appeals are resolved, so there's no set date.
Sources
These are the court's own records for this case. They are hosted here unchanged, so you can check anything on this page against the documents themselves.
- Equifax Duplicate Account Class Action Complaint (PDF) Complaint · Filed December 1, 2022 · U.S. District Court, Northern District of Georgia (Atlanta Division) · Case 1:22-cv-04754-MLB
- Equifax Duplicate Account Class Action Order Preliminarily Approving Settlement and Directing Notice to the Class (PDF) Court order · Filed May 4, 2026 · U.S. District Court, Northern District of Georgia (Atlanta Division) · Case 1:22-cv-04754-MLB
The full case file is on the court docket: view the docket.