MFI-Miami Blog

Federal Trade Commission Warns Equifax Victims They Will See Smaller Settlement Checks The Federal Trade Commission is facing an issue over the Equifax settlement. Droves of Equifax victims are choosing a $125 cash payment over credit monitoring. Consumers are blowing up the math of the mega-settlement announced July 22. The FTC is now saying Equifax victims will see lower settlement checks. The FTC sent out  statements  last week including a press release and a  blog post  assuring victims a payment was still a choice. However, they urged people to chose the credit monitoring. The statements also said the actual amount would be much smaller than the $125 initially offered. The FTC claims they hadn’t foreseen that so many people would want the cash. As a result, the FTC promised the payment-seekers,  “You will be disappointed.” Read more at MFI-Miami

Credit Reporting Agency Equifax To Pay $650 Million Settlement With Federal Trade Commission Credit reporting agency Equifax will  pay around $650 million  to settle with the Federal Trade Commission. The credit reporting agency experienced a massive data breach in 2017. The breach exposed Social Security numbers and other private information of nearly 150 million people. The  Wall Street Journal said  the settlement could be announced as soon as Monday. Equifax declined to comment. The report says the deal would resolve investigations by the FTC and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. It would also end investigations by most state attorneys general. It would also resolve a nationwide consumer class-action lawsuit. Spokesmen for the FTC and the CFPB didn’t immediately return messages seeking comment Friday night. Read more at MFI-Miami

Equifax Spanking Is Coming By The CFPB And Federal Trade Commission Over Mass Data Breach An Equifax spanking is coming! The company is expecting various forms of punishment from both the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission. The spanking is from the credit reporting agency’s  massive data breach  that exposed the  personal information  of 148 million U.S. consumers to hackers last year. The company revealed the expected sanctions in a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Equifax states the CFPB and FTC have both notified the company that they expect to seek injunctive relief damages in regards to the data breach.  The company added that it will cooperate with the agencies in their investigations. The company did not provide an expected timeline for when the potential punishment will be announced, but the fact that the CFPB is seeking to levy a fine against t...

Credit Freezes aka The Equifax Rule Allows Consumers To Put A Freeze On Who Can Pull Information  Consumers can now freeze their credit at all three of the major credit reporting agencies for free. The new rule went into effect yesterday. Industry insiders are dubbing it the “Equifax rule.” The  massive data breach  at Equifax led to a  push  to ban credit reporting agencies from charging to freeze someone’s credit. Each state had different rules about credit freezes. Some states allowed agencies to charge up to $10 to place a credit freeze. States also allowed credit agencies to charge $10 to lift the freeze. Not anymore. The Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act bans the practice. The act was signed into law by President Trump  earlier this year. Read more at MFI-Miami