Apparently, the great State of Missouri is the defendant in a lawsuit involving our favorite (that’s sarcastic) credit reporting agency — ChexSystems.  Yep, Missouri faces damages of to $250 Million (or more) if a recent class action suit is successful.

Here’s what happened. Back in 2008, a group of class action plaintiffs claimed that several agencies illegally obtained a database from the Missouri Department of Motor Vehicles.  The plaintiffs claim the database had confidential information about Missouri drivers.

A Federal Law (the Federal Driver’s Privacy Protection Act) makes it illegal to sell driver’s license information.  The plaintiffs claim the State of Missouri sold the data illegally (to ChexSystems) and that ChexSystems acted improperly in getting the data.

Here’s a quote from the Courthouse News Service article about this matter:

Mitchell Burgess, the plaintiffs’ attorney, said the damages could be staggering. He said federal law provides for damages of up to $2,500 a person. If 100,000 people are affected, then damages could hit $250 million.
The suit states that the class could number in the millions.
Burgess said Missouri cannot be sued under the statute, but that people who work for the state could. He said 10 DMV workers were named as defendants in the Source for Public Data suit, including Omar Davis, director of the Missouri Department of Revenue. No DMV workers were named as defendants in the Chexsystems suit.
“It seemed unnecessary to bring them into this case,” Burgess said. “It seemed like a waste of resources to all parties to bring in the 10 defendants from the other case. … It’s all going to be addressed. It seemed like trying to squeeze blood from a turnip at that point.”
The workers’ inclusion means the State of Missouri could be liable for some or all of the damages.

It’s amazing how aggressive credit reporting agencies and other data providers are in trying to get more data about us. Maybe they should spend a little more time and effort to make sure that the data they do have is accurate and up to date.

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Related ChexSystems Banking Information:

1. ChexSystems, Inc. — Who Are They?
2. On ChexSystems List? Know Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act
3. Will New Overdraft Rules Increase the Number of People on the ChexSystems List?
4. Is the Number of People with ChexSystems Problems on the Rise?
5. ChexSystems Ends Partnership with the GetChecking Program

Tagged as: ChexSystems, missouri, suit