Equifax’s $30 million settlement over hard-inquiry disputes is estimated to pay about $100 to $400 per valid claim, depending on which of three groups a claimant falls into. The deal covers roughly 3 million people who disputed a hard inquiry, the entry a lender leaves on a credit file after pulling a report. The lawsuits say Equifax answered those disputes with a form letter instead of removing the inquiry. Claims close November 29, opting out ends November 20, and a federal court in New York holds the final approval hearing December 10. Equifax denies wrongdoing, and no money moves until the judge signs off.
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Membership depends on what Equifax’s own files show. The certified group is anyone in the United States or its territories who mailed Equifax a dispute between October 4, 2016 and March 27, 2026, had it coded “not mine” or “unauthorized,” and received a letter containing the code “Cons Comm 664.” The general dispute group is anyone whose records show a hard-inquiry dispute received between August 31, 2021 and March 27, 2026. Certified members with a New York address who got the letter between November 27, 2017 and September 10, 2024 also join a New York subclass. Each class member files with the claim number and PIN printed on the notice.
The Equifax claim turns on a claim number, a sworn statement of harm and a November 29 filing date. The Settlement & Refund Recovery System lays out a step-by-step filing walkthrough and the four-date rule for reading a settlement notice, so the November 20, November 29 and December 10 dates are sorted before anything is submitted.
File the Equifax inquiry-dispute claim step by step with the Settlement & Refund Recovery System →
How three groups split the money
The settlement agreement divides payments by points, and the estimates follow the points exactly. A certified group member gets 3 points, a certified member with a New York address gets 4, and everyone else, including the general dispute group, gets 1. Each claimant’s payment equals their points divided by all points filed. That is why the estimates run about $300, $400 and $100: a 3-to-4-to-1 ratio applied to whatever the pool holds. The figures rest on typical claims rates, so they could land higher or lower if more or fewer people file.
Nobody has to send receipts. The claim form is a sworn statement, in which the claimant certifies under penalty of perjury that a hard inquiry was disputed and that the inquiry caused an economic loss, a loss of privacy or another negative consequence, or that a company denied credit because of it. Claims go in online, and the agreement allows a paper form after identity validation. The administrator, Continental DataLogix, takes questions at 833-244-4150.
What the lawsuits say Equifax did with the disputes
Four lawsuits, filed in New York, Georgia, New Jersey and Oregon, were folded into one settlement led by Hines v. Equifax Information Services, No. 1:19-cv-06701 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. The plaintiffs, Duane Hines, Mark Neubauer, Brian Oblack and Francisco Rivera, say consumers told Equifax a lender had pulled their reports without permission. They allege Equifax neither contacted the requesting companies nor removed the inquiries. Instead, the suits say, it mailed a letter stating: “Inquiries are a factual record of file access. If you believe this was unauthorized, please contact the creditor.”
The claims rest on the Fair Credit Reporting Act and similar New York and New Jersey laws. Federal Trade Commission guidance describes what a dispute is meant to set off: the credit bureau has 30 days to investigate, forwards the consumer’s evidence to the business that reported the item, and must send the results in writing, along with a free updated report if the file changed. Equifax “has denied and continues to deny” the allegations, according to the settlement agreement, which says the company settled to avoid the cost of continued litigation.
Where the $30 million goes before claimants
No part of the $30 million returns to Equifax. Class counsel from Francis Mailman Soumilas, led by James Francis, John Soumilas and Lauren Brennan, may ask the court for up to $10 million in fees and $260,000 in costs. Service awards to the four named plaintiffs total up to $60,000, with $20,000 each for Hines and Rivera and $10,000 each for Neubauer and Oblack. Subtract those ceilings and about $19.7 million remains for claimants, before notice and administration costs.
Two installments fund the deal: $1.5 million within seven days of preliminary approval, granted August 5, for notice and administration, and $28.5 million within ten days after the settlement takes effect. Payments wait for final approval and the end of any appeals. Checks arrive on paper unless the claimant chose electronic payment, and they void after 60 days. Anyone who cashes a first payment may get a second one of at least $10 if money remains, and leftover funds go to consumer-focused nonprofits chosen jointly by the two sides.
The December 10 hearing is where the judge decides whether the settlement is fair, and the November 20 opt-out and objection date comes first. Class members who stay in, whether or not they file a claim, give up claims over hard-inquiry disputes under the Fair Credit Reporting Act once the deal takes effect, including claims they do not know about. Opting out keeps the right to sue individually but forfeits any payment. Objectors stay in the class and tell the court what they dislike.
Filing by November 29 and settling the group question
The settlement’s claim site, EquifaxDisputeClassAction.com, takes the online claim form, and a PDF form is available there for mailing to Hines v. Equifax, c/o Settlement Administrator, P.O. Box 16, West Point, PA 19486. A claimant needs the claim number and PIN from the notice. Anyone unsure whether a dispute falls inside the dates can call Continental DataLogix at 833-244-4150 or write to questions@EquifaxDisputeClassAction.com before filing.
Because the claim is sworn, the line between groups matters. The general dispute group needs only a dispute received between August 31, 2021 and March 27, 2026, while the certified group needs a mailed dispute coded “not mine” or “unauthorized” plus the Cons Comm 664 letter. People who never disputed a hard inquiry are not in the class, and the notice warns against filing if the description does not fit.
One number is still unknown: how many of the roughly 3 million class members file. The estimates of $100, $300 and $400 assume typical claims rates, and the $19.7 million left after the fee ceilings is the pool they draw from. A low filing rate would lift every payment and a high one would cut them. The December 10 hearing is the first point at which the court can change the fee request that sets the size of that pool.
Three payment groups, one November 29 filing date
A missed filing date ends a claim in a settlement like this one, and the Equifax claim is only one of many open at once. MoneyPilot lists open class-action settlements and shows which ones may match a person, files claim forms on a member’s behalf, and tracks deadlines and payout status. It is a paid subscription service.
Track open class-action claims, the Equifax one included, with MoneyPilot →
This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by The Money Overview’s editorial team.
