5 ms·

Thanks for posting this. My wife and I already have credit monitoring so we’ve been very frustrated that it seems like Equifax will be weaseling out of paying u

Thanks for posting this. My wife and I already have credit monitoring so we’ve been very frustrated that it seems like Equifax will be weaseling out of paying us our $125 each. We’ll be sending a couple of letters today. Personally I’d like to see the courts rethink the settlement and force the $125 payout to everyone who requested it.

thedanbob 7y ago
I'd like to see the courts force Equifax to pay $X to everyone whose information they leaked, whether they request it or not. But this settlement doesn't seem to be about actually punishing Equifax at all or fairly recompensing those affected.
- mehrdadn 7y ago
  > I'd like to see the courts force Equifax to pay $X to everyone whose information they leaked, whether they request it or not. Unfortunately I'm not sure that's an option: "You can’t ask the Court to order a larger settlement; the Court can only approve or deny the settlement as it is."
  - ceejayoz 7y ago
    Denying the settlement leaves open the possibility of a larger one. The court just can't order the subsequent negotiation have a specific result.
    - mehrdadn 7y ago
      Which is not what the parent comment was going for. It said, "I'd like to see the courts force Equifax [...]".
      - prophesi 7y ago
        Now it's just semantics. Denying the current settlement would inevitably result in a larger settlement, unless everyone appealing to the courts is saying that the $125 repayment is too much.
        mehrdadn 7y ago
        How is this just semantics? If they have to do things over, they might just reach a different settlement than paying individual people $X. Or heck, there's always a chance they won't agree and will have to battle it out in court. Or maybe something else that I can't think of. It might be likely that they'd come up with a better payment, but it seems far inevitable to me.
        doingmyting 7y ago
        I think that's the point of saying "I'd like to see ...". It's more of a wish or hope
- the_watcher 7y ago
  This is a very, very imperfect method of figuring out the key question here ("Would Equifax just file for bankruptcy?"), but their enterprise value is ~$20B, and paying out $125 per person would cost over $18B, so it seems pretty clear you'd need to reduce the per person payout. It would take more work than I can put in right now to decide what it should be, but finger in the wind halving it seems like the right starting point.
  - bdamm 7y ago
    Bankruptcy seems quite appropriate. They not only failed to maintain the security of the data, they also provided no identity theft protection to the public (unless you asked for it), and as a company appeared to have no plan for this event. Given that they were entrusted with the identity data for basically all Americans, that is inexcusable.
    - the_watcher 7y ago
      Sorry, should have been more clear: I wasn't commenting on whether or not bankruptcy is fair to Equifax or not, I was meant "Would Equifax avoid paying the money out via bankruptcy protections (from which companies can actually emerge from in better position)?" I assumed the OP cared primarily about receiving the settlement.
    - ptero 7y ago
      > Bankruptcy seems quite appropriate. Hmm... Would not they just file for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, restructure their debts (i.e., write those pesky $125 payments off), then emerge in a better shape than they were?
      - mffnbs 7y ago
        (i.e., write those pesky $125 payments off) What does that mean? As far as I know, you can't just announce that you're "writing off" debts and have them magically disappear.
        7y ago
knicholes 7y ago
Is it just me who thinks that $125 would hardly cover the cost of dealing with a stolen identity?
- the_watcher 7y ago
  You could file for additional compensation based on documented damages (time, cost, etc). I'm not sure if that came from a separate settlement or not (doubtful) or if the documentation requirements are even more onerous (likely), but there was definitely an option to do this.
  - nkozyra 7y ago
    Depending on how much you asked I suspect the documentation required would scale but at a certain threshold they'd probably just pay an individual $300 with minimal documentation. But who knows, they've been pretty craven and uncaring throughout. CRAs are not very good companies, honestly.
- qrbLPHiKpiux 7y ago
  As Martin said in the Simpsons, “as a bundle we form a mighty faggot.”

thedanbob 7y ago

I'd like to see the courts force Equifax to pay $X to everyone whose information they leaked, whether they request it or not. But this settlement doesn't seem to be about actually punishing Equifax at all or fairly recompensing those affected.

mehrdadn 7y ago
> I'd like to see the courts force Equifax to pay $X to everyone whose information they leaked, whether they request it or not. Unfortunately I'm not sure that's an option: "You can’t ask the Court to order a larger settlement; the Court can only approve or deny the settlement as it is."
- ceejayoz 7y ago
  Denying the settlement leaves open the possibility of a larger one. The court just can't order the subsequent negotiation have a specific result.
  - mehrdadn 7y ago
    Which is not what the parent comment was going for. It said, "I'd like to see the courts force Equifax [...]".
    - prophesi 7y ago
      Now it's just semantics. Denying the current settlement would inevitably result in a larger settlement, unless everyone appealing to the courts is saying that the $125 repayment is too much.
      - mehrdadn 7y ago
        How is this just semantics? If they have to do things over, they might just reach a different settlement than paying individual people $X. Or heck, there's always a chance they won't agree and will have to battle it out in court. Or maybe something else that I can't think of. It might be likely that they'd come up with a better payment, but it seems far inevitable to me.
        doingmyting 7y ago
        I think that's the point of saying "I'd like to see ...". It's more of a wish or hope
the_watcher 7y ago
This is a very, very imperfect method of figuring out the key question here ("Would Equifax just file for bankruptcy?"), but their enterprise value is ~$20B, and paying out $125 per person would cost over $18B, so it seems pretty clear you'd need to reduce the per person payout. It would take more work than I can put in right now to decide what it should be, but finger in the wind halving it seems like the right starting point.
- bdamm 7y ago
  Bankruptcy seems quite appropriate. They not only failed to maintain the security of the data, they also provided no identity theft protection to the public (unless you asked for it), and as a company appeared to have no plan for this event. Given that they were entrusted with the identity data for basically all Americans, that is inexcusable.
  - the_watcher 7y ago
    Sorry, should have been more clear: I wasn't commenting on whether or not bankruptcy is fair to Equifax or not, I was meant "Would Equifax avoid paying the money out via bankruptcy protections (from which companies can actually emerge from in better position)?" I assumed the OP cared primarily about receiving the settlement.
  - ptero 7y ago
    > Bankruptcy seems quite appropriate. Hmm... Would not they just file for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, restructure their debts (i.e., write those pesky $125 payments off), then emerge in a better shape than they were?
    - mffnbs 7y ago
      (i.e., write those pesky $125 payments off) What does that mean? As far as I know, you can't just announce that you're "writing off" debts and have them magically disappear.
      - 7y ago

knicholes 7y ago

Is it just me who thinks that $125 would hardly cover the cost of dealing with a stolen identity?

the_watcher 7y ago
You could file for additional compensation based on documented damages (time, cost, etc). I'm not sure if that came from a separate settlement or not (doubtful) or if the documentation requirements are even more onerous (likely), but there was definitely an option to do this.
- nkozyra 7y ago
  Depending on how much you asked I suspect the documentation required would scale but at a certain threshold they'd probably just pay an individual $300 with minimal documentation. But who knows, they've been pretty craven and uncaring throughout. CRAs are not very good companies, honestly.
qrbLPHiKpiux 7y ago
As Martin said in the Simpsons, “as a bundle we form a mighty faggot.”