Chicago Business Litigation Lawyer Blog
Our credit rating is too important to take any chances on it. All it takes is one bad report to lower your rating, which can then inhibit your ability to obtain a loan and make any large purchases you might need, such as a home or automobile. Unfortunately, such a situation can open opportunities for companies to practically hold consumers’ credit ratings hostage until they pay their bill – even an undated bill to which the customer was never alerted.
That’s what Mandi H. alleges happened after she canceled her account with CenturyLink at the end of 2015 as a result of poor service. At the time, her account showed Century Link owed her $26 and she did not receive any other bills or communication from CenturyLink.
It wasn’t until a few months later that Mandi H.’s credit-reporting services alerted her to the fact that there was a negative report on her credit history from a company called “CenturyTel.” Hanifen did not recognize the name, but she investigated and found it was an older name for CenturyLink. When she confronted CenturyLink, Hanifen alleges they showed her a bill for $127 – the bill contained no date and Mandi H. alleges she had never seen the bill before that time. Nevertheless, CenturyLink allegedly refused remove their negative credit report on her history and continues to demand she pay a bill she insists she never received.
Rather than pay the bill, Mandi H. has opted to sue CenturyLink. She is the lead representative for a proposed class action consumer lawsuit that was recently filed against CenturyLink in Boise, Idaho. The complaint alleges there could be as many as 5 million potential class members, with damages totaling between $600 million and $12 billion. Continue reading ›