Sun Gong Kang v. Credit Bureau Connection Inc.
Published: Oct. 6, 2023 | Result Date: Jun. 1, 2023 | Filing Date: Oct. 2, 2018 |Case number: 1:18-cv-01359-SKO Settlement – Reimbursement
Judge
Court
USDC Eastern District of California
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Michael A. Caddell
(Caddell & Chapman)
Defendant
Jeffrey E. Faucette
(Skaggs Faucette LLP)
Facts
Plaintiff Sung Gon Kang filed this lawsuit on behalf of himself and other similarly situated consumers, under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act and California's Consumer Credit Reporting Agencies against Defendant Credit Bureau Connection, Inc. ("CBC"). CBC sells credit reports that help automobile dealers manage the regulatory compliance obligations that accompany every consumer car purchase. One of the obligations derives from a Treasury Department Office of Foreign Assets Control regulation that prohibits dealers from doing business with anyone designated as a "Specially Designated National" ("SDN"), such terrorists, drug traffickers, and other persons acting on behalf of targeted countries or entities. To determine whether a consumer is an OFAC Hit, CBC uses a "similar name" algorithm script that runs the consumer's name against a copy of the SDN list downloaded on its servers. Kang was a consumer whose name inaccurately came up as an OFAC Hit on a credit report sold by CBC to Norm Reeves Honda. After Norm Reeves Honda denied Kang credit in front of his father and sister, Kang felt embarrassed, ashamed, and angry. He later learned that CBC incorrectly matched him with an SDN corresponding to a North Korean SDN named Song Nam Kang. He brought claims alleging that CBC failed to follow reasonable procedures to assure the maximum possible accuracy of the consumer information included in its OFAC Check documents and failed to disclose upon request all information in consumer files.
Result
The case settled: $1,000 for each class member; $25,000 administrator; administration expenses $44,000; $15,000 service award; attorney's fees up to $1.62 million
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