Equifax 2007 Annual Report Download - page 30

NCRA/Standfacts Litigation. On March 25, 2004, the National
Credit Reporting Association, Inc., or NCRA, a trade association
of mortgage credit information resellers, and, separately, 23 of
NCRA’s members, commenced suits against Equifax, Experian
and TransUnion alleging various violations of antitrust and unfair
practices laws. After a variety of rulings on procedural and substan-
tive issues, including grants on two occasions of all or part of
defendants’ motions to dismiss, the remaining claims of all plaintiffs
have been consolidated under a Third Amended Complaint, fi led
June 29, 2005, in an action captioned Standfacts Credit Services,
et al. v. Experian Information Solutions, Inc., Equifax Inc., and
TransUnion, LLC, pending in the U.S District Court for the Central
District of California. The amended complaint seeks injunctive
relief and unspecifi ed amounts of damages. In 2005, the District
Court granted defendants’ motions to dismiss all claims except for
one remaining Sherman Act, Section 1 conspiracy claim. In late
2006, 19 of the 23 original plaintiffs were dismissed from the case
by agreement. On January 18, 2007, the District Court entered a
fi nal order pursuant to stipulation of the parties dismissing all
remaining claims of plaintiffs, with prejudice, and preserving only
the right of certain plaintiffs to appeal the previous dismissal by the
District Court of certain monopolization claims to the U.S. Court
of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Plaintiffs fi led their notice of
appeal with the Ninth Circuit on February 15, 2007. The appellate
briefi ng is scheduled to be completed in early 2008.
VantageScore Litigation. On March 14, 2006, Equifax and two other
national credit reporting companies announced the development
of VantageScore, a credit scoring system. VantageScore is being
independently marketed and sold separately by Equifax and the
two other national credit reporting companies through licensing
agreements with VantageScore Solutions LLC, which is jointly
owned by Equifax and the two other national credit reporting
companies. On October 11, 2006, in an action captioned Fair Isaac
Corporation v. Equifax Inc., Experian Information Solutions, Inc.,
TransUnion LLC and VantageScore Solutions LLC, Fair Isaac
Corporation fi led a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District
of Minnesota, alleging that the national credit reporting companies
and VantageScore Solutions LLC violated antitrust laws, engaged
in unfair competitive practices and false advertising and infringed
plaintiff’s trademark by using a credit score product with a score
range that overlaps the FICO® score range. Plaintiff seeks injunctive
relief and treble damages under its antitrust claims. The defendants
have fi led answers denying the claims. The magistrate judge has
entered a scheduling order setting the close of all discovery by
July 2008 and a trial readiness date of February 1, 2009. Equifax
believes the lawsuit is without merit and will vigorously defend
itself and VantageScore Solutions LLC against these claims.
California Bankruptcy Litigation. In a series of actions fi led in
the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
between October 14, 2005 and November 2, 2005 which have
now been consolidated, captioned Terri N. White, et al. v. Equifax
Information Services LLC, Jose Hernandez v. Equifax Information
Services LLC, Kathryn L. Pike v. Equifax Information Services
LLC, and Jose L. Acosta, Jr., et al. v. Trans Union LLC, et al.,
plaintiffs asserted that Equifax violated federal and state law (the
FCRA, the California Credit Reporting Act and the California
Unfair Competition Law) by failing to follow reasonable procedures
to determine whether credit accounts are discharged in bankruptcy,
including the method for updating the status of an account following
a bankruptcy discharge. The Pike plaintiff asserts only that Equifax’s
conduct violated the California Credit Reporting Act. On May 15,
2007, plaintiffs fi led motions seeking to certify a nationwide class
of similarly situated consumers. Plaintiffs seek unspecifi ed damages
and injunctive relief. Defendants have responded to these motions,
and a hearing on these motions is scheduled for March 12, 2008.
Discovery is ongoing.
Other. Equifax has been named as a defendant in various other
legal actions, including administrative claims, class actions and
other litigation arising in connection with our business. Some of
the legal actions include claims for substantial compensatory or
punitive damages or claims for indeterminate amounts of damages.
We believe we have strong defenses to, and where appropriate,
will vigorously contest, many of these matters. Given the number
of these matters, some are likely to result in adverse judgments,
penalties, injunctions, fi nes or other relief. However, we do not
believe that these litigation matters will be individually material
to our fi nancial condition or results of operations. We may explore
potential settlements before a case is taken through trial because
of the uncertainty and risks inherent in the litigation process.
For information regarding contingent tax claims raised by the
Canada Revenue Agency, and our accounting for legal contingencies,
see Note 5 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in
this Form 10-K.
Item 4.
SUBMISSION OF MATTERS TO
A VOTE OF SECURITY HOLDERS
No matters were submitted to a vote of our security holders during
the fourth quarter of 2007.
28 EQUIFAX | 2007 ANNUAL REPORT