Equifax Duplicate Account FCRA Settlement Explained
At a glance
- Status
- Open
- Defendant
- Equifax Information Services LLC
- Settlement fund
- $2,200,000
- Claim deadline
- September 1, 2026
- No-proof cash option
- Yes — 6 months Equifax Complete credit monitoring (automatic), or up to cash payment up to $600 with valid claim
- Max documented payout
- $600
- Administrator
- Angeion Group
- Official site
- www.duplicateaccountfcrasettlement.com
- Court
- U.S. District Court, Northern District of Georgia
- Case number
- 1:22-cv-04754-MLB (Bradberry v. Equifax Information Services LLC), No. 1:22-cv-04754-MLB
Last verified July 16, 2026
Key dates
| Milestone | Date | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Claim deadline | September 1, 2026 | Last day to file for a payment |
| Opt-out (exclusion) deadline | September 1, 2026 | Last day to leave the settlement and keep the right to sue |
| Objection deadline | September 1, 2026 | Last day to object to the terms |
| Final approval hearing | October 6, 2026 | When the judge decides whether to approve the settlement |
| Expected payout | Not yet scheduled | Payments are not sent until after final approval and any appeals |
Where to file
Equifax Duplicate Account FCRA Settlement is administered by Angeion Group. The only place to file is the official settlement website:
File at the official sitewww.duplicateaccountfcrasettlement.com
Filing is free. No legitimate settlement charges a fee to file a claim.
You cannot file on RecordingLaw.com. We are an independent publisher, not the settlement administrator, and we are not affiliated with any court, agency, or defendant.
What happened
Equifax Information Services LLC is accused of sending duplicate collection-account reporting letters to certain consumers in August and September 2022. The lawsuit, styled Bradberry v. Equifax Information Services LLC, is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, case No. 1:22-cv-04754-MLB.
This is not a data breach. Nobody hacked Equifax or stole files. The claim is about how Equifax generated and sent collection-account letters, allegedly duplicating notices in a way that made a debt appear on a consumer's file more than once, an alleged violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the federal law that governs how credit reporting agencies must handle and report consumer information. Equifax has not admitted wrongdoing, and the settlement resolves the claims without a trial.
Where the case stands right now
As of July 2026, this settlement is active with an open claims window. The claim deadline, the deadline to exclude yourself from the class (opt out), and the deadline to object are all the same date, Sept. 1, 2026. Opting out and objecting are still different actions: opting out removes you from the class and any settlement benefit, while objecting keeps you in the class while telling the court you disagree with its terms. Both share the Sept. 1, 2026 deadline.
The court has scheduled a final approval hearing for Oct. 6, 2026 at 10:00 a.m., in Courtroom 1906 of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia in Atlanta. Until the judge grants final approval at or after that hearing, no payments go out, so there is no payment date to report yet.
Who is in the class
The class is specific and easy to test yourself against: roughly 37,000 individuals nationwide who received a duplicate collection-account reporting letter from Equifax in August or September 2022. If you did not receive such a letter in that two-month window, you are not likely part of this settlement.
Equifax or the settlement administrator, Angeion Group, should have mailed or emailed a notice to class members. That notice carries a Notice ID beginning with the letters 'EQB' along with a PIN, both of which are needed to file a claim online. If you believe you are a class member but cannot find your notice, the official settlement site has a lookup tool rather than a general customer service line documented here.
How much you could get
The realistic outcome for most class members is the automatic benefit: 6 months of Equifax Complete credit monitoring, which requires no claim form and no action. It is applied automatically to eligible class members who do not opt out.
Class members who would rather have cash instead of monitoring can file a claim for a payment instead, capped at up to $600. That $600 figure is a ceiling, not a typical payout. The settlement draws from a common fund, so the actual per-claimant amount depends on how many people file valid claims and what the court approves for attorneys' fees and costs, and it is adjusted pro rata across everyone who claims. Most people who file will get less than the maximum, and no specific dollar amount is guaranteed to any individual claimant.
A free credit freeze at all three major credit bureaus is stronger protection than either option here, and it costs nothing regardless of whether you file a claim, so it is worth doing first no matter what you decide about the settlement itself.
What proof is needed
No proof is needed to receive the automatic 6 months of credit monitoring. It is applied without a claim form to class members who do not exclude themselves.
To request the cash payment instead, you need to file a claim using the Notice ID and PIN from your settlement notice. The $600 figure sits under a documented-loss framework, so the claim form may ask you to describe or support the impact of receiving the duplicate letter. The exact documentation requirements are set out on the claim form itself, not summarized here, since the record does not spell out every field.
How to file
Filing happens only through the official settlement website, using the Notice ID and PIN from your mailed or emailed notice. There is no filing process on RecordingLaw, and nobody should ask you to submit personal financial information anywhere else in connection with this case. If a text message, email, or phone call claims to be collecting your claim information for this settlement outside the official channel, treat it as a phishing attempt, not the real process. Because the class list here is built from people who already received a specific duplicate-letter notice from Equifax, a message referencing 'the Equifax settlement' that does not match your actual notice details is a red flag worth ignoring.
If you did not get a letter, or want to protect yourself either way
If you never received a duplicate collection-account letter from Equifax in August or September 2022, you are not part of this specific class, but duplicate or inaccurate items on a credit report can happen outside this case too. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) explains how to dispute an error on your credit report directly with the credit bureau and the company that furnished the information.
Whether or not you are in this settlement, a free credit freeze at all three major bureaus, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, blocks new accounts from being opened in your name and costs nothing to place or lift. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has a plain-language guide to credit freezes and fraud alerts. If you ever suspect identity theft, IdentityTheft.gov is the federal government's free recovery-plan tool, and it is worth checking your existing accounts and credit reports periodically regardless of this case.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Equifax Duplicate Account FCRA Settlement about?
It resolves claims that Equifax Information Services LLC sent duplicate collection-account reporting letters to certain consumers in August and September 2022, an alleged FCRA violation. It is not a data breach case; no hacking or data theft is alleged.
Who is eligible for the Equifax Duplicate Account FCRA Settlement?
An estimated 37,000 individuals who received a duplicate collection-account reporting letter from Equifax in August or September 2022. Check your mail or email for a notice with a Notice ID starting with 'EQB' and a PIN.
How much money can I get from the Equifax Duplicate Account FCRA Settlement?
As of July 2026, eligible class members automatically receive 6 months of Equifax Complete credit monitoring with no claim needed. Filing a claim instead can bring a cash payment, but it is capped at up to $600 and reduced pro rata based on how many people claim, so most claimants should expect less than the cap.
When is the deadline to file a claim in the Equifax settlement?
The claim deadline and the deadline to exclude yourself from the class are both Sept. 1, 2026, as of the last verification of the official settlement site.
Is the objection deadline the same as the claim deadline?
Yes. The objection deadline for the Equifax Duplicate Account FCRA Settlement is Sept. 1, 2026, the same date as the claim and opt-out deadline. Objecting is still different from opting out: an objection keeps you in the class while telling the court you think the settlement is unfair, while opting out removes you from the class and any settlement benefit.
Do I have to do anything to get the free credit monitoring?
No. The 6 months of Equifax Complete credit monitoring in this settlement is automatic for eligible class members who do not exclude themselves. You only need to take action if you want the cash payment option instead.
When will payments from the Equifax settlement go out?
There is no set payout date yet. The court has scheduled a final approval hearing for Oct. 6, 2026, and payments cannot be issued until a judge grants final approval at or after that hearing.
Can I file my claim on RecordingLaw.com?
No. Filing happens only on the official settlement website using the Notice ID and PIN from your settlement notice. RecordingLaw does not process claims for this or any settlement.
Is the Equifax settlement payment taxable?
It depends on what the payment is meant to replace, which can vary by claimant. The IRS explains general rules for the taxability of lawsuit, award, and settlement payments; consult a tax professional about your specific situation.
How to tell a settlement notice is real
Check the case name, case number, and court against the official settlement site. Go to that site directly instead of clicking a link in an email or text. Nobody legitimate will call, text, or email out of the blue asking for your Social Security number, bank account, or card details, and nobody will charge you to file. Report anyone who does at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
Informational only. Not legal, tax, or financial advice, and not affiliated with any settlement.
RecordingLaw.com is an independent legal-information publisher. We are not a law firm, not a settlement administrator, and not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of any court, government agency, defendant, or claims administrator described on this page. Reading this page does not create an attorney-client relationship.
We do not process claims and we never collect your claim information. You cannot file a claim on RecordingLaw.com. To file, opt out, object, or check your status, use only the official settlement administrator identified above. We link to it for your convenience.
Filing a legitimate claim is free. No legitimate settlement or administrator will charge you a fee to file, or ask for your Social Security number, bank, or card details by unsolicited call, text, or email. If someone does, it is likely a scam. Report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
Deadlines, amounts, and approval status change and are set by the court. We verify against the official administrator and court records, but confirm the current details on the official site before acting. Nothing here guarantees eligibility, a payment, or any amount. Settlement payments may be taxable. See IRS Publication 4345. and consult a tax professional. For advice about your specific situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state. Affiliate disclosure.
Sources and References
- Credit Freezes and Fraud Alerts - Federal Trade Commission(consumer.ftc.gov).gov
- Disputing Errors on Your Credit Reports - Federal Trade Commission(consumer.ftc.gov).gov
- How do I dispute an error on my credit report? - Consumer Financial Protection Bureau(consumerfinance.gov).gov
- IRS Publication 4345, Settlements - Taxability(irs.gov).gov
- Equifax Duplicate Account FCRA Settlement - official settlement website(duplicateaccountfcrasettlement.com)