Fernandez v. Corelogic Credco LLC – OFAC List Settlement

In 2024, Berger Montague obtained $58.5 million on behalf of people who had been wrongly reported as potential matches to the OFAC List by Corelogic Credco, a company that sells consumer reports to mortgage lenders, auto dealers, and other entities across the country seeking to evaluate consumers for credit. 

The case was brought by named plaintiff Marco Fernandez. When Mr. Fernandez applied for a home mortgage, he requested to see a copy of the credit report that his lender obtained from Corelogic Credco. When he received a copy of the report, Mr. Fernandez saw that he had been wrongly flagged as a “potential match” to Mario Fernandez, a Mexican narcotics trafficker on the OFAC List. The OFAC List is a list published by the U.S. government made up of terrorists, drug-traffickers, and other serious criminals with which U.S. companies are forbidden from conducting business.

Mr. Fernandez, who had been in the Navy for nearly twenty years, was distressed that his good name was being associated with a foreign criminal and concerned that the inaccurate information could negatively affect him. Moreover, it appeared that Corelogic was reporting him as a match to Mario Fernandez based only on his name—Mr. Fernandez had a different birthdate, was a U.S. citizen and had a Social Security number, and had never lived in Mexico. 

Mr. Fernandez attempted to dispute the damaging information. But, adding insult to injury, when Mr. Fernandez requested a copy of his report from Corelogic, Corelogic provided a version of the report that excluded the OFAC search results. Corelogic also failed to disclose to Mr. Fernandez the companies to which it had provided his credit information in the last year, as it is required to do under federal law. 

When the dispute process went nowhere, Mr. Fernandez worked with Berger Montague to file a class action lawsuit against Corelogic on behalf of all the people that Corelogic inaccurately reported as “potential matches” to the OFAC List. Mr. Fernandez alleged that Corelogic committed multiple willful violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) and the California Consumer Reporting Agencies Act (“CCRAA”). Particularly, he alleged that Corelogic failed to use reasonable procedures to assure the maximum possible accuracy of its consumer reports. He also claimed that Corelogic violated the “unlawful” prong of California’s Unfair Competition Law (“UCL”). 

After fighting for Mr. Fernandez and the class for over three years, Berger Montague was able to reach a settlement with Corelogic for $58.5 million on behalf of over 700,000 people. The incredible result achieved by Berger Montague is the second-largest recovery in the over fifty-year history of the FCRA.

Mr. Fernandez and the class were represented by Berger Montague attorneys Michelle Drake, John Albanese, Sophia Rios, Ariana Kiener, and Zachary Vaughan. 

The Damaging Effects of an Inaccurate OFAC Flag

Every year, thousands of innocent people are wrongly flagged as terrorists or drug traffickers on their credit reports or background reports. This information not only damages one’s reputation and causes embarrassment, but it can cause problems such as having a rental application rejected or a car purchase delayed. 

While companies conduct OFAC searches to be sure that they are not conducting business with a person on the OFAC List, the law requires that the businesses performing the search must use maximum possible accuracy when doing so to avoid damaging the good names of innocent people. But problems happen when loose matching procedures are used, such as relying only on similar names, to flag someone as potentially being on the list.

Berger Montague stands up to companies recklessly reporting damaging information about innocent consumers. If you have been damaged by false information on your credit report or background report, contact us today for a free consultation on how to pursue relief.