EQUIFAX AGREES TO PAY $250,000 SETTLEMENT.(Brief Article)

Equifax Credit Information Services Inc. today agreed to pay $250,000 to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that Equifax violated a 2000 consent decree, according to documents filed with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. In the court documents, the FTC charged that Equifax failed to answer consumers' calls in a required amount of time, and it blocked a higher percentage of calls than it agreed to in the consent decree. The violations occurred between Jan. 15, 2001 and July 15, 2001 when the FTC was auditing the firm. Consumers called Equifax to discuss discrepancies in their credit reports. According to the 2000 consent decree, Equifax was …