UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20580

Office of the Secretary

March 5, 2013

Mr./Ms. Perez

State of California

Re: In the Matter of Equifax Information Services LLC, File No. 102 3252

Dear Mr. or Ms. Perez:

Thank you for your comment regarding the Federal Trade Commission’s consent

agreement in the above-entitled proceeding. The Commission has placed your comment on the

public record pursuant to rule 4.9(b)(6)(ii) of the Commission’s Rules of Practice, 16 C.F.R. §

4.9(b)(6)(ii), and has given it serious consideration.

In your comment you assert that the penalty is not high enough. The Commission is

committed to protecting consumers in financial distress as well as safeguarding consumer

privacy and believes that the proposed order with Equifax Information Services LLC (“Equifax”)

will further this objective. 

 The monetary remedy in the proposed consent order is disgorgement, which is limited to

the amount of the entity’s ill-gotten gains. The order requires Equifax to pay $392,803 which

represents its gross revenue from the sale of the lists at issue and does not include any deduction

for overhead or other expenses. In deciding whether the amount and type of monetary remedy in

this or any other consent order is in appropriate in relation to the alleged violations, the

Commission carefully considers a variety of factors, including the type of monetary relief

authorized by law, the specific facts at issue, and the alleged violations of law. The Commission

considered these factors in this case and determined that disgorgement and injunctive provisions

will provide the appropriate level of relief. 

 In addition to disgorgement, the order includes a number of injunctive provisions

designed to prevent future violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”). For example,

the order prohibits Equifax from furnishing prescreened lists to anyone that it does not have

reason to believe has a permissible purpose to receive them and from failing to maintain

reasonable procedures to limit the furnishing of prescreened lists to anyone except those who

have a permissible purpose to receive them. Further, the order prohibits Equifax from selling

prescreened lists in connection with offers for debt relief products or services and mortgage

assistance relief products and services, when advance fees are charged, with limited exceptions. 

Should Equifax violate any term of the final order, it could be liable for civil monetary penalties

of up to $16,000 per violation per day (pursuant to Section 5(l) of the FTC Act).

Your comment also expresses concerns about consumers’ ability to access the
information consumer reporting agencies (“CRAs”), such as Equifax, maintain about them. We

appreciate your concerns, and note that the FCRA grants consumers the right to obtain a free

annual file disclosure through AnnualCreditReport.com. The law, the Free Annual File

Disclosures Rule, prohibits Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion from promoting products or

services until after you have obtained access to your report. If you have specific information

suggesting that Equifax is not complying with the FCRA or other federal laws or regulations,

you may file a complaint with the Commission at http://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov. 

 

 Having considered all of the facts of this case and all of the comments submitted in

response to the proposed order, the Commission has determined that the public interest

would best be served by issuing the Decision and Order in final form without any modifications.

The final Decision and Order and other relevant materials are available from the Commission’s

website at http://www.ftc.gov. It helps the Commission’s analysis to hear from a variety of

sources in its work. The Commission thanks you again for your comment.

By direction of the Commission, Commissioner Leibowitz and Commissioner Wright not

participating.

Richard C. Donohue

Acting Secretary