Consumer wins $430K Verdict Against BMW Financial for Credit Damage Suit Over ID Theft Car Sale

A California federal jury awarded $430,000 to a victim of identity theft on Monday, finding that BMW Financial Services NA LLC violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act by standing firm in its position that the consumer had allowed someone else to purchase a car in his name.
After a four-day trial, the jury gave Plaintiff $250,000 to cover the damage to his credit, with an additional $150,000 going to cover his emotional distress under California’s Identity Theft Law, as well as a civil penalty in the maximum amount of $30,000 for BMW Financial’s violation of that statute.
The consumer claimed that he learned in 2013 that Transunion LLC, Experian Information Solutions Inc. and Equifax Information Services LLC were reporting an account for a car loan from BMW that was 90 days late, when he had not actually taken out a loan.
Even after he filed a police report, the credit reporting agencies refused to alter their records and BMW said that he didn’t have a valid claim for identity theft, prompting him to file another police report, according to the complaint.
He sued BMW and the credit agencies in March 2014, claiming that they willfully and negligently failed to prepare accurate reports or conduct proper investigations. The plaintiff also claimed that they deliberately changed the numbers linked to the fraudulent accounts in his name in order to make it more difficult to delete them. A series of quick settlements left BMW as the sole remaining defendant.