Court Nixes Antitrust Action Against Equifax

(CN) - The 6th Circuit dismissed an antitrust action against Equifax over its practice of imposing fees on companies that resell its consumer credit report data.

Plaintiff CBC Companies buys consumer credit reports from each of the three nationwide reporting agencies, including Equifax, and then bundles and sells the information in a "tri-merged report." It also sells less expensive copies of these reports, called "reissues."

After doing business with CBC for two years, Equifax demanded that the company and other resellers start paying a fee each time they sold a reissue.

Judge Cook said CBC lacks standing, because it failed to allege an antitrust injury.

CBC did not show that the Equifax stifled competition or used its market position to restrain trade - only that CBC disagrees with the pricing scheme, the court ruled.

"CBC's complaint offers generalized allegations of antitrust injury, but the Supreme Court requires more than 'naked assertion[s]' to establish antitrust standing," Cook wrote.

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