Last year, I tried to sue them in Small Claims court (in California) using this as a guide: https://blog.legalist.com/i-won-8-000-from-equifax-in-small-... .

For me, it was unsuccessful. They sent out a representative and we argued away from a judge (forget the term used) and I decided not to see the judge because if I argued before him and lost, I would be "unable" to bring it before a judge again.

I've heard of this tactic working for certain consumers (like in the article above) but for me what was hard to establish via small claims court, was how exactly I was facing monetary damages. Most lawsuits allow punitive damages, but small claims court does not, so you have to prove exactly how you were monetarily damaged.

That being said, I would definitely be down to sue them in small claims court again using a better strategy. I would also join a class action lawsuit.