Chief Judge Leigh Martin May will hold the final approval hearing for the Equifax credit-score settlement on January 22, 2027, at 2:00 p.m. in Atlanta. The hearing decides whether a $100 million deal over a 2022 coding error becomes final. The dates that matter to most households arrive earlier, because the opt-out and objection deadline is November 27, 2026 and the claim deadline is December 28, 2026.

What the court in Atlanta will weigh

The case is a Fair Credit Reporting Act class action in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, number 1:22-cv-3072-LMM-CCB. The hearing is set for the Richard B. Russell Federal Building at 75 Ted Turner Drive SW, according to the administrator’s key dates page, which was checked on October 6, 2026 and showed no sign that any date had moved. The settlement has been preliminarily approved only, so the January hearing is the step that finalizes it.

The plaintiffs allege that Equifax “provided inaccurate credit information about millions of Americans” because of a computer coding issue between March 17, 2022 and April 8, 2022, in violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Equifax’s position, quoted on the settlement’s FAQ, is that it “denies that it did anything wrong and that it violated the law.” Nothing in the settlement is a finding that it did.

Who counts as a class member

The class covers all individuals in the United States for whom Equifax reported a credit score or credit attribute that “differed from what it would have been absent the OMS Issue” during that coding window. The FAQ defines the group by what was reported, not by who applied for credit, so someone who never applied for a loan in spring 2022 can still be in the class if a score was reported to a third party in that period.

The practical question for a household is whether its credit file was touched by the issue, and the notice and the claim site are where that gets answered. A person who thinks a spring 2022 score was wrong, or who received a settlement notice by mail or email, has a reason to check.

Anyone sorting out whether a notice applies to them can start with The Settlement & Refund Recovery System, which includes the four-date rule for reading a settlement notice and a step-by-step filing walkthrough.

Open the four-date rule for the Equifax notice →

Four dates, three choices

The administrator’s calendar lays out four dates. A class member who wants to stay in must file a claim by December 28, 2026. Someone who wants to sue Equifax individually must request exclusion by November 27, 2026. Someone who stays in but disagrees with the deal must tell the court by the same date, and the objection route is open only to those who do not opt out. The hearing on January 22, 2027 comes last.

• File a claim: required to receive any payment; the FAQ says a completed Claim Form must be submitted online or postmarked by December 28, 2026.
• Do nothing: no payment, and the person remains bound by the settlement and releases claims against Equifax.
• Opt out: keeps the right to bring an individual lawsuit, with a November 27, 2026 cutoff.

One date circulating elsewhere online, November 29, 2026, does not match the administrator. Both the dates page and the FAQ say December 28, 2026 for claims, and November 27 is the opt-out and objection date.

The $100 million fund and the estimate

Equifax has agreed to pay $100,000,000 into a non-reversionary settlement fund, which means money left over does not flow back to the company. Payments come after approved costs and attorney fees are taken out. Class Counsel seek up to one-third of the fund, or $33,333,333, plus up to $500,000 in expenses, and the judge decides that request.

The plaintiffs currently estimate payments of approximately between $95 and $280, “based on typical claims rates in similar cases,” and the FAQ adds that “the actual amount may be higher or lower.” That is an estimate tied to how many people file. More claims generally mean smaller payments out of the same fund.

Why the final hearing can still change things

Until the judge signs off, payments do not go out. A hearing can be rescheduled, and the administrator’s site is the place such a change would be posted. Objectors who file by November 27 can be heard in Atlanta, and the court may approve the deal, ask for changes or reject it.

For a family budget, the sensible reading is to treat any payment as uncertain in both timing and size, and to treat the claim date as the one that closes the door.

Filing on the administrator’s own site

The free route is the court-appointed administrator’s site at EquifaxFairCreditReportingSettlement.com, where the claim form can be completed online. Mailing a completed form to the settlement administrator also works if it is postmarked by December 28, 2026. Gather the settlement notice, if one arrived, and the contact details the form asks for, and keep a copy or confirmation of whatever is submitted.

Anyone considering opting out or objecting should read the full notice first and note that the November 27, 2026 deadline comes a month before the claim deadline. The FAQ and the notice are the documents that control what each choice gives up.

The Settlement & Refund Recovery System is a 36-page guide whose step-by-step filing walkthrough and claim log and payment tracker keep the dates and confirmation records for a claim like this one in one place.

Open The Settlement & Refund Recovery System for the Equifax claim →

This piece was drafted with AI assistance; the figures and dates were checked against the settlement administrator’s key dates page and FAQ, linked above.