Woman sues Equifax, wins 18.6 million over credit report mistakes

Julie Miller, of Marion County, Ore., found out that her Equifax credit report contained false information when she was denied credit by multiple banks.

Miller said she contacted the company eight times over two years in an attempt to correct false information about her Social Security number, birth date and collection accounts. At one point, Equifax told her that her account had accidentally been combined with another person's.

After multiple years of trying to resolve the dispute, Miller took Equifax to court in 2011. On Friday, a jury ordered Equifax to pay Miller $18.6 million -- one of the largest-ever financial victories for consumer complaints against credit companies.

Miller's lawyer, Justin Baxter, told ABC News that the jury was sympathetic to the multiple ways that bad credit had impacted her life. In one instance, Miller couldn't obtain credit for her disabled brother.

He also said that Equifax's failure to protect Miller's personal account information constituted a breach of privacy that could have influenced the jury.

"There was damage to her reputation, a breach of her privacy and the lost opportunity to seek credit," Baxter said.

Equifax has yet to comment on the case, though it is likely that the company will appeal the decision.