November 2023 Planet Home Lending Data Breach Triggers Class Action

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Planet Home Lending faces a proposed class action over a November 2023 cyberattack wherein hackers gained access to highly confidential customer data.

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The 41-page lawsuit alleges the Connecticut-based mortgage company failed to implement “basic” cybersecurity protocols to protect the sensitive information in its care, which was apparently stored “unsecured and unencrypted” in its network.

In a January 2024 notice letter sent to victims, Planet Home Lending reported that notorious cybercriminal group LockBit had gained access to its computer systems on November 15, 2023 via a vulnerability in a third-party vendor’s software program. The notice relays that during the ransomware attack, the threat actor accessed a folder storing certain loan files containing customer data.

Per the notice letter, the personal information stored in the compromised loan files included customers’ names, addresses, Social Security numbers, loan numbers and financial account numbers.

According to the suit, the company’s data breach notice letter was delayed and inadequate. Although Planet Home Lending purports to have discovered the incident on November 15, 2023, it waited until late January of this year to distribute notice letters to affected individuals, the case contends.

In addition, the notice letter provides only “generic steps” that victims can take to protect themselves from the potential misuse of their information, the complaint asserts.

The plaintiff, a Florida resident, says he received notice from the company on January 24, informing him that his personal data had been compromised in the breach. Like other victims, the man now faces a lifelong risk of identity theft and fraud as a result of the defendant’s negligence, the filing charges.

The lawsuit looks to represent anyone in the United States whose private information was accessed and/or acquired as a result of the Planet Home Lending data breach, including those who were sent notice of the incident.

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