TransUnion

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TransUnion (full name Trans Union LLC) is a consumer credit reporting agency, considered one of the "big three" agencies in the United States. As a credit bureau, TransUnion offers credit-related information to potential creditors. Like its main competitors, Experian and Equifax, it now also markets its credit reports directly to consumers.

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[edit] History

TransUnion was created in 1968 by Union Tank Car Company as their holding company. Its credit business began with the purchase of Credit Bureau of Cook County (CBCC) in 1969. Trans Union was built from acquisitions of major city credit bureaus, with service agreements with local owners of bureaus which were not for sale. Today it operates 250 offices in the U.S. and in 24 other countries. It is based in Chicago, Illinois.

TransUnion was a subsidiary of The Marmon Group until January 2005. It is now an independent, privately held company.

[edit] Controversy

In 2003, Judy Thomas of Klamath Falls, OR, was awarded $5.3 million in a dispute with TransUnion. The award was later reduced to $1 million. Judy claimed it took her six years to get TransUnion to remove erroneous information from her credit report.[1]

In 2006, after spending two years trying to correct erroneous credit information due to identity theft, one Sloan filed suit against all three big credit agencies. TransUnion and Experian settled out of court for an undisclosed amount. In Sloan v. Equifax, a jury awarded Sloan $351,000. "She wrote letters. She called them. They saw the problem. They just didn't fix it," said attorney A. Hugo Blankingship III of Blankingship & Associates in Alexandria, Va.[2]

[edit] Dispute process

As a result of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, credit bureaus are required to investigate incorrect information. Similar to the processes of other Credit Bureaus, consumers can dispute items in their TransUnion credit file online, via mail, and via telephone.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Block, Sandra. "Fixing errors in credit report is no small task", USA Today, August 27, 2005.
  2. ^ Baldas, Tresa. "Consumer Lawsuits Against Credit Bureaus Are Multiplying", The National Law Journal, August 16, 2006.