TransUnion Reported Inaccurate Eviction Information, Consumer Alleges

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TransUnion, LLC and TransUnion Resident Screening Solutions, Inc. (TURSS) have been named in a proposed class action that claims the companies’ consumer reporting practices have harmed individuals looking to rent residential property by “prejudicing their prospective landlords with inaccurate, adverse information.”

The plaintiff alleges that after applying for rental housing in Philadelphia in August 2016 and July 2017, numerous inaccurate consumer reports containing out-of-date eviction information, including satisfied judgments and withdrawn complaints against the woman, were furnished by the defendants. As a result of these inaccuracies, the suit claims, the plaintiff’s rental application was denied. 

Notably, the case states that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau “expressed concern about the accuracy of public records” imported into the databases of several national credit reporting agencies, including TransUnion. As such, the complaint argues the defendants are “fully aware of the problems associated with the incomplete and inaccurate information purchased from vendors,” but continue to use and profit from furnishing inaccurate consumer reports like those of the plaintiff. From the lawsuit:

“This phenomenon is the result of Defendants’ intentional business decisions. The eviction information Defendants purchase is merely a summary prepared by its vendors that does not include all the information or the most up-to-date information available at the courthouses or government offices where the records themselves are housed in conjunction with the day-to-day functioning of those entities.”

Moreover, the lawsuit alleges the defendants fail to disclose to consumers the source of information gathered about them, making it difficult for individuals to correct any inaccuracies. According to the suit, “CRAs [consumer reporting agencies] must ‘clearly and accurately disclose to the consumer’ who requests his or her credit file ‘the sources’ that supplied any ‘information’ to the CRA about that consumer.”