TransUnion
TransUnion is one of the three nationwide credit bureaus, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It also sells tenant screening reports through a subsidiary. Like the other bureaus, it must use reasonable procedures for accuracy and reinvestigate disputes. The public record includes CFPB and FTC orders and a Supreme Court decision, summarized below.
TransUnion data reaches lenders, landlords and employers. An error in a TransUnion file can surface in a credit decision or a rental screening report. Dispute with TransUnion directly, and with any screening company that used its data.
Who TransUnion is
- What it is. The CFPB lists TransUnion as "one of the three nationwide providers of consumer reports" (CFPB).
- Where it is. Its corporate headquarters is in Chicago, Illinois (SEC Form 10-K).
- Your report. One free report every 12 months through AnnualCreditReport.com, (877) 322-8228 (15 U.S.C. § 1681j(a)(1)).
- Phone. The CFPB's company listing gives TransUnion's direct number and freeze line as (800) 916-8800 (checked September 29, 2026).
How to get your report and dispute it
- Get the report. Ask TransUnion for your file; it must disclose the information in it and its sources (15 U.S.C. § 1681g(a)). If a company turned you down based on a report, you are entitled to a free copy within 60 days (§ 1681j(b)).
- Dispute in writing, with proof. Identify each wrong item, say why it is wrong, and attach copies. The agency must reinvestigate within 30 days (§ 1681i(a)(1)).
- Dispute with the source too. After the agency passes on your dispute, the company that furnished the data must investigate and report back (15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(b)).
- Keep everything. The letters you send, the results you get, and any denial letter from a lender, landlord or employer are the evidence in an FCRA case.
Step-by-step help: how to dispute your credit report.
What TransUnion cannot do
These duties apply to every consumer reporting agency under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. They describe the law, not what this company has done in your case.
- Skip reasonable accuracy procedures. A consumer reporting agency must follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy (15 U.S.C. § 1681e(b)). See credit report errors.
- Ignore or rubber-stamp your dispute. It must conduct a reasonable reinvestigation within 30 days, and send your dispute to the company that furnished the data within 5 business days (15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a)). See failed dispute.
- Mix your file with someone else's. Another person's accounts, name or address on your report is an accuracy problem under § 1681e(b). See mixed files.
- Keep identity-theft accounts on your report. With an identity theft report and proof of identity, it must block the information within 4 business days (15 U.S.C. § 1681c-2(a)). See identity theft on your credit report.
- Report records that are not yours. A background or tenant report that attaches another person's criminal or eviction record raises the same accuracy duty (15 U.S.C. § 1681e(b)). See background check errors and tenant screening errors.
- Report most negative items after seven years, or bankruptcies after ten (15 U.S.C. § 1681c(a)). See paid debt still reported.
Public record
Only public, sourced facts appear here. Where we quote an agency or a court, the words describe what that agency or court found, alleged or decided.
CFPB complaints, as of September 29, 2026. From September 1, 2025 through September 1, 2026, consumers filed 2,197,169 complaints naming "TRANSUNION INTERMEDIATE HOLDINGS, INC." in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's complaint database, 2,179,843 of them about credit or consumer reports; 487,249 of the 2,197,169 came from New York, New Jersey and Florida. See the complaints in the CFPB database. Complaints are unverified consumer reports, not findings of wrongdoing.
- FTC and CFPB order, October 2023. TransUnion Rental Screening Solutions and Trans Union LLC agreed to pay $11 million in redress and a $4 million civil penalty over the accuracy of eviction records in tenant screening reports, without admitting or denying the allegations. See the case page (FTC).
- Supreme Court, 2021. In TransUnion LLC v. Ramirez, 594 U.S. 413 (2021), the Court held that only class members whose reports with a false terrorism-list alert were sent to third parties had standing to sue on the reasonable-procedures claim. See the case page.
- CFPB order, January 3, 2017. Over credit score marketing, TransUnion was ordered to pay $13.9 million in restitution and a $3 million civil penalty (CFPB). In April 2022 the CFPB sued, alleging TransUnion violated that order; the case was voluntarily dismissed with prejudice on February 28, 2025, with no finding (CFPB).
What the law lets you recover
A willful violation of the FCRA allows actual damages or statutory damages of $100 to $1,000, plus punitive damages (15 U.S.C. § 1681n(a)); a negligent one allows actual damages (§ 1681o(a)). The FCRA requires a company found liable to pay the consumer's reasonable attorney's fees and costs. A claim must be filed within two years after you discover the violation and no more than five years after it happened (15 U.S.C. § 1681p). See New York, New Jersey and Florida for state claims that can sit alongside it.
Common questions
How do I dispute an error with TransUnion?
Identify the item, explain why it is wrong and attach proof. TransUnion must reinvestigate within 30 days and forward the dispute to the furnisher within 5 business days.
A TransUnion tenant screening report cost me an apartment. What can I do?
Get a copy of the report, dispute the wrong entries with the screening company, and keep the landlord's denial notice. Wrong eviction or criminal records raise the FCRA's accuracy duty.
What did TransUnion v. Ramirez decide?
The Supreme Court held that a person must show concrete harm to sue for damages; people whose inaccurate reports were sent to third parties had it, and people whose reports were never sent did not.
Tell us what they did.
One conversation with an attorney, in your language. We tell you which laws the collector or the credit bureau broke, which deadline runs first, and what to save this week. If it is not a case we can take, we say so and tell you where to go.
(718) 484-7510The FDCPA and the FCRA require a company found liable to pay the consumer’s reasonable attorney’s fees and costs. Our fee arrangement is confirmed in a written retainer before we begin. English, Russian and Spanish in-house; an interpreter for any other language.