How to File a Dispute and Correct Inaccuracies in a TransUnion Report

For the past couple of years, a company called TransUnion has made close to four billion dollars each year.

They make their money in the credit reporting business. TransUnion gathers the financial information of hundreds of millions of people, creates reports Detailing that Financial history, and then sells those reports to mortgage companies, banks, credit card companies, auto loan companies, landlords, employers, and anyone else who wants to look at your financial history To determine if they should lend you money, rent you a home, or give you a job.

Even though TransUnion makes billions of dollars per year, they do not sell a perfect product. far too often those credit reports they have created for people contain errors and inaccuracies. Those errors and inaccuracies can do a great deal of damage to a person's Financial well-being. Additionally, an error or inaccuracy can result in losing a loan, a home, a job, or any other opportunity for which people often request loans.

Until TransUnion credit reports are guaranteed to be flawless, we are here to tell you how to file a dispute and correct all the inaccuracies you find in your TransUnion credit report. Filing a dispute with TransUnion is a right given to consumers by a federal law called the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), As attorneys for consumers, we know the law and we know how to make the law work for consumers, whether that means a TransUnion lawsuit or guiding consumers through the dispute process.

Filing a Dispute

You should contact a consumer protection attorney as soon as you become aware of an error in your TransUnion credit report. Attorneys for consumers will be able to examine your credit report as well as assess your situation and determine the best strategy. Much of the dispute process will depend on how you discovered the inaccuracy in your TransUnion credit report. If you were denied a loan or a mortgage or an apartment rental because of this inaccuracy, then legal action might be imminent. If, however, you discover the TransUnion credit report error during a routine review of your credit report, then we will likely advise you to engage in the dispute process.

We also need you to know that any sort of error is grounds for a dispute because any sort of error, no matter how small it may seem, can damage your credit score significantly and because your credit score is so important in our financial lives, can damage your entire financial well-being. Therefore any error - whether it's a minor misspelling, a mistakenly reported account balance, or a mistakenly reported late payment - needs to be corrected by TransUnion.

After you have identified the error and spoken with an attorney who has advised you to dispute the inaccuracy, you will need to draft a dispute letter. In the dispute letter you should include:

• Your name and identifying information like your date of birth,

• The inaccuracy or inaccuracies that you are disputing on your TransUnion report,

• A brief and clear explanation of why those mistakes are mistakes,

• What you would like TransUnion to do to fix that mistake or mistakes, and

• Supporting evidence. 

The supporting evidence can be any kind of document or screenshot that proves that the inaccuracy you're alleging is wrong, is in fact wrong. Evidence can take many forms. It can be a bank statement, credit card statement, mortgage statement, rental agreement, letter from a bank or mortgage company, or screenshot of any of these from an online account page. You just need to show them proof that they are wrong.

The next step is filing the dispute. You can do this online, over the phone, or through the mail. While filing the dispute online or over the phone might be quicker, consumers relinquish some of their rights, including their right to sue TransUnion, if they file a dispute online or over the phone. Therefore we recommend filing the dispute via certified mail. This will give you a paper trail of when you filed the dispute. Mail the dispute letter via certified mail to: TransUnion Consumer Solutions, PO Box 2000, Chester, PA 19016-2000.

A federal law called the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires TransUnion to investigate the dispute. Depending on what sort of inaccuracy is in your report, this may require them to check public records databases, contact your mortgage company, contact your credit card company, or just double-check their work. The FCRA requires TransUnion to do this investigation and to report back to you within 30 to 45 days from when they receive the dispute. 

After the Filing

The steps you take after you file the dispute will depend on TransUnion’s response. If they respond within the 30 to 45-day window, if they have fixed the inaccuracy, and if you have suffered no damages as a result, then there may be nothing else to do. If however, they do not respond, do not fix the inaccuracy, or if you lose the loan or suffer any other damage while waiting for TransUnion to fix the inaccuracy, then legal action might be appropriate. 

The consequences of an error in a TransUnion report can be devastating. you can hold them accountable by disputing the inaccurate information. Consumer protection attorneys are available to help you hold TransUnion accountable.  It is never too early to contact a consumer protection attorney regarding the inaccuracy in your TransUnion credit report. A consumer protection attorney will provide support throughout the dispute process, assess your case and determine what strategy to take, and develop a strategy that will preserve your legal rights should legal action be necessary in the future. 

Contact a consumer protection attorney if you have any questions about your credit report dispute or credit reporting in general. A consumer protection attorney can help you fix issues with your credit report and also make sure your rights to sue are preserved should they discover damage to your financial health.