The landmark Ramirez v. TransUnion verdict proved credit bureaus face real consequences. If TransUnion violated your FCRA rights, you may be entitled to $100–$1,000 per willful violation plus punitive damages.
Each willful violation is worth $100–$1,000 in statutory damages under 15 U.S.C. § 1681n — plus punitive damages and attorney fees.
A federal jury found TransUnion willfully violated the FCRA by using a crude name-matching algorithm to flag 8,185 innocent consumers as potential OFAC terrorists and drug traffickers. TransUnion reported these flags to lenders and companies without adequate safeguards. The jury awarded $60M in punitive damages alone; the case was later narrowed on standing grounds by the Supreme Court but individual claims remained fully viable.
The FTC and CFPB settled with TransUnion for $17.6 million after finding that TransUnion deceptively marketed credit monitoring services. Consumers thought they were signing up for free credit scores but were enrolled in recurring $19.95/month subscriptions. TransUnion also misrepresented the educational value of the credit scores it sold.
Courts across the U.S. have repeatedly awarded significant verdicts against TransUnion for mixed-file errors — where one consumer's debts, judgments, or derogatory accounts appear on an unrelated person's credit report. Plaintiffs who document repeated disputes that TransUnion ignored have recovered six and seven-figure awards.
Visit transunion.com/credit-disputes to submit a dispute online. Screenshot every step with timestamps — this creates documentation that TransUnion received your dispute.
TransUnion LLC
Consumer Dispute Center
P.O. Box 2000
Chester, PA 19016
Always send certified mail with return receipt. Keep the tracking number as proof of delivery date — this starts TransUnion's 30-day clock.
Call 1-800-916-8800 to speak with a dispute representative. Note: Phone disputes are harder to document. Always follow up with written confirmation of any phone dispute.
TransUnion must complete its investigation within 30 days of receiving your dispute (45 days if you provide additional information). If they miss this deadline, that's a separate FCRA violation worth $100–$1,000. Document the date of receipt carefully.
Use our free FCRA Damages Meter to check off every TransUnion violation and see your minimum and maximum statutory recovery range in real time.