TransUnion Rental Screening Solutions, Inc. and Trans Union LLC
On October 12, 2023, the Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission filed a joint complaint and stipulated order against TransUnion Rental Screening Solutions, Inc., a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in Greenwood Village, Colorado, and its parent company, Trans Union LLC, a Delaware company with its principal place of business in Chicago, Illinois (collectively, TransUnion Rental Screening). TransUnion Rental Screening is a consumer reporting agency that provides tenant and employment background screening reports to thousands of client rental property owners, property management companies, employers, and other background screening companies throughout the United States to assist users in selecting tenants and employees. The complaint alleged that TransUnion Rental Screening violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act by failing in numerous instances to (1) follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy of eviction records in its tenant screening reports; and (2) when it obtained criminal and eviction records from third-party vendors, identify the third-party vendor as a source of the records in its disclosures to consumers. As the complaint alleged, inaccurate and misleading information in tenant screening reports can significantly interfere with consumers’ ability to find housing and cause them harm, including prolonged housing searches, additional application fees, time and money spent correcting errors, higher rental payments, temporary housing costs, and denial of housing. The stipulated order, which the court entered on October 18, 2023, requires that TransUnion Rental Screening take specific actions to ensure maximum possible accuracy of its tenant screening reports and provide complete disclosures to consumers who request them. It also requires TransUnion Rental Screening to pay $11 million in consumer redress and a $4 million penalty to the Bureau.
Related documents
Stipulated Final Judgment and Order
Press release
Prepared Remarks of CFPB Enforcement Director Eric Halperin on the TransUnion Enforcement Actions