Consumer complaint received 2022-09-27
Company: TRANSUNION INTERMEDIATE HOLDINGS, INC.
State: CA
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Problem with a credit reporting company's investigation into an existing problem
Sub-issue: Difficulty submitting a dispute or getting information about a dispute over the phone

Complaint:
The options provided here don't quite fit with my experience, or why I felt compelled to submit this complaint. 

I am currently in the process of attempting to build up my credit score, a number of years after an unanticipated medically related issue led to my filing for bankruptcy relief, as I felt I had no other options at the time. It's been a while since that debt was thankfully discharged, and in the proceeding years I have not made attempts to obtain credit in any form. As a newly married man, I am now endeavoring to rebuild this " score '' that is unfortunately so vital and incorporated into our identities, and like many of us I want to do whatever I can to provide for my growing family, with the inital goal being homeownership. 

After soliciting advice from multiple sources, I began applying for various lines of credit that I could confidently maintain monthly payments for to keep in good standing, hoping to help increase my lending viability, and offset the stain of bankruptcy still publicly present for another few years. Aside from that unfortunate chapter in my life, I have many fully-paid off accounts with years of unmissed payments including student loans, auto financing, and a number of credit cards. By design though, much of those positive qualities are not visable to potential lenders, and though I have XXXX debts, the lack of any real credit in the past few years is hugely determinitive in qualifying for new accounts. We trust all of our personal data to private companies, that possess immense power and influence over the ability to obtain new accounts, get hired, apply for loans, etc ... With that influence there's an expectation that the information they share to a multitude of parties is both accurate and current, as well as having the ability to remedy errors that are solely the result of their own inadequacies. Adding to that, there's also the expectation that they actually perform the specific actions that they themeselves clearly denote in written Dispute Resolutions as a right of the consumer to request. Concluding on my lengthly rant, here are my specific concerns and motive for filing this report. 

While recently applying for new accounts as mentioned above, I kept getting denials that listed the decision was based on " inabiliy to confirm identity '', and each one of those kickbacks listed TransUnion as the source of their inquiry. When I was finally able to gain access to the information they had linked to me, it was clear that no updates or changes had been made in many years. Both my place of residence and employer were accurate ot one point time, almost 10 years ago, but no other information in the proceeding years could be found anywhere. It became clear that the info I was providing to potential lenders wasn't matching the " official '' details given by Transunion- so as a result, I received both hard inquiries to an inaccurate report that will remain in place for 2 years and continue to negatively influence future business, and denials based on unmatching personal information. 

I calmly went through the motions to file disputes and ensure updated details would be visable to 3rd party inquirers, and everything went relatively smoothly at first. You are able to write a " personal message '' that viewers can see - a sort of " explanation '' of certain details in your own file, or even just an opportunity to write whatever you feel would be helpful. I completed this step successfully, and all seemed okay. That portion of my " dispute '' was handled effieciently and without error, and I was provided with a " Dispute Resolution Summary '' regarding the case. Under the heading " How to Read your Investiation Results, the very last paragraph states the following verbatim : " If there has been change to your credit report as a result of our investigation, or if you have added a statement to your report, you may ask TransUnion to send an updated credit report to those who have received your report within the last 2 years for employment purposes or within the last 6 months for any othe purpose '' I can't change text formats here, but the second part of that comment is even presented in BOLD font. Since I did in fact add a statement to my report, as well as have my score take a small hit from the multiple hard inquiries, I was more than qualified to pursue this request... especially with a couple 3rd party applications still open and pending approval. I wanted them ( and everyone else ) to have access to accurate and updated info, or be aware of the changes being made, but the couple hours I spent today speaking with 2 separate reps completely contradicted the promise so clear and misinterpretable in the report summary. 

I spoke with representatives " XXXX '' and " XXXX '' - both stated they could/would only send report copies to me individually, and had XXXX additional options or advice other than " then you can take it to the lenders yourselves ''. I tried to get someone on the phone who could actually explain the grossly negligent difference in what I was looking at in the official document vs what I was being told by the reps, but neither had a single beneficial contribution to me, nor a coherent respose to why the blatant differences existed. I asked to speak to higher-ups or anyone who could actually assist, but was denied. 

I don't think I have to explain that getting an amended/updated report directly from TransUnion would have a significantly greater impact on lenders vs one provided by an individual who was just declined services. Plus, I was hoping that this would influence the currently open applications, who I know from my records obtained copies of my report prior to any alterations that are still in motion. 

If desired, I can provide proof of these Dispute Resolution Results which I possess a few of and all state the same, as well as Adverse Action summaries from lenders where it's stated that the reason for denial was their inability to verify my ID, each listing TransUnion as the source of their inquiries. 

Thank you for taking the time to read ( I hope.. ) the novel of a dispute I just composed, and please reach out to me anytime if you have additional questions/concerns or require copies of aforementioned documents. 

I'm frustratingly out of ideas for how to proceed, and livid over the fact that TransUnion has done nothing but provide false personal info to 3rd parties, and produce additional negative hits with no net benefit during a time when I am trying to do the complete opposite. 

Thank you again for your attention and consideration of my complaint.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief