Consumer complaint received 2016-07-26
Company: TRANSUNION INTERMEDIATE HOLDINGS, INC.
State: PA
Product: Credit reporting
Issue: Credit reporting company's investigation
Sub-issue: Problem with statement of dispute

Complaint:
After having been denied credit based on a report from TransUnion, I requested a copy of my credit report. I found that TransUnion credit reports include detailed information about scheduled payments and amounts paid as well as account balances. I also found that the information about the scheduled payment and amounts paid for my accounts were frequently incorrect. Those reading my credit report would learn, incorrectly, that I regularly made no payments or very low payments when higher amounts were due. This reflects negatively on my creditworthiness ( and the creditworthiness of other affected customers ). I requested that this incorrect information in my credit report be corrected. For most accounts, after a couple requests, TransUnion simply deleted the detailed monthly information and retained only the more common " OK '' rating showing that the accounts were in good standing for the relevant months. This was an acceptable resolution to the incorrect information on those accounts. 

However, XXXX particular account ( a XXXX card on which I was an authorized user ) was completely removed instead. This was the oldest account on the file and had a high credit limit with very low utilization. The unrequested change significantly reduced computed available credit, raised overall utilization, shortened my credit history, and lowered my credit score. I do n't see why consumers should be penalized this significantly for requesting correction of payment record information, particularly when TransUnion had another good option available to them ( i.e. just removing the detail rows, which were incorrect, as they did on other accounts, including another XXXX card ). 

TransUnion explained to me that this is just how the rules work, and that they do not own or control the data or the rules. They claim it is out of their control that the rules about whether or not authorized user accounts would be included on my credit report changed because I had requested correct information. Yet, there was NO WAY for me to know this would happen when I requested that my credit report information be corrected ; I would have thought they could have handled that account similarly to others. They explained that since I had made that original request, there was no way to reverse their removal of that account from my credit report. 

This should not be the rule. If it is, it should be made clear to consumers at the time they are choosing to request correct information on their report ( e.g. " Because you 're an authorized user on this account, raising ANY questions related to it will cause the ENTIRE account to be COMPLETELY AND IRREVERSIBLY REMOVED from your credit report. Are you sure you want to continue? " ). I spoke with a TransUnion representative on the phone but he indicated that no such transparency would be happening.

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 explanation