Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/20pdf/20-297_4g25.pdf
Page Number: 1.0

(Slip Opinion) 

OCTOBER  TERM,  2020 

1 

Syllabus 

NOTE:  Where  it  is  feasible,  a  syllabus  (headnote)  will  be  released,  as  is 
being  done  in  connection  with  this  case,  at  the  time  the  opinion  is  issued. 
The  syllabus  constitutes  no  part  of  the  opinion  of  the  Court  but  has  been 
prepared  by  the  Reporter  of  Decisions  for  the  convenience  of  the  reader. 
See United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co., 200 U. S. 321, 337. 

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 

Syllabus 

TRANSUNION LLC v. RAMIREZ 

CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR 
THE NINTH CIRCUIT 

No. 20–297.  Argued March 30, 2021—Decided June 25, 2021 

The Fair Credit Reporting Act regulates the consumer reporting agencies 
that compile and disseminate personal information about consumers. 
15 U. S. C. §1681 et seq.  The Act also creates a cause of action for con-
sumers to sue and recover damages for certain violations.  §1681n(a). 
TransUnion  is  a  credit  reporting  agency  that  compiles  personal  and 
financial information about individual consumers to create consumer 
reports  and  then  sells  those  reports  for  use  by  entities  that  request
information about the creditworthiness of individual consumers.  Be-
ginning  in  2002,  TransUnion  introduced  an  add-on  product  called 
OFAC  Name  Screen  Alert.    When  a  business  opted  into  the  Name 
Screen service, TransUnion would conduct its ordinary credit check of 
the consumer, and it would also use third-party software to compare 
the consumer’s name against a list maintained by the U. S. Treasury 
Department’s  Office  of  Foreign  Assets  Control  (OFAC)  of  terrorists, 
drug traffickers, and other serious criminals.  If the consumer’s first 
and  last  name  matched  the  first  and  last  name  of  an  individual  on  
OFAC’s list, then TransUnion would place an alert on the credit report
indicating that the consumer’s name was a “potential match” to a name 
on the OFAC list.  At that time, TransUnion did not compare any data
other than first and last names. 

A  class  of  8,185  individuals  with  OFAC  alerts  in  their  credit  files 
sued TransUnion under the Fair Credit Reporting Act for failing to use
reasonable procedures to ensure the accuracy of their credit files.  The 
plaintiffs also complained about formatting defects in certain mailings
sent to them by TransUnion.  The parties stipulated prior to trial that 
only  1,853  class  members  (including  the  named  plaintiff  Sergio
Ramirez) had their misleading credit reports containing OFAC alerts 
provided  to  third  parties  during  the  7-month  period  specified  in  the