There are three main credit agencies in the United States. One of them is TransUnion. Nearly every American adult has their credit information recorded and tracked by TransUnion. What happens when the agency you trust to protect your credit rating begins to share your confidential information with other companies—for a price? It’s not something we like to think would happen, but it did. and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Major credit-reporting agency breaks consumers’ trust
TransUnion is a big name many Americans may recognize. It is one of three huge credit-reporting agencies in the United States. If you’ve applied for a loan to buy a home or car, chances are your credit rating has been accessed via TransUnion.
When the news broke that TransUnion had violated the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act by selling lists of credit information of hard-working consumers nationwide to marketers, a class action lawsuit was filed. TransUnion’s behavior had potentially affected two hundred million Americans across the country. TransUnion settled the lawsuit, and agreed to offer free credit reporting for one year and other benefits. Because of the difficulty involved in notifying 200 million Americans about the opportunity to register online for settlement benefits, TransUnion also created a $75 million settlement fund that could be used to pay consumers who didn’t learn about the settlement and therefore didn’t register for settlement benefits in time. If a consumer learned about the settlement after the online registration period expired but within two years after the settlement, he or she could lodge a “post-settlement” claim against the $75 million fund. Sounds fair, right?
Unfortunately, the class action settlement did not require TransUnion to give notice to every affected consumer. The consumers who were supposed to receive benefits, including money from the settlement fund, had virtually no way of knowing the benefits even existed.
Also, even if some consumers learned about the settlement within the two-year “post settlement period,” the terms of the class action settlement made it difficult for them to make a claim. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, each consumer’s claim against TransUnion would likely be limited to somewhere between $100 and $1000, and the class action settlement said that consumers could not join together and pursue their “post-settlement” claims. Where would an individual consumer be able to find a lawyer willing to take on their claim, when the claim would be worth at most $1000?
Clearly, it was time for us to get involved on behalf of Ohioans.
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Recovering cash for 10,553 Ohioans
We knew we wanted to take this on, but it presented some serious challenges. The settlement language stated we couldn’t file a claim on behalf of more than one person at a time. We had to figure out a way to let people know they had a right to make a claim against the $75 million settlement fund, but we also had to be ready to represent each person individually against TransUnion.
This was in late 2009, and people were hurting from the recession that was in full swing. We knew we wanted to focus on a targeted population in Ohio, and after a great deal of thought, we decided to reach out to the unions in the northern part of the state. We let union leaders know about the TransUnion class action settlement, and when they asked if we would be willing to represent their members we agreed to work hand-in-hand with them to notify individual union members and their families of their potential claims. We hired programmers to build a database of information about our clients—specifically, 10,553 Ohioans that needed in the worst possible way any money we could obtain for them from the settlement fund.
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This case resulted in a tremendous amount of work—but it turned out to be unbelievably satisfying for us. Logistically, there was a lot to be organized. We reached out to tens of thousands of union members, and ended up representing 10,553 individual Ohioans who were suffering from the recession.
The case required numerous trips to Chicago where we went head to head with TransUnion’s attorneys. We prepared and submitted 10,553 separate claims, and we made clear to TransUnion that we were prepared to litigate each and every claim to the very end. We ended up in a stare down with TransUnion, and in the end, TransUnion blinked.
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Putting the settlement fund to good use
In the end, TransUnion agreed to pay our clients $300 each. It doesn’t sound like much, but the extra money really meant a lot to them during that tough economic period.
Yes, it was a lot of work for our firm. But you know what? We still remember all the amazing cards, letters and calls we got from our clients, saying how grateful they were for the unexpected money. We still share these stories because it illustrates exactly why we do this work. We helped a population that was struggling, and then went toe-to-toe with one of the country’s largest credit reporting services—a company that was hiding from its responsibility.
But even more satisfying than TransUnion crying, “Uncle,” were those cards, letters and phone calls from Ohioans who were so grateful for extra cash they wouldn’t have even known they were entitled to.
That’s why we do this work.
*Names in this article have been changed to protect our client’s privacy.
The outcomes of any client’s case will depend upon the particular legal and factual circumstances of the case.
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