CreditCourt.com - Baker vs. Trans Union, LLC

VIA FACSIMILE
Ms. Christine Baker
(address deleted)

Re: Christine Baker v. Trans Union, LLC; Cause No.: 801 2001 CV 1751 UN; In the Justice Court of Mohave County, Kingman, AZ

Dear Ms. Baker:

I am writing to answer the questions addressed in your March 8, 2002, and March 25, 2002, correspondence to me. I will use the same headings to denote the different sections of questions.

1. The date a collection account is placed for collection is not the date of last activity. In my previous response, I said that the collection account was placed in April 1999, so the account will be removed no later than seven years from this date. Although this is correct, I asked Trans Union to check into this further and learned that this account is scheduled to purge from your credit file in November 2004. This would indicate that the date of last activity was November 1997. I have asked Trans Union to confirm the date of last activity with Professional Recovery. What was provided was the purge date which is a safeguard to ensure adverse information does not remain on file longer than seven years. I will forward an updated copy of your file to you when the account has been verified and updated.

2. There is nothing Trans Union can do about your creditors reporting you old addresses. Trans Union has no way of knowing and keeping up with a consumer's current address which is why the current address and previous addresses on a file can be changed.

The addresses being reported by your creditors already appear at the top of your credit file. If you want to know exactly what address is being reported by each currently reporting creditor, you will need to contact them yourself.

As for your question about the purpose of this practice being to assist creditors and collectors locate debtors, such companies have a permissible purpose to access consumer credit files for the purpose of debt collection and therefore, would have access to whatever addresses your creditors were reporting anyway.

I am not aware of nor can I do anything about the alleged discrimination of landlords against previous California residents. However, if this is a problem for you I suggest you contact Arizona's attorneys general office and file a complaint and talk to the prospective landlord. I have never heard of anyone being turned down for any reason based on a previous address appearing on his/her credit file. It seems to be this would be a problem beyond just a credit file, since you often have to list previous addresses on applications anyway. A lender may require proof of the consumer's address but credit files are accessed so a consumer's credit history can be reviewed, not a review of previous addresses. Lenders understand that a credit report is not static but constantly changing and updating based on information provided to the credit reporting agency from other lenders.

This may be a good place to explain Trans Union's role as a credit reporting agency. Trans Union is merely a storehouse of information supplied to it by creditors, vendors and consumers themselves. If a consumer provides a new address to Trans Union, Trans Union is going to add it to his/her file, especially when the consumer wants a copy of his/her credit file. If the address is not on file, Trans Union can not send the report and will request proof of address so that it can be sure that the file is being sent to whom it belongs. Because a lawsuit was filed in your case and there was no reason to believe a fraud perpetrator would file suit, Trans Union added the address on your complaint without requiring proof of address.

3. On the credit file, lenders look at credit information, public record information and inquiries when making credit lending decisions. Trans Union provides the same information to consumers that is provided to lenders. There is no difference in the information used in making the lending decision; however, the format is different. Trans Union used to provide consumers the same report that it sent to creditors. This coded format lists a subscriber code (which is Trans Union's way of tracking who the data came from) which contains a general industry type. However, because of the numerous complaints from consumers regarding the difficulty in reading the coded format, Trans Union decided to create a consumer-friendly file to send to consumers.

The end result is what you have been receiving. Part of making it easier to read was removing the unnecessary subscriber code which is only used by Trans Union to decode the address and telephone number for verification of the account. Trans Union did not feel it necessary to provide the industry types. If not, Trans Union's Consumer Relations Department is there to provide assistance by investigating accounts and providing contact information for any entries on file.

Consumerinfo.com's June 23, 2001, inquiry does appear on your Trans Union credit file. The reason for this is that it accessed your file with your permission and the Fair Credit Reporting Act requires credit reporting agencies to identify each recipient of your report for 2 years if for employment purposes and for 1 year if for any other purpose. Trans Union maintains all inquiries for 2 years in accordance with the law.

On August 21, 2001, Trans Union sent you a letter requesting a copy of your driver's license and social security card since an additional file was coming up as possibly belonging to you. This is standard procedure for Trans Union since it must be certain that it is providing a complete file to the consumer but not information on any other consumer. At the time of this dispute, Trans Union looked at identifying information appearing on the two files, could not decide whether the file was yours or not and decided the easiest way to get to the bottom of the matter was to confirm your identification. This is why the letter was sent to you. If there is any question as to a person's identity, Trans Union will request additional information. This is done not only to make sure the consumer is getting his/her complete file but also as protection so that a consumer does not receive information regarding someone else.

Trans Union has provided you with your complete credit file in accordance with federal and state law. Trans Union's action have been reasonable and in accordance with both federal and state law.

As for your bankruptcy discharge, Trans Union does not obtain schedules of creditors and relies on the creditors whose accounts were included in bankruptcy to report their accounts accurately. Otherwise, Trans Union's Consumer Relations Department will contact the creditors to verify the accuracy of the account when a consumer notifies Trans Union of the inaccuracies.

As for your request for additional records pertaining to your credit file and the reporting history of various accounts, Trans Union has disclosed its entire consumer relations file on you.

Every pleading I have filed is standard for any law suit, including the latest Request for Production, Request for Admissions, and Interrogatories. The purpose of these is to gather information to assist in defending against this case. You are required to respond to these Requests in accordance with and within the time limit provided by the Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure. Regardless of the motions I file to get this matter dismissed, Trans Union must still act to defend against this case, which is the reason for the above Requests and Interrogatories. The information you provide in these pleadings can be used in Court, whereas the information from our informal letters back and forth can not.

I reiterate that Trans Union has acted in full compliance with all state and federal laws in its handling of your dispute and in the format of its credit report. Trans Union has reasonable procedures in place and followed those procedures in its handling of your dispute. I am sorry you disagree with the procedures but they were set up to protect the confidential information in consumer credit files. I am also sorry that you disagree with the format of Trans Union credit files and that it does not provide you with all the information you want. If you want to know the specific dates an account was late, please contact the creditor directly.

Since your law suit was filed, Trans Union has updated your file and investigated the disputed items as you requested. You have received copies of the investigation forms and updated files. As I mentioned earlier, Trans Union is in the process of contacting Professional Recovery to confirm the date of last activity and add it to your file. If you would like to add a consumer statement to your file, please send me the statement and I will have Trans Union add it and provide you with another copy of your file.

Over the past couple months, I have answered your questions informally in an effort to get this matter resolved. I have provided you with information about why your dispute was not worked, have spent much time answering questions that were outside the scope of this law suit and have even explained normal procedures in a law suit and the appropriateness of pleadings Trans Union has filed. Unfortunately, I feel that we are not any closer to getting this matter resolved than when we first began corresponding and I have received no response to my settlement offer nor my request for a settlement demand from you. Therefore, I believe it is in Trans Union's best interest to limit its responses to those requests made through the Court.

I am hopeful this matter can be settled but still intend to file for dismissal. Please let me know if you are willing to accept $250.00 from Trans Union to settle this matter.