TransUnion Sells Sealed, Expunged Records to Background Reporting Websites, New Class Action Claims

TransUnion Expunged Records Class Action Lawsuit Overview: 

• Who: Marie Smith and Robert Underwood filed a class action lawsuit against TransUnion Risk and Alternative Data Solutions, Inc. and TransUnion LLC. 
• Why: Smith and Underwood claim TransUnion sells or licenses consumers’ expunged and sealed records to background reporting websites.
• Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in Illinois federal court.

TransUnion sells and licenses sensitive consumer data, including expunged and sealed records, to background reporting websites, which then sell it to the general public, a new class action lawsuit alleges. 

Plaintiffs Marie Smith and Robert Underwood claim TransUnion — a credit reporting agency — sells highly personal data including consumers’ addresses, phone numbers, criminal records, dates of birth, and more. 

Smith and Underwood want to represent a nationwide Class of consumers whose expunged or sealed records were licensed or sold by TransUnion and later revealed to the public. 

Smith and Underwood say they paid an online expungement assistance service to have their criminal records expunged and to be removed from databases such as those held by TransUnion. 

Instead of removing their records from their database, however, TransUnion still sold or licensed their expunged records to background reporting websites

Smith and Underwood claim that selling the expunged or sealed records to these websites creates a situation where there becomes “insurmountable logistical and financial obstacles,” to insure they are actually removed from all the different databases. 

“As a result of this ‘Wild West’ situation in the background screening industry, expunged records can be, and are, available for anyone to view for months or even years while, simultaneously, remaining unknown and undiscoverable to the individuals reported upon,” the class action lawsuit states. 

Smith and Underwood argue further that TransUnion failed to act after receiving legal notice to remove the expunged records from their databases and from the websites they licensed them too.

Smith and Underwood claim TransUnion is guilty of conspiracy and in violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Texas Expungement Removal Act, the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, and Title V of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. 

Plaintiffs are demanding a jury trial and requesting injunctive relief along with an award of actual damages for themselves and all Class Members. 

Earlier this month, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau advised credit reporting agencies to stop using name-only matching when fulfilling records requests.

Did TransUnion sell your sealed or expunged records to background reporting websites? Let us know in the comments! 

The plaintiffs are represented by David M. Marco of SmithMarco, P.C.

The TransUnion Expunged Records Class Action Lawsuit is Smith, et al. v. TransUnion Risk and Alternative Data Solutions, Inc., et al., Case No. 1:21-cv-06299, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

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