Sunday, June 8, 2008

TransUnion settlement makes services available to consumers

Credit bureau TransUnion's recent settlement of a class-action suit offers several options for consumers, two of which include free credit-monitoring services for a limited time.

Whichever option you choose, don't sign up for an extension when the free-use period is over because most of what's being offered you can do yourself.

The settlement arose from a suit filed in federal court in Chicago that claimed that TransUnion – one of the nation's three major credit bureaus – violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act when it sold consumer information to businesses for their targeted marketing efforts. The law allows selling publicly available information, but not private data.

In its settlement, TransUnion denied wrongdoing and said it discontinued the sales practice in 2001.

More details will become available June 16, but the settlement allows any consumer who had a credit card, mortgage, auto or student loan or other open credit account or credit line in the U.S. anytime from 1987 to May 28 to choose from two free TransUnion services:

•Six months of TransUnion's credit-monitoring service for free, giving consumers unlimited access to their credit reports and credit scores, and e-mail notifications when changes occur on their credit reports. The settlement values this service at $59.75.

If you choose this option, you give up your right to file a post-settlement class-action claim against TransUnion, though you could still bring an individual case.

•Nine months of the credit-monitoring service, plus access to the credit scores used in insurance decisions, and TransUnion's mortgage simulator service, which allows consumers to see how their credit score affects their mortgage rate. Value: $115.50.

Those who choose this option sacrifice any further legal claims of any kind in the matter.

Under a third option, consumers can sign up for a cash payment – but payments won't be made for two years and will be paid only if there's money left after any other "post-settlement claims" have been paid out of a $75 million fund set up by free.

source : http://www.google.com/news

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