A California jury in federal court ruled on Tuesday, June 20, that TransUnion violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) by erroneously linking certain consumers with similarly named terrorists and criminals in the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC’s) database.  The jury awarded statutory and punitive damages in excess of $60 million, which could set a record for the largest FCRA verdict to date.

Initially filed in 2012, plaintiffs alleged that TransUnion willfully violated FCRA by failing to maintain reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy of the consumer reports it sold, and by failing to provide required disclosures to consumers.  TransUnion offers an add-on service to its standard consumer reports whereby it would check consumers against OFAC’s “Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List” (SDN), which lists terrorists, drug traffickers, and other criminals.  Companies that do business with individuals on the SDN face strict liability penalties approaching $290,000 per transaction, so companies have a strong incentive to cross-reference the SDN before undertaking certain transactions – depending on the type of transaction and other factors.
Continue Reading California Court Orders TransUnion to Pay Record $60M for FCRA Violations for Erroneously Linking Consumers to Criminals in OFAC Database