Federal agency orders TransUnion, Equifax to pay $23 million for false ads

WASHINGTON >> Federal regulators have ordered credit-reporting agencies TransUnion and Equifax to pay about $23 million for falsely advertising that the credit scores they sell consumers are the same ones lenders use to make credit decisions.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced Tuesday that TransUnion and Equifax must pay fines totaling $5.5 million and return about $17.6 million to wronged consumers. The agency also said the two companies lured consumers into payments of $16 or more per month for credit scores and related products such as credit monitoring.

TransUnion, based in Chicago, and Atlanta-based Equifax Inc. are two of the three major creditreporting agencies in the U.S., along with Experian. The credit scores they generate are used to determine whether consumers can qualify for a mortgage, a car loan, a cellphone plan and a range of other loans.

The reporting agencies base the scores on a consumer’s history of paying off debt, how much debt they carry and other factors.

The CFPB said the scores sold to consumers by TransUnion and Equifax were not typically used by lenders to make credit decisions.

The alleged violations occurred between July 2011 and March 2014, according to the agency.

TransUnion and Equifax agreed to clearly inform consumers about the nature of the scores they’re selling and to provide an easy way to cancel products and services.

TransUnion said in a statement it continues to believe that its advertising has been clear and has complied with laws.

Equifax noted that the CFPB’s investigation continued for nearly three years, and said it made changes to address the agency’s concerns soon after the investigation began.