Rivera v. TransUnion

CourtDistrict Court, D. Connecticut
DecidedMay 30, 2025
Docket3:22-cv-01038
StatusUnknown

This text of Rivera v. TransUnion (Rivera v. TransUnion) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Connecticut primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rivera v. TransUnion, (D. Conn. 2025).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT

WILFRED RIVERA, JR., Plaintiff No. 3:22-cv-1038-MPS v. TRANS UNION, LLC, Defendant. RULING ON DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO DISMISS This case arises from consumer reports furnished by Defendant Trans Union, LLC (“Trans Union”) regarding Plaintiff Wilfred Rivera, Jr. Rivera, proceeding pro se, alleges violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”). Trans Union now moves to dismiss the complaint for failure to state a claim under Rule 12(b)(6). For the reasons stated below, I grant Trans Union’s motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6). I. BACKGROUND A. Procedural Background This action was filed on August 17, 2022. ECF No. 1. Rivera filed a motion to proceed in forma pauperis, which I referred to Magistrate Judge S. Dave Vatti. ECF No. 2; ECF No. 6. I adopted Judge Vatti’s recommended ruling denying the motion without prejudice and dismissed the case. ECF No. 12. I reopened the case on February 9, 2024, after Rivera filed an amended complaint. ECF No. 15; ECF No. 16. Rivera filed another motion to proceed in forma pauperis, which I denied without prejudice because it did not contain a financial affidavit. ECF No. 18; ECF No. 19. He submitted another motion with a financial affidavit, which I granted. ECF No. 20; ECF No. 21. TransUnion moved for judgment on the pleadings on December 27, 2024. ECF No. 37; ECF No. 38. I directed Rivera to either file a response to the motion or an amended complaint

addressing the alleged defects in that motion. ECF No. 39. Rivera filed a second amended complaint, but it did not have a proper case caption, so I directed him to file another amended complaint with a proper caption. ECF No. 40; ECF No. 43. His third amended complaint is the operative complaint (“the complaint”). ECF No. 44. I denied Trans Union’s motion for judgment on the pleadings as moot in light of these amendments. ECF No. 47. TransUnion filed the present motion to dismiss, which incorporates the arguments made in its motion for judgment on the pleadings, on January 29, 2025. ECF No. 45. It also sent Rivera a notice concerning its motion, as required by Local Rule 12(a). ECF No. 46. Rivera submitted a response, and TransUnion filed a reply in support of its motion. ECF No. 48; ECF No. 52.1 B. Factual Background The following facts are drawn from Rivera’s complaint as well as the documents attached to it.2 ECF No. 44. These facts are accepted as true for the purpose of this motion. I note, however, that the complaint and attached exhibits are very long and difficult to follow. His factual allegations are disorganized and interspersed with legal assertions, to which I owe no deference even at this procedural stage.’ I have done my best to make sense of Rivera’s claims and to construe his allegations favorably to him.

' Rivera also submitted a sur-reply, ECF No. 53, but I will not consider it, as “sur-replies are not permitted under the Local Rules of the District of Connecticut.” DeRay v. Larson, No. 3:02-CV-2139(JCH), 2004 WL 2211939, at *4 (D. Conn. Sept. 29, 2004); see D. Conn. L. Civ. R. 7(d). 2 “Tn considering a motion to dismiss . . . a district court must limit itself to facts stated in the complaint or in documents attached to the complaint as exhibits or incorporated in the complaint by reference.” Newman Schwartz v. Asplundh Tree Expert Co., Inc., 102 F.3d 660, 662 (2d Cir. 1996). Courts should not adopt as true facts stated in an exhibit unless the plaintiff has attached the exhibit to the complaint for the truth of those assertions. See Pearson v. Gesner, 125 F.4th 400, 407-09 (2d Cir. 2025). 3 Rivera also makes additional legal claims and factual allegations in the attached exhibits, which I will consider only insofar as they are clearly referenced in the complaint itself. Clary-Butler v. AFSCME Loc. 3144 Union, No. 3:17-CV-00597 (JAM), 2017 WL 1393691, at *2 (D. Conn. Apr. 14, 2017) (“Although plaintiff may refer to and

According to Rivera, Trans Union was once a car company called “Union Tank Car Company,” which was founded in 1968 and operated primarily in the rail car leasing business. ECF No. 44 at 6. Today, Trans Union assembles private consumer information in order to furnish algorithmic credit reports for various business purposes. Id. These reports are based on

the “Fair Isa[a]c Corporation” (“FICO”) score and are used to assess consumers’ creditworthiness. Id. Trans Union’s “Data Privacy Policy” provides that the company may “sell/share the personal information collected with certain service providers” for various purposes, but that it does not “use or sell/share this information for marketing purposes.” ECF No. 44-4 at 3; see also ECF No. 44 at 7. Rivera adds that Trans Union “may request permission to sell/share user personal information for a specific purpose” not enumerated in the Data Privacy Policy. ECF No. 44-4 at 4; see also ECF No. 44 at 7. In such cases, it “will notify users and request consent before collecting the personal information or before the personal information users have already provided is sold/shared for such purpose. Users may revoke consent at any time.”

ECF No. 44-4 at 4; see also ECF No. 44 at 7. Though Rivera has never consented to or instructed the use or sale of his personally identifiable information (“PII”), Trans Union obtained and furnished this information for business purposes. Id. at 7-8, 10. Trans Union also furnished his consumer report without his consent and included on his report “[a]ccounts charged for collections,” and other “[a]dverse information,” such as late payments, closed accounts, and “utilization amount[s].” Id. at 11, 13. Additionally, Trans Union procured his consumer report “for the purposes of reselling” and sold

attach documents to her complaint if she wishes, such attached documents are not a substitute for plaintiff alleging specific facts and legal claims that must be…stated in the body of the complaint itself.”). his “social security information [and] transactional information.” Id. at 8-11. Rivera contends that this misconduct was willful. Id. at 5, 10.4 Rivera notified Trans Union about inaccuracies on his consumer report and other misconduct. Id. at 5, 11. He has also “exercised his right to opt-out to no avail.” Id. at 10.

Trans Union claimed that it conducted a “reinvestigation” regarding Rivera’s dispute and that it verified that the information on the report was accurate. Id. at 5, 14. But this reinvestigation was not “proper” and was not conducted in a “non-bias[ed] manner.” Id. at 14. Like all other consumer reporting agencies (“CRAs”),5 Trans Union uses the Online Solution for Complete and Accurate Reporting (“e-OSCAR”) to compile consumer disputes. Id. at 15. This web-based system allows “furnishers” to communicate with “the CRA”—that is, the consumer reporting agency. Id. at 16. CRAs can initiate a “reinvestigation request” by sending the furnisher an Automated Consumer Dispute Verification (“ACDV”) form through e-OSCAR. Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). The ACDV form includes information identifying the consumer and one or two codes that summarize the consumer’s dispute. Id. It will also

sometimes include a short, free-form narrative in what is known as the “FCRA Relevant Information” field. Id. e-OSCAR has twenty-six dispute codes, which CRA clerks select from a dropdown menu Id. These codes include “Not his/hers” and “Claims account closed.” Id. Procedure manuals provide the clerks with guidance on how to convert the consumer’s written

4 Rivera alleges that, before this case was ever filed, Trans Union was notified by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) that it had violated the FCRA by “furnishing unlawful transactional information,” including information that was inaccurate. ECF No. 44 at 5.

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Rivera v. TransUnion, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rivera-v-transunion-ctd-2025.