If a payday, installment, or nonprime auto lender turned you down and your regular credit reports look fine, the file behind the denial may belong to FactorTrust, an alternative-credit bureau you may not know has a file on you. FactorTrust’s file is a consumer report under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and when it is wrong, you have the same federal dispute and lawsuit rights you would have against Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion, which, as it happens, owns it.
What FactorTrust is and who owns it
FactorTrust is a consumer reporting agency. The CFPB’s consumer reporting company list places it in its low-income and subprime category and states that FactorTrust is owned by TransUnion. TransUnion’s annual reports to the SEC record that it acquired FactorTrust, Inc. in November 2017 and now describe FactorTrust as its short-term lending credit bureau. TransUnion’s own support pages handle FactorTrust’s consumer requests.
The CFPB lists FactorTrust as its own reporting company. If the error is on your main TransUnion credit report instead, see how to sue TransUnion for a credit report error.
What is on a FactorTrust report and who uses it
The CFPB’s listing says FactorTrust collects loan performance information on nonprime consumers to provide predictive credit data. It lists FactorTrust’s customers as short-term lenders, installment lenders, nonprime auto lenders and leasing companies, and other subprime credit providers. TransUnion’s FactorTrust FAQ says banks, debt collectors and loan companies, among others, may furnish credit information to it.
Like every consumer reporting agency, FactorTrust must disclose to you on request all information in your file, the sources of that information, and each person that procured a report on you during the past year, or two years for employment purposes (15 U.S.C. § 1681g(a)).
Where FactorTrust reports go wrong
If you took a payday or installment loan and the report shows it accurately, it stays: the FCRA requires deletion only of information that is inaccurate, incomplete or cannot be verified. This page is about entries that are wrong. These are the errors to check for:
- A loan you never took out. The CFPB lists incorrect accounts resulting from identity theft among common report errors, and the FTC says accounts in your name that you don’t recognize could be a sign of identity theft. TransUnion’s FactorTrust FAQ tells identity theft victims to check their FactorTrust report for unauthorized data. See identity theft on your credit report.
- A loan you paid, still reported as open or unpaid. The CFPB lists closed accounts reported as open, accounts incorrectly reported as late or delinquent, and accounts with an incorrect current balance among common errors.
The same dispute rights apply to the other subprime credit bureaus, such as Clarity Services, Teletrack and DataX.
How to get your FactorTrust report and freeze it
The CFPB’s listing says FactorTrust will provide one free report every 12 months if you request it, and TransUnion’s FactorTrust page says consumers may request a free copy annually. Per the CFPB, you can request it by phone at (844) 773-3321 or by mail to FactorTrust, Inc., Attn: Consumer Inquiries, P.O. Box 390, Woodlyn, PA 19094. TransUnion’s FactorTrust consumer page lists the same phone number and post office box.
Two federal rights to a free copy apply to any consumer reporting agency: a request within 60 days of an adverse action notice (below), and one request in any 12-month period if you certify in writing that you believe your file contains inaccurate information due to fraud (15 U.S.C. § 1681j(b), (c)). Read every entry.
FactorTrust will also freeze your report on request. TransUnion takes the request online through its FactorTrust freeze portal or by mail to FactorTrust – Freeze Requests, P.O. Box 57, Woodlyn, PA 19094. TransUnion says freezing and unfreezing is free, and you can temporarily lift or permanently remove the freeze.
A FactorTrust freeze is a separate request. TransUnion says it applies only to your FactorTrust file and is not shared with the three national credit reporting agencies, and the federal free-freeze and fraud-alert duties are written for the nationwide agencies defined in 15 U.S.C. § 1681a(p). TransUnion says FactorTrust stopped offering fraud alerts in 2025, so place a fraud alert with a nationwide agency.
How to dispute a FactorTrust entry
Dispute anything inaccurate or incomplete in writing, with copies (not originals) of your proof, such as payoff confirmations, bank statements or an identity theft report, and keep a copy of everything you send. TransUnion’s FactorTrust page takes disputes online or by mail to the same P.O. Box 390 address, and the CFPB notes that you can also dispute with the company that shared the information.
Under 15 U.S.C. § 1681i, FactorTrust must conduct a reasonable reinvestigation free of charge within 30 days, notify the lender that furnished the item within five business days, delete or modify anything inaccurate, incomplete or unverifiable, and send you the results in writing. If the entry stays, you can add a brief statement of dispute to the file.
For a loan an identity thief took out, § 1681c-2 goes further: FactorTrust must block the information within four business days of receiving proof of your identity, an identity theft report (TransUnion’s FactorTrust FAQ points victims to the FTC’s IdentityTheft.gov), the entries you identify, and your statement that they are not your transactions.
The lender may not report information it knows or has reasonable cause to believe is inaccurate (§ 1681s-2(a)), and once FactorTrust forwards your dispute, it must investigate and modify, delete or block an item that is inaccurate, incomplete or unverifiable (§ 1681s-2(b)). The credit dispute letter guide applies to specialty bureaus like this one.
The notice a lender owes you
If a lender denies your application, or refuses credit in the amount or on the terms you asked for, based in whole or in part on your FactorTrust report, it owes you an adverse action notice (15 U.S.C. § 1681m(a)). Adverse action includes a denial of credit and any determination on an application you made that is adverse to your interests (§ 1681a(k)(1)).
The notice must name the reporting agency with its address and phone number, state that the agency did not make the decision and cannot give the reasons, and tell you that you can get a free copy within 60 days and dispute anything inaccurate. If a lender approved you, but on materially less favorable terms set based on the report, the FCRA requires a risk-based pricing notice instead (§ 1681m(h)). Keep the notice.
When a FactorTrust error becomes a legal claim
If you were denied a loan, offered worse terms, or harmed some other way over an entry that was not yours or not accurate, and a proper dispute did not fix it, the FCRA may give you a claim:
- Accuracy (15 U.S.C. § 1681e(b)). FactorTrust must follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy of the report.
- Reinvestigation (15 U.S.C. § 1681i). FactorTrust must actually reinvestigate a dispute, not simply repeat what it already has.
- Identity theft block (15 U.S.C. § 1681c-2). FactorTrust must block identity theft entries on a proper request.
- The lender’s investigation (15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(b)). The lender that furnished the item must investigate a dispute FactorTrust forwards to it.
For a negligent violation, the FCRA provides actual damages plus attorney’s fees (§ 1681o). For a willful violation, it provides actual damages or statutory damages of $100 to $1,000, punitive damages as the court allows, and attorney’s fees (§ 1681n). Suit must be filed by the earlier of two years after you discover the violation or five years after it occurs (§ 1681p).
I handle these cases on contingency. Cases I have filed over loans opened in a consumer’s name by someone else are on the cases I have filed.
Have your FactorTrust report reviewed
Send me your FactorTrust report, any adverse action notice the lender sent, and whatever FactorTrust sent back after your dispute, and I will tell you whether I see a claim. The FCRA attorney page covers how these cases work. Contact the firm to have your report reviewed.
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This page is about consumer report accuracy. The Kim Law Firm is not affiliated with FactorTrust, Inc. or its parent, TransUnion, and this page is not a complaint about either of them. It describes how loan entries can appear on a FactorTrust report and the rights consumers have when an entry is wrong.