Two weeks remain to file a claim in the TransUnion bankruptcy-remark settlement. People in the settlement’s “No Bankruptcy Group” get an automatic payment of $100 without doing anything, and the settlement website says a valid claim should raise that to approximately $1,000. The claim deadline is October 30, 2026, according to the official settlement website for Brooks v. Trans Union, LLC.

Who the $100 and the $1,000 are for

The lawsuit covers people in the United States whose TransUnion credit report, between January 6, 2020, and January 31, 2023, showed a bankruptcy remark on an account but had no bankruptcy in the report’s public records section. The settlement splits those people into two groups.

• The No Bankruptcy Group is people for whom searches by Social Security number found no locatable record of any bankruptcy filing. The settlement FAQ puts it at about 21,000 members. They receive $100 automatically unless they exclude themselves, and can file a claim for a higher payment of approximately $1,000.
• The Aged Bankruptcy Group is about 36,000 people whose only bankruptcies were filed more than ten years before the TransUnion report. They must file a claim to receive anything, and the site estimates about $350.

The unique Claim Number and PIN on the notice, sent by email or U.S. mail, show which group a person is in. Anyone who got a notice and is not sure what it means has one real decision to make before October 30, which is whether to file the claim form that turns the $100 into the larger estimate or, for the Aged Bankruptcy Group, produces any payment at all.

Three different actions in this settlement share one October 30 date, and only one of them can pay more than $100. The Settlement & Refund Recovery System includes the four-date rule for reading a settlement notice and a step-by-step filing walkthrough.

Get the filing walkthrough for the TransUnion claim with the Settlement & Refund Recovery System →

What the lawsuit alleges and what TransUnion says

William Norman Brooks III alleges that TransUnion reported a bankruptcy remark on a credit account even though the same report held no public record of a bankruptcy, and that this violated the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act. The case is No. 2:22-cv-00048 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. TransUnion denies any wrongdoing.

TransUnion will pay $8,310,000 into a settlement fund. The fund covers class member payments, administration costs, attorneys’ fees, litigation expenses and an award to Brooks. The settlement site lists requests of up to $2,770,000 in attorneys’ fees, up to $308,000 in expenses and up to $50,000 for Brooks. If the court grants every request in full, about $5.18 million is left for class members before the cost of administering the settlement, which is arithmetic on the posted figures.

One date covers three choices

October 30, 2026, is the deadline to file a claim, the deadline to exclude yourself and the deadline to object, so a notice reader has to pick which one applies.

• Filing a claim means going to the settlement website and entering the Claim Number and PIN.
• Excluding yourself requires a letter to the settlement administrator, and the site calls it the only option that keeps the right to sue TransUnion separately.
• Objecting means a written objection to both the administrator and the court.

The attorneys’ fee request is posted on the site starting October 16. The court’s final approval hearing is set for December 2, 2026, and the site warns the date may change. Payments go out only after the court grants final approval and any appeals are resolved.

The scale of the fund explains why the estimate is not a promise. If all 21,000 members of the No Bankruptcy Group filed claims worth $1,000 each, the payments would come to $21 million, which is more than the entire $8.31 million fund. That is arithmetic on the posted figures, not a number the settlement site publishes, and it is why the site ties its estimate to typical claim rates.

The approximately $1,000 is an estimate. The settlement site bases it on typical claim rates in similar cases and says the real payment may be lower or higher, which means the number will not be known until the claim period closes and the claims are counted.

Filing the TransUnion claim before October 30

The claim form is on the official settlement website. Have the notice open, because the form asks for the Claim Number and PIN printed on it. The site tells claimants to update their mailing address on the form.

The form offers an electronic payment option. Without one, the payment is mailed as a paper check by the U.S. Postal Service. Questions go to the settlement administrator at (888) 279-4003 or to Brooks v. Trans Union, c/o Settlement Administrator, P.O. Box 16, West Point, PA 19486. The site asks people not to contact TransUnion or the court for information.

Save a screenshot or confirmation of the filed claim and write down the October 30 deadline, the December 2 hearing and the administrator’s phone number in one place. A payment that arrives months after the hearing is easy to lose track of.

A notice with $100 on it hides the $1,000 decision

The $100 arrives on its own, which makes it easy to skip the one step that could bring the approximately $1,000 estimate. The Settlement & Refund Recovery System gives a claim log and payment tracker for following the TransUnion claim from the day it is filed until the money arrives, plus the four-date rule for reading any settlement notice. It is a 50-page system with a step-by-step filing walkthrough.

Track the TransUnion claim from filing to payout with the Settlement & Refund Recovery System →

This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.