Contesting Jobless Claims Becomes a Boom Industry – New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/04/us/04talx.html?hp
According to the New York Times article, a company called Talx handles more than 30 percent of the nation’s requests for jobless benefits. Talx was acquired three years ago by Equifax, the credit-rating giant, for $1.4 billion.
Equifax’s ownership of Talx creates a clear conflict of interest. By using Talx to deny unemployment benefits to displaced workers, Equifax increases default rates on consumer debts owed by the displaced workers. Equifax then receives income from reporting these defaults. The more unemployment claims Talx denies, the more money Equifax makes.
Which leads to the obvious question: Why didn’t regulators do anything to protect consumers from this anti-consumer, anti-competitive acquisition?