So tomorrow most of the western United States will have the ability to pull free credit reports. My guess is that many will, find zillions of errors, and begin the disputing process. This new flow of disputes, combined with the Holiday period/short staffing, etc. should make for an interesting opportunity. Thoughts...?
I think it depends on how much publicity the free credit report law gets. I think a lot of people don't even care, so they might not even order a report. I had never even looked at my credit report until we refinanced and a charge off showed on my husband's report. I started searching for the company and found some of these sites. Then I got interested. Before that, even though my credit had gotten bad, I never thought of ordering a report. Even when I got denied for things. So, short answer, if a lot of people do care and start disputing, it could be good for us. But they may not.
This is from an article on MSN.com: Twohig acknowledged the possibility that many consumers will find, and then dispute, errors on their reports. In 2000, the three credit bureaus were fined $2.5 million by the FTC for not answering calls to toll-free numbers set up so consumers could dispute inaccuracies in their credit reports. The system was overwhelmed by complaints, and not enough employees were hired to handle the call volume, the FTC alleged. Last year, Equifax was fined again for the same problem. Twohig said she was hopeful the bureaus would be prepared this time for an increase in complaints following the rollout of free credit reports. "The bureaus are aware that's a likely result," she said. "The whole idea of rollout is so they can see how it goes and increase staff, so they can adjust as the nation comes online."
