If you’ve applied for a mortgage, you are probably painfully aware of what it’s like to be a “trigger lead”. When your credit is pulled, the consumer reporting agencies resell your information to lenders. These unfamiliar lenders relentlessly harass consumers via phone calls and even text messages. This is very different than consumers who sign up to receive calls from various lenders when the consumer visits and enters their contact info into “lead generating” websites in search of rate quotes. A person having their credit pulled by a lender they have selected should not involuntarily be subject to having strange lenders contact them.
I have been writing about trigger leads since the very early days of The Mortgage Porter back in 2006. Quite simply, they’re just wrong. Your information should not be for sale without your permission and there is no benefit to the consumer. The aggressiveness of the people who work for the companies who purchase the leads has dramatically increased recently.
Last week, Representative John Rose (R-TN) introduced H.R. 4198, the Protecting Consumers from Abusive Mortgage Leads Act. Per the MAA (Mortgage Action Alliance), a consumer reporting agency would not be allowed to furnish a trigger lead to a third party unless that third party certifies having a consumer’s consent or a current relationship with the consumer.
What can you do? Please contact your U.S. Representative TODAY and ask them to sponsor H.R. 4198. Click here to take action!
PS: For the record, I have never personally bought “leads”. I am fortunate that my clients are all referred to me, have worked with me before or have found me from this blog or my social media. AND when you ask for a mortgage rate quote, your information is not sold or shared with anyone without your express permission!
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