Trigger Leads have become more prevalent and worrisome over the last few years. What is a mortgage trigger lead?

When a consumer seeks a pre-approval for a mortgage loan, they also give the lender permission to retrieve their credit report. When a lender pulls credit, the national Credit Reporting Agencies (Experian, Trans Union, Equifax) are alerted that the consumer is shopping for a mortgage. The credit bureaus take the consumer’s information and turn this credit inquiry into a trigger lead that is then sold to other lenders. This is done without the permission of original lender or the consumer. It is important for the consumer to know that their information is not being sold by the loan officer or company that is pulling their credit. The borrower’s information is actually being sold by the three major credit bureaus – Experian Trans Union and Equifax.

Once credit is pulled, the consumer may start receiving phone calls, emails or physical mail from other lenders soliciting their business. Is this legal? Unfortunately, yes. According to the CEO of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC) “Under the FCRA, as long as the company that is buying the trigger leads meets certain legal requirements, it is legal in all 50 states.” The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has been a proponent of selling trigger leads in that they felt it can provide the consumer with more options when they are looking to buy or refinance a home. For most consumers though, ending up on a trigger list is an unwelcome event.

Trigger leads are normally sold in bulk lots. When a broker signs up to pay for trigger leads, they can request them with certain parameters. They can request certain age groups, specific credit scores, certain neighborhoods, current mortgage payments, etc.

There are ways that a borrower can help prevent themselves from ending up on a trigger list:

1. Register at optoutprescreen.com. This will opt a consumer out of unwanted solicitations for five years and it costs nothing. It does usually take at least 5 business days for it to take effect so the earlier this is done, the better.
   

2. Sign up at the Do Not Call Registry, donotcall.gov. This is also free and should take effect within 24 hours, however a borrower may have already ended up on a trigger lead list prior to registering so could still receive calls for up to 31 days. Being on the DNC list does not mean all calls will stop. A consumer can still get calls for political reasons, from charitable organizations, survey calls, collection calls and some that are labeled “information calls.” Some brokers have used this last one as a loophole to get around the DNC registry. They will claim they are not trying to sell a person anything, but they are just providing information as to other options available.
   

3. Sign up at DMAchoice.com. This will stop loan offers and other offers from coming to your physical mailbox. There is a $2 cost for this.

Are any of these options a 100% guarantee a borrower won’t end up on a trigger list? No. There are too many avenues available and the credit bureaus have too much access to information for any one solution to be foolproof.

We encourage all consumers to visit the Consumer Finance Protection Bureaus website and submit a complaint regarding the practice of selling trigger leads. Valor Home Loans stand with its clients’ right to protect their information from unwanted solicitations.