Washington, DC—Today, U.S. Rep. John Rose (TN-06) introduced the Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act with Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY-15), which would expand on his work to ban trigger leads except in limited circumstances.
When a consumer applies for a mortgage, credit bureaus are notified that the consumer is interested in financing, which is referred to as a trigger lead. That information is then sold by the credit bureaus to data brokers (including other lenders) without the consumer's knowledge or approval. Consumers are then often bombarded with hundreds of calls that confuse consumers and seek to lure them away from their chosen lenders.
Rep. Rose’s bill prohibits a consumer reporting agency from furnishing a trigger lead unless an individual chooses to opt-in. In that case, only certain approved groups will be notified that an individual is seeking a new mortgage. The bill is tailored to give consumers more control over the information they receive as part of the homebuying process and eliminates trigger lead abuses while preserving their use in appropriately limited circumstances.
“Buying a home is stressful enough for many consumers. The last thing most folks want is to be annoyed incessantly by the constant barrage of emails, text messages, and phone calls after they apply for a mortgage,” said Rep. Rose. “My bill would put an end to this shady and confusing practice and restore data privacy for homebuyers.”
“Trigger leads exploit consumers' financial inquiries, turning them into commodities sold without consent. We must empower homebuyers, not bombard them with predatory calls," said U.S. Representative Ritchie Torres (NY-15). "This bipartisan legislation takes a crucial step in safeguarding consumer privacy and choice in the mortgage process."
“Representative Rose’s legislation would ensure Tennesseans’ right to privacy by preventing credit bureaus from selling their information when a credit report is pulled. It is not unusual for bank customers to receive 100+ misleading texts, phone calls and emails within the first 24 hours of applying for a mortgage,” said Colin Barrett, President and CEO of the Tennessee Bankers Association.
“MBA continues to be a fierce proponent of reforms that stop the abusive use of mortgage trigger leads, while preserving their value in appropriately limited circumstances. H.R. 7297 does just that – in harmony with the bipartisan Reed/Hagerty bill (S. 3502) in the Senate. We commend Congressmen Rose and Torres for introducing this new bill today and will continue to work with House and Senate leaders to encourage action on this important consumer protection legislation as quickly as possible,” said Bill Killmer, Executive Vice President Legislative and Political Affairs for the Mortgage Bankers Association.
This bill is supported by a broad coalition of financial trades and consumer groups, including the Independent Community Bankers Association, Mortgage Bankers Association, National Association of Mortgage Brokers, American Bankers Association, and the Broker Action Coalition.
Senator Hagerty (R-TN) and Senator Reed (D-RI) have also introduced S.3052, a companion bill, in the Senate.
Rep. Rose and Torres were joined in sponsoring the bill by Reps. French Hill (R-AR-02), Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO-03), Wiley Nickel (D-NC-13), Bill Posey (R-FL-08), Brittany Pettersen (D-CO-07), Monica De La Cruz (R-TX-15), Andy Ogles (R-TN-05), Dusty Johnson (R-SD-At Large), and Jack Bergman (R-MI-01).
Read the full text of the Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act here.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://johnrose.house.gov/media/press-releases/us-rep-john-rose-introduces-homebuyers-privacy-protection-act