Trigger leads ban clears hurdle in Senate

The Senate on Thursday unanimously passed bipartisan legislation to rein in trigger leads.

That follows the House Financial Services Committee’s unanimous approval of  the Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act, an amendment to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, earlier in the week.

The mortgage industry now awaits as lawmakers work to reconcile minor differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill before a final vote and a potential signing by President Donald Trump.

Bob Broeksmit, CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association, applauded the momentum building around getting the bill passed. 

“We commend Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Bill Hagerty (R-TN), as well as the bill’s dozens of bipartisan cosponsors, for their continued leadership on this issue – a top MBA advocacy priority,” he wrote in a statement Thursday evening.

“MBA looks forward to working with the sponsors and House and Senate leadership to reconcile the slight differences in the two bills so that one bill can be passed in both chambers and signed into law as quickly as possible.”

Brendan Mckay, head of the Broker Action Coalition, wrote in a LinkedIn post Thursday that the Senate passing the bill is a “big step” and that it is time to “push this across the finish line.”

Similar efforts gained traction late last year but fell short of passage.

Amid the buzz, North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson and 42 other attorneys general sent a letter to Congress on June 9 urging the passage of legislation to protect consumers from “invasive mortgage credit trigger leads, which blast consumers with unwanted robocalls and texts after they apply for a mortgage.”

“These barrages of robocalls and texts are a huge nuisance to North Carolinians buying a house and getting a mortgage,” wrote Attorney General Jackson in a press release. “Robocallers shouldn’t have unrestricted access to your personal information or the right to solicit you whenever they want. We’re asking Congress for help in cracking down on this.”

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, the House and Senate versions of the bill are nearly identical, with the exception of a minor addition in the House bill referencing a study.

Both bills would curb credit reporting agencies’ ability to furnish trigger leads to third parties, unless they certify that the consumer has explicitly consented to the solicitations. Exceptions are also made for the borrower’s original mortgage lender or current servicer, and for banks and credit unions where borrowers have depository accounts. 

Currently, credit reporting agencies are permitted to resell consumers’ information under the  Fair Credit Reporting Act, as long as callers make a “firm offer of credit”. The Rose/Torres bill seeks to narrow the instances in which a company can reach out to a consumer.