Various
mortgage
and
housing
trade
groups
signed
the
letter,
including
the

National
Housing
Conference,

American
Bankers
Association,


Broker
Action
Coalition
(BAC)
and
the


Community
Home
Lenders
of
America
(CHLA),
among
several
others.

The
legislation
—
which failed
to
pass
the

House
of
Representatives at
the
end
of
2024

despite
unanimous

Senate
approval
—
was

reintroduced
on
April
10
to
the
119th

Congress
by
Rep.
John
Rose
(R-Tenn.),
who
co-sponsors
the
bill.

The
letter
defines
trigger
leads
as
what
“occurs
when
a
consumer
applies
for
a
mortgage
(both
purchase
and
refinance
loans)
and
the
requisite
inquiry
to
a
credit
reporting
agency
(CRA)
by
a
lender
notifies
the
CRA
that
the
consumer
is
interested
in
home
financing.”

“Under
the
Fair
Credit
Reporting
Act
(FCRA),
CRAs
are
permitted
by
law
to
resell
consumer
information
to
prospective
creditors
without
the
consumer’s
permission
if
the
prospective
creditor
is
prepared
to
make
that
consumer
a
‘firm
offer
of
credit,’”
the
letter
reads.

“The
offer
of
credit
must
include
a
notification
to
the
consumer
informing
them
of
the
right
to
‘opt
out’
of
receiving
future
prescreened
offers
of
credit
or
other
solicitations,
but
these
opt-out
disclosures
are
not
required
in
cases
of
phone
solicitations
and
offers.”

Trigger
leads
are
then
sold
to
data
brokers
without
the
consumer’s
knowledge
or
approval,
meaning
that
consumers
could
be
contacted
and
solicited
by
the
parties
that
have
purchased
the
trigger
leads.

The
letter
also
stresses
that
under
the
current
law,
the
burden
is
on
the
consumer
to
opt
out
and
negate
the
ability
for
the
CRAs
to
sell
individual
information
as
a
trigger
lead.

But
the
trade
groups
also
note
that
six
months
after
the
bill
takes
effect,
trigger
leads
would
only
be
allowed
under
the
Fair
Credit
Reporting
Act
in
limited

real
estate
transactions
to
make
a
firm
credit
offer.

This
means
that
a
credit
reporting
agency
could
only
share
a
trigger
lead
if
the
third
party
certifies
that
the
consumer
consented,
if
the
CRA
is
the
consumer’s
current
mortgage
lender
or
servicer,
or
if
it
is
a
bank
or
credit
union
where
the
consumer
holds
an
account.