Opt Out of Prescreened Offers When Applying for a Mortgage Opt Out of Prescreened Offers When Applying for a Mortgage

Have you applied for a mortgage and subsequently received solicitations from other lenders or even credit card companies? While your frustration may initially be directed at your lender (if they didn't give out your personal information, how do these third parties know how to reach you), they are actually not at fault for any unsolicited offers you receive during the mortgage process. 

These offers, also called trigger leads or prescreened offers, can be particularly annoying when you're buying a home and many homebuyers want to know whether there is a way to avoid receiving them. Below, we'll dive into what prescreened offers are, how they work, whether trigger leads are legal, and how to avoid receiving them. 

Key Takeaways

• Trigger leads are primarily attributable to national consumer credit reporting bureaus and are often generated when a credit report is drawn in your name.
• When you apply for a mortgage loan, part of the due diligence your lender does is running a credit report and checking in on your credit score. 
• The credit bureau may then sell your information to other lenders which could in turn result in you receiving offers from other creditors and lenders.
• Prescreened offers are not a common source of identity theft.
• There are several ways to opt out of receiving these types of offers.

What is a Prescreened Offer or Trigger Lead?

Trigger leads are primarily attributable to national consumer credit reporting bureaus and are generated (or, get this...triggered) when a credit report is drawn in your name. This is why many prospective homebuyers receive these unwanted offers of credit and solicitations from other lenders when they apply for a home loan-- when you apply for a mortgage loan, part of the due diligence your lender does is running a credit report and checking in on your credit score. 

The credit bureau may then sell your information to other lenders which could in turn result in you receiving offers from other creditors and lenders. So while applying for a home loan is technically what sets off receiving unsolicited offers like those outlined above, you can rest assured that they aren't selling your information to third parties without your consent. 

Are Prescreened Credit Offers Legal?

Trigger leads, while frustrating, are legal. In the eyes of the law, they give prospective homebuyers access to a wider array of options when it comes to choosing a lender so they can be sure they are getting a competitive rate. While receiving these types of offers can be annoying, unfortunately, the practice of credit bureaus using this information in this manner is legally above board. The good news is that there are ways to avoid prescreened offers like these -- more on that below.

Is My Information Safe If It Was Used to Send Me a Prescreened Offer?

If credit companies are using personal information from an application you filled out with a mortgage company, it's fair to wonder if that personal information is still secure. The good news is that trigger leads aren't one of the more common forms of identity theft -- any mail with your name or mailing address is technically a vulnerability that could be exposed by bad actors but generally more detailed information like your social security number and date of birth would be needed to steal your identity. 

The data privacy concerns associated with these offers from creditors, while not common, are a risk. If your private information is on a list being held and shared among credit bureaus it has the potential to be hacked or stolen. We've seen this happen with high-profile cases like the 2017 Equifax data breach where the private records of hundreds of millions of Americans were compromised in one of the largest cybercrimes in history. 

And there is federal legislation aimed at protecting consumer information specifically from data breaches related to credit reports. The Fair Credit Reporting Act promotes the accuracy, fairness, and privacy of consumer information held by consumer reporting agencies and specifically protects consumers from the negligent inclusion of erroneous data in credit reports. 

How to Opt Out of Prescreened Offers

As mentioned above, the good news is that there are two easy ways to protect your information and prevent credit companies from using it to send you unwanted offers:

1. Add your name to the National Do Not Call Registry. This list will help prevent you from receiving unwanted calls or solicitations, although there are some organizations like charities, political groups, debt collectors, and surveyors whom the list does not cover so you may still hear from them occasionally. Within 31 days of adding your name to the list, you should start to see a decrease in unwanted solicitations. 
    
2. Sign up for OptOutPrescreen, a tool from the Consumer Credit Reporting Industry that allows consumers to opt in or out of offers from credit card and insurance companies. You can add your name to the registry for five years by filling out an online request form at the link above and providing your name, social security number, and date of birth. You can also opt-out permanently by filling out an old-fashioned paper form (also available at the link above) and mailing it in.

If you need assistance with your homebuying journey, take a look at Leader Bank’s mortgage solutions. For more information on how Leader Bank protects your personal information, take a look at our Privacy Policy.