Legislation to ban credit bureau “trigger leads” was signed into law by President Donald Trump this week.
The Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act, co-authored by Sens. Jack Reed (D-RI) and Bill Hagerty (R-TN), targets abusive trigger leads, a practice where credit bureaus sell mortgage applicants’ data without consent. The trigger leads typically lead to a flood of unwanted calls, texts, and messages to applicants.
According to the National Association of Mortgage Brokers (NAMB), it is unusual for bank customers to receive more than 100 misleading texts, phone calls, and emails within the first 24 hours of applying for a mortgage. Prospective homebuyers who are bombarded by these kinds of solicitations typically have no idea their information was sold without their consent.
The newly signed law will prevent consumers’ personal information from being sold and stop the wave of unsolicited spam credit offers that typically follows. It will give prospective homebuyers more control over their personal information and crackdown on unfair and deceptive lending practices. Ultimately, it will dramatically reduce spam calls, texts, and emails.
“This new law will protect consumers and head off a flood of annoying, unwanted solicitations. Homebuyers going through an already stressful process should not have their private information sold to spammers without consent. Enacting this law is a smart, overdue solution to halt abusive trigger leads,” Reed said. “This is a rare data privacy win. The Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act will put consumers back in the driver’s seat and help cut down on the spam.”
Now that it has been signed, the law will go into effect in six months. It will prohibit credit reporting bureaus from selling a trigger lead unless a mortgage broker or lender certifies to the bureau that they already have a deep financial relationship with the consumer, such as an existing mortgage loan or a deposit account. Trigger leads would also be permitted if a consumer affirmatively opts in to receiving them.
Currently, eight states — Rhode Island, Connecticut, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin — restrict the use of trigger leads in some fashion. Further, Idaho and Arkansas have recently passed trigger lead laws that will soon take effect.
The Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act is supported by a broad coalition of consumer advocacy groups and financial trades, including the Mortgage Bankers Association, the Independent Community Bankers of America, the American Bankers Association, the National Association of Mortgage Brokers, the Broker Action Coalition, Community Home Lenders of America, the National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low-income clients), the Consumer Federation of America, Americans for Financial Reform, and others.
“This new law is a major victory for mortgage borrowers that will protect them from the barrage of unwanted calls, texts, and emails they too often received immediately after applying for a mortgage. It will create a more efficient, responsible, and respectful home buying process when it goes into effect on March 5, 2026,” MBA’s President and CEO Bob Broeksmit said.