Why are other lenders calling me after I applied for a mortgage loan?
Here’s the short answer…
Unlike InterWest Mortgage whose business comes from unintrusive marketing strategies, repeat customers, and referrals from past clients and other industry professionals, some lenders rely on purchased leads from credit bureaus and their telemarketing teams that bombard unsuspecting consumers with phone calls.
Now for the long answer…
Formal mortgage applications require hard credit pulls. These credit inquiries alert the credit bureaus -Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion – when consumers are considering a home purchase or refinance. Once alerted, the bureaus sell data to lenders who compete for business by relying on telemarketing. While this practice can be quite overwhelming and very frustrating to consumers, these “trigger leads” are actually perfectly legal. The original purpose of trigger leads was to give consumers the opportunity to consider multiple loan options. Getting unsolicited calls and emails from unknown companies, however, has proven to be very confusing to borrowers. And while some offers can be quite competitive, others have been found to require a significant amount of extra costs (known as discount points), or to not be legitimate at all. Additionally, when dealing with unknown lenders it has become difficult for home buyers to predict whether or not poor service will result in an untimely loan closing and the potential loss of a home. Because of these and other reasons, Congress is currently considering bill H.R. 2656 which would put an end to the sale of trigger leads and bring both consumers and the mortgage industry some much needed relief.
What can I do if I don’t wish to be solicited by mortgage lenders?
Unfortunately, once your credit has been pulled you can only ignore the barrage of incoming calls. You may consider blocking calls from unknown numbers as some lenders can be quite persistent and will make multiple attempts to reach you.
It is possible to avoid unsolicited calls when applying for future loans by taking the following steps now—
• Register for Opt-Out Prescreen at www.optoutprescreen.com to stop credit bureaus from selling your consumer data for five years.
• Register with the National Do Not Call Registry at www.donotcall.gov, or call 1-888-382-1222 from each phone number you wish to protect
