We have long heard this complaint from our customers: “the minute that I made application with XYZ, I started receiving telephone calls from many different lenders, at all times of the day and night. How do they know we are refinancing?”
Well, thank you to the Washington Post for solving the mystery. It seems that the credit bureaus are selling “trigger” lists to third parties NOT involved in the transaction. When a credit bureau gets a request from a lender, it triggers a report to outside parties interested in a transaction.
Though this is not a title problem, it is part of the general morass that the entire industry finds itself. Trigger lists aren’t for reputable players, they are for the predators. The concept of targeting people who have just started the lending process and trying to steal the deal from a competitor is just business one might say. But when the originating mortgage lender is paying for an inquiry and credit report and then the credit bureau turns around and sells the “inquiry” to the paying lender’s competitor – that is distasteful.
The ability to further screen the data by geography and credit score is even more troubling. The buyers of trigger lists are predators, and wolves don’t go for the strongest members of the herd, they go for the weakest. The trigger lists arm them with all the information they need to find their next victims: doubly distasteful.
The Washington Post reports that trigger lists are an industry norm and the FTC is not inclined to stop the practice.
While the powers that be muddle through the mess, there is something you can do. Opt out. Here’s the link. Tell your clients to do the same.
Francine contributed to writing this article.
