Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act
When you apply for a home mortgage, credit bureaus often notify competing lenders, triggering an immediate flood of unwanted calls, emails, and offers. This bill prevents credit bureaus from selling or sharing your credit information simply because you applied for a loan. Competing lenders can only access your report if you give explicit permission or if they are already your current mortgage provider or loan servicer.
What this bill touches.
Who it helps · who it burdens.
Who it helps
- Mortgage applicants and consumersSec. 2(4)(B) protects mortgage applicants from having their credit reports sold or shared with third parties as trigger leads without their authorization or an existing mortgage relationship.
- Current mortgage lenders and loan servicersSec. 2(4)(B)(ii)(II) allows current mortgage originators and servicers to continue receiving consumer reports to make firm offers of credit or insurance without needing separate consumer authorization.
Who it burdens
- Consumer reporting agenciesSec. 2(4)(B) restricts consumer reporting agencies from furnishing consumer reports triggered by a mortgage inquiry unless specific authorization or existing lender/servicer criteria and firm offer requirements are met.
- Prospective mortgage lenders and marketing companiesSec. 2(4)(B) prohibits third-party lenders, insurers, and other soliciters from purchasing or receiving prescreened mortgage trigger leads unless they have direct consumer authorization or are the consumer's current mortgage originator or servicer.
The provisions, in plain language.
Prohibits credit reporting agencies, starting 180 days after enactment, from providing a consumer's credit report to third parties based on a mortgage application inquiry, unless the third party makes a firm offer of credit or insurance and either has the consumer's direct authorization or is the consumer's current mortgage lender or loan servicer.